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FIFA World Cup 2026 becomes highest-scoring, most-attended tournament in history
The expanded tournament has broken records for goals scored and cumulative attendance.
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IANS - Fri, 26, Jun 2026
- 04:39 EDT
- 5
The tournament sets new records for goals scored and cumulative attendance. / Maninder K. Chandhoke
The FIFA World Cup 2026 became the highest-scoring edition in the tournament's history, with the milestone reached during the United States' Group D match against Turkiye.
United States defender Auston Trusty scored the tournament's 173rd goal with an early opener, surpassing the previous World Cup record of 172 goals set during the 64 matches of Qatar 2022.
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The milestone came in just the 59th match of the expanded tournament. The tally continued to rise as Turkiye rallied to beat co-hosts USA 3-2, taking the tournament total to 177 goals.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino praised the achievement.
"Surpassing the previous highest of 172 goals from Qatar shows the excitement and attacking talent that have already made the 2026 World Cup so unforgettable," Infantino wrote on Instagram.
The record has been achieved with five matches still remaining before the knockout stages conclude. Unlike previous editions, the 2026 World Cup features 104 matches after FIFA expanded the tournament from 32 to 48 teams.
The previous record of 172 goals was set at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar over the tournament's full schedule of 64 matches.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 has also set a new all-time attendance record, with 3,605,357 fans attending matches so far. The previous cumulative attendance record of 3.5 million was set during the 1994 World Cup by the end of the group stage.
"This is a true reflection of our fans' love for the beautiful game and football's ability to bring people together to celebrate, feel joy, and share emotions that unite. The scenes inside the stadiums and across our 16 fantastic host cities have been incredible and I thank you for coming from all corners of the globe to light up this @fifaworldcup," Infantino said.
"The best is still to come and we will set more records, but what is most important is that people continue to have fun and create memories for life," he added.
The tournament also se
t a new single-day attendance record on June 17 (IST), six days after the opening match at Mexico City Stadium.
A combined 281,223 fans attended four group-stage matches — France vs. Senegal, Iraq vs. Norway, Argentina vs. Algeria, and Austria vs. Jordan — surpassing the previous single-day attendance record of 277,070 set on June 28, 1994, which also featured four matches.
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