CORNERFLICK
The 48-team FIFA World Cup—the first edition to feature 104 matches across three host nations—is a tournament bursting with goals, excitement, and color. It brings together legendary figures such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Luka Modrić alongside today's global superstars, including Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappé, Harry Kane, and Erling Haaland. A quick glance at the top scorers' chart says it all: Messi leads with six goals, followed by Mbappé, Dembélé, Haaland, and Vinícius Júnior, each with four. An extraordinary achievement.
Every match involving these players has been a spectacle. Vinícius, for instance, was named Player of the Match in each of his first three appearances. Messi scored enough goals to surpass Miroslav Klose and become the all-time leading scorer in FIFA World Cup history, with 19 goals to his name. Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, found the net against Uzbekistan to become the first player ever to score in six different FIFA World Cups. Both he and Messi are appearing in their sixth World Cup, making them the only players to have reached that milestone.
Mbappé's performances have been equally remarkable. He is climbing the all-time World Cup scoring charts at a pace that closely mirrors Messi's. Following his goals in this tournament, he now trails Messi by just three goals. Given that he is likely to play in one or even two more World Cups, it seems highly probable that he will eventually overtake him. Ousmane Dembélé also cemented his status among the tournament's standout stars with a hat-trick against Norway. Haaland did not feature in that match, but he has enjoyed a prolific debut World Cup, scoring with remarkable ease. He netted twice in the opening game against Iraq before doubling his tally with another brace against Senegal.
The overall quality of football has also been exceptional. A total of 215 goals have been scored in 73 matches—an average of nearly three goals per game. That is an outstanding return. Effective playing time has increased significantly, rising from 63 to 67 minutes per match. FIFA's new measures aimed at reducing time-wasting have played a major role in this improvement.
Another major success of the tournament has been attendance. Although the knockout stage has only just begun, this edition has already attracted the largest crowds in World Cup history. A total of 4.7 million spectators have attended matches so far, averaging more than 64,000 fans per game. FIFA's dynamic ticket-pricing strategy, despite early criticism over high prices, has proved to be a resounding success. Ultimately, the American-style ticketing system ensured that every state-of-the-art stadium was filled to capacity.
World Cup by the Numbers
A total of 1,774 shots have been recorded (24.6 per match), with Belgium attempting the most (73). Of the 48 participating nations, 47 scored during the group stage, with Panama the only team to fail to find the net. Across the tournament's history, 2,935 goals have now been scored.
At 38 years and 357 days old, Messi also became the oldest player ever to score a World Cup hat-trick, breaking Cristiano Ronaldo's previous record, set in 2018 when he scored three goals against Spain at the age of 33 years and 130 days.
Curaçao's Dick Advocaat became the oldest head coach in World Cup history at 78 years and 271 days. Meanwhile, Hugo Broos, aged 74 years and 75 days, became the oldest coach ever to win a World Cup match, surpassing Carlos Queiroz, who had led Ghana to victory over Panama earlier in the tournament at 73 years and 108 days.
Among the 1,248 players selected by the 48 national teams, 354 had previously appeared in a World Cup, while 894 were representing their countries at the tournament for the first time. So far, all 1,248 players have been part of the competition, with 999 featuring in at least one match. Of those, 687 have come on as substitutes.
The average number of substitutions made by the 48 teams stands at 4.77 per match, demonstrating that teams have made full use of the expanded substitution allowance. Three teams—Iraq, Mexico, and Norway—used 25 different players, effectively rotating almost their entire squads.
Teams exchanged a total of 68,162 passes during the group stage, averaging 946.7 passes per match. Spain topped the list with 2,191 passes, 2,013 of which were completed successfully. A total of 2,359 successful crosses were delivered during the group stage, with Canada leading the way on 117.
Players committed an average of 22.3 fouls per match in the group stage, totaling 1,604 fouls. Haiti committed the most, with 55. Referees issued an average of 2.5 yellow cards per match, for a total of 180, with Paraguay receiving the most (eight). Ten red cards have also been shown, including two to South Africa.
Group-stage attendance reached 4,644,549 spectators, representing 99.7% of total stadium capacity and averaging 64,508 fans per match.
Supporters from 210 countries and territories attended the group stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, surpassing the historic record of 3.5 million spectators set at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States. On June 25, FIFA also recorded the highest single-day attendance in tournament history, with 426,834 spectators.
The three most in-demand fixtures among the tournament's 104 scheduled matches were Portugal vs. Colombia (Miami, June 27), the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final (New York/New Jersey, July 19), and Mexico vs. South Korea (Guadalajara, June 18). The countries purchasing the most tickets were the United States, Canada, Mexico, England, Germany, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and France.
Throughout the group stage, more than 5.5 million fans attended FIFA Fan Festivals across the three host nations, consuming nearly two million beverages and bottles of water. A record 527,402 fans attended on June 24, while the FIFA Fan Festival in Mexico City welcomed 201,500 visitors on June 18—the highest single-day attendance at the venue.
With more than 50 million viewers across Canada, Mexico, and the United States, the opening matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup—featuring all three host nations—highlighted the tournament's ability to unite and inspire audiences across North America.
A total of 7.2 million viewers watched the opening match between Mexico and South Africa on Fox, making it the most-watched World Cup opening game in the history of English-language broadcasting in the United States.
Meanwhile, 10 million viewers tuned in on Fox to watch Brazil take on Morocco, setting a new record. It became the most-watched World Cup group-stage broadcast ever on English-language television in the United States (excluding matches involving the U.S. national team), a record that was broken twice during the tournament.
5.3 million: Canada's historic first-ever World Cup victory attracted an average audience of 5.3 million viewers, making it the most-watched group-stage match in Canadian history and the highest-rated broadcast ever for the Canadian men's national team.
49.9 million: Brazil recorded the country's largest television audience of 2026, with an average of 28.9 million viewers watching Brazil vs. Morocco. Across all Globo platforms, the same match reached 49.9 million unique viewers.
205 million: In China, the 2026 FIFA World Cup had reached 205 million unique viewers on CCTV after just 41 matches. The most-watched live match to date was Tunisia vs. Japan, broadcast on CCTV5, which attracted 24 million viewers.