World Cup 2026 shatters records on and off the pitch
The expanded 2026 FIFA World Cup has already rewritten the tournament's record books, with historic achievements on the field, unprecedented fan attendance and several nations reaching the knockout stage for the first time, reports a Qazinform News Agency correspondent.
A record 215 goals were scored during the group stage, averaging three per match and surpassing the total of 172 goals scored throughout the entire 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Africa also enjoyed its best-ever World Cup group stage, with nine CAF teams qualifying and a record five reaching the Round of 32. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cabo Verde, Canada, DR Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt and South Africa all advanced to the knockout stage for the first time.
Lionel Messi continued to rewrite football history. The Argentina captain became the tournament's all-time leading scorer with 19 World Cup goals, scored in seven consecutive World Cup matches, and became the oldest player to score a World Cup hat-trick at 38 years and 357 days.
Cristiano Ronaldo also reached a milestone, becoming Portugal's all-time leading World Cup scorer with 10 goals, while Harry Kane became England's top World Cup marksman with 11.
Several nations also set new benchmarks. Canada's 6-0 victory over Qatar became the first time a CONCACAF team had scored more than four goals in a World Cup match, while Senegal became the first African nation to score five goals in a World Cup fixture.
Off the pitch, the tournament has attracted 4.64 million spectators during the group stage, filling 99.7% of available seats and breaking the previous World Cup attendance record. Fans from 210 countries and territories attended matches across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
FIFA also reported more than 130 million unique visitors to its official website during the group stage, while over 5.5 million fans visited FIFA Fan Festivals across the three host nations, underlining the global appeal of the largest World Cup in history.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that the FIFA World Cup Round of 32 delivered three dramatic encounters as Brazil came from behind to defeat Japan, while Paraguay and Morocco advanced to the Round of 16 after penalty shootout victories over Germany and the Netherlands, respectively.