The 2026 World Cup’s first round is in the books — and the numbers reveal a tournament full of goals, surprises, and a few players doing it all wrong.
The 2026 World Cup has barely caught its breath and it’s already rewriting record books. Seventy-five goals across 24 matches gives us a jaw-dropping 3.125 goals per game — the highest first-round ratio since 1958. And for those worried a 48-team tournament would turn into a snooze-fest? Nine draws from 24 games, a 37.5% draw rate not seen since 2010, says otherwise.
Now let’s talk players — because the stat sheet is wild.
The sharp shooters (and the not-so-sharp)
Six players fired off six or more shots in their opening game. Only two scored: Harry Kane and Lionel Messi, because of course it was them. Kane’s brace against drew him level with Gary Lineker as England’s all-time World Cup top scorer on 10 goals. Messi went one better with a hat-trick, pulling level with Miroslav Klose’s all-time record of 16 World Cup goals. Different levels, different legends.
Turkey’s Arda Guler led the tournament in shots with eight attempts — but a combined xG of just 0.26 tells the real story. Statistically, a player of average quality would need 31 such efforts to score once. Guler is obviously no average player, but his shooting against Australia was, let’s say, optimistic.
Son Heung-min had the roughest evening in front of goal. Six shots, 1.0 xG, zero goals — a brutal return for one of the Premier League’s most clinical finishers in recent memory.
Sweden’s Yasin Ayari and New Zealand’s Elijah Just, meanwhile, are sitting on a perfect 100% conversion rate having each scored twice.
The creators
Spain’s Pedri was the tournament’s standout creator, racking up 1.23 expected assists against Cape Verde while winning the ball in the final third six times — twice as often as anyone else at the tournament.
Amad Diallo turned 34 substitute minutes into a statement performance for Ivory Coast, completing the most dribbles with the best success rate among players who attempted five or more.
Vinícius Junior, by contrast, attempted nine dribbles against Morocco and beat his man exactly zero times.
Who won their duels?
Panama’s Jiovany Ramos and Senegal’s Krépin Diatta dominated the 50-50 department, coming out on top in more than half their battles despite their sides not winning. Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Jovo Lukic deserves his own round of applause — nine aerial duels against Canada, nine wins, zero losses. Undefeated in the air.
If the first round is anything to go by, this World Cup is just getting started.
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