The FIFA World Cup 2026 tournament witnessed yet another record being broken on Thursday night-the record for the most goals in an edition.
The record was broken in the 59th match of this tournament, which was between the United States and Turkey in Los Angeles.
When United States centre-back Auston Trusty scored the opening goal against Türkiye, it became the 173rd goal of this edition. By doing so, this edition surpassed the 2022 Qatar World Cup’s tally of 172 goals, which consisted of 64 games in the 32-team format.
The FIFA World Cup 2026, though, has been expanded to 48 teams, taking the total number of matches up to 104.
Total goals tally rises to 177
The 173-goal tally further extended to 177 goals in the tournament so far, after Türkiye beat the USA 3-2 to register a consolation victory in their Group D game.
Coming into this match, Türkiye were already eliminated from the tournament after having failed to win their first two matches.
The other Group D match between Paraguay and Australia ended in a goalless draw. Out of the 59 matches that have been played so far, there have been just four goalless draws.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino acknowledged the record via a short message on social media. “Surpassing the previous highest of 172 goals from Qatar underscores the excitement and attacking prowess that have already made the 2026 FIFA World Cup so unforgettable,” he wrote.
The ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026 has already seen several high-scoring matches. Germany beating Curacao 7-1 and Portugal thumping Uzbekistan 5-0 were among the many matches that have produced several goals.
Race for the Golden Boot heats up
Argentina’s Lionel Messi leads the Golden Boot standings with five goals, with Brazil’s Vinicius Junior, France’s Kylian Mbappe and Norway’s Erling Haaland all tied on four goals each.
As far as the teams are concerned, Germany are the side that has scored the most goals so far. The four-time champions have netted 10 goals so far, the same as the Netherlands.
USA and Canada have scored eight goals each, whereas Norway, Brazil, Sweden, Switzerland and Japan are all tied on seven goals each.
A total of 19 teams have so far qualified for the round of 32, including defending champions Argentina, their arch-rivals Brazil, and the likes of Germany, Norway and the Netherlands.
Ivory Coast and South Africa qualified for the knockout stages for the first time ever following victories over Curacao and South Korea in their final group-stage matches, respectively.