FIFA World Cup 2026: Records Broken and Approaching

Kathmandu. Only 10 days have passed since the start of the 2026 World Cup, but the tournament has already changed many chapters of football history.

Showing that no one is less than the other, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Harry Kane, and Erling Haaland have all performed excellently in their respective national teams' first match. In the first World Cup with 48 teams, many records are on the verge of being broken as these superstars prepare for their second match.

Argentina's Messi and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo are further expanding their World Cup legacy, while Mbappé is on the verge of becoming France's all-time leading scorer.

Here are the major records that have been broken or are about to be broken this time:

• Will Messi set a new World Cup goal record?

Lionel Messi won the Golden Ball for the best player in the 2022 World Cup. Since 2014, Germany's striker Miroslav Klose had been alone at the top with 16 World Cup goals. However, when Argentina secured a 3-0 victory over Algeria, Messi's spectacular hat-trick put the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner level with Klose at the top of the all-time list. And now, he is in a position to move ahead alone.

Messi played 27 games to reach 16 goals, which is three more than Klose, but for the 2022 World Cup winner, that doesn't matter much. Behind him is France's captain Kylian Mbappé with 14 goals, who has now become France's all-time leading scorer. He also seems to be targeting this record.

Kane is four goals behind, but that gap could be significant in this tournament. In Group 'J', Messi and Argentina's next opponent is Austria. Will a new record be set now?

• Kane preparing to break Lineker's record for England

Harry Kane has scored 81 goals in 115 games for England. After seeing Messi, Haaland, and Mbappé score, Kane once again proved what he can do in England's 4-2 victory over Croatia on Wednesday.

The Three Lions captain scored two goals in Dallas to put England at the top of Group 'L' and equaled Gary Lineker's record of 10 goals for England in the World Cup finals. However, after the match against Ghana on Tuesday night, he may not remain level with Lineker for long.

Wednesday's match also made Kane the second English player to score in three different World Cups, after Sir David Beckham who scored in 1998, 2002, and 2006. Wednesday's match against Croatia was Kane's 115th game for England, putting him level with Beckham in the list of players with the most appearances for the country.

• First player to win more than one Golden Boot?

Kylian Mbappé led France to the World Cup in 2018. Will Mbappé be the first player to win more than one World Cup Golden Boot, or will England captain Kane achieve that feat?

Mbappé won the Golden Boot in the Qatar 2022 World Cup with eight goals, but this time he faces stiff competition to retain the title. Kane won this award in 2018 with six goals.

Messi, Germany's Deniz Undav, and Canada's Jonathan David are currently leading with three goals each, but Kane, Haaland, and Mbappé are only one goal behind them. This could be a memorable competition in history.

• Record for scoring in the most World Cup editions

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 143 goals in 229 games for Portugal. It is natural for Ronaldo to be associated with some record.

Although his performance in the 1-1 draw against the Democratic Republic of Congo was ordinary, a new record is always close. In 2022, Ronaldo set a record by scoring in five different World Cup editions: 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022, but Messi has already equaled that.

However, if Ronaldo scores one goal in the 2026 edition, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner will set a new record by scoring in six different World Cups.

• Ronaldo becomes the oldest outfield player in the World Cup

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored eight World Cup goals. However, he has already broken a record in the opening match. By taking the field in Houston, he achieved the feat of becoming the second player, along with Messi, to play in six World Cups.

Along with that, at the age of 41 years and 132 days, he became the oldest outfield player to play from the starting lineup in a World Cup. Previously, this record was held by Canada's Atiba Hutchinson, who played against Croatia at the age of 39 years and 296 days in the 2022 World Cup.

• Will Haaland become Norway's all-time leading World Cup scorer?

Erling Haaland made his World Cup debut in Norway's 4-1 victory over Iraq. Where records are broken, Haaland is often nearby. In Norway's 4-1 victory over Iraq, the Norwegian striker touched the ball only 20 times and scored two goals, becoming the first player to score two goals in a single World Cup match for his country.

It took Haaland only one match to equal Norway's all-time World Cup top scorer. He has equaled Kjetil Rekdal's record. He may surpass Rekdal when he plays against Senegal on Tuesday.

• Vojinha among the oldest players in World Cup history

Vojinha was emotional after the unexpected draw with Spain. Although Cape Verde's goalkeeper played in a 0-0 draw, he became one of the notable figures of the tournament.

He made seven excellent saves, preventing European champions Spain from scoring in Cape Verde's World Cup debut and also set some records. At 40 years and 12 days old, he became the oldest player to take the field in his nation's first World Cup match. Previously, this record was held by Curacao's Eloy Rum.

Vojinha also set the record for the oldest goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet on his World Cup finals debut.

• Deschamps in contention to become the coach with the most wins

Didier Deschamps has won the World Cup for France as both a player and a coach. France's coach Deschamps is just one win away from equaling the record for the most wins as a coach in the World Cup.

Former West Germany coach Helmut Schön is at the top with 16 wins, and if France wins against Iraq, Deschamps will equal him. If everything goes according to plan, he will set a new record with his 17th win in the final group match against Norway.

• Most red cards in the World Cup

Only one direct red card was shown in the 2022 World Cup. The record for the most red cards, 28, was set in the 2006 tournament. So far, 6 red cards have been shown in the 2026 tournament.

Three red cards were shown in Mexico's opening match victory over South Africa. Subsequently, Tarik Muharemović of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Asim Omar Madibo and Homam Ahmed of Qatar also received red cards.

This number is higher than in the last two World Cups. A total of four red cards were shown in the World Cups held in Qatar and Russia. There is still a long way to go to break this record, but there are still enough matches left in the tournament to chase records.

BBC