Five World Cup records that could be broken in 2026

The 2026 World Cup is the biggest in history. For the first time, 48 teams play across 104 matches in three countries, which means more football, more goals, and more chances for history to be made. If you’re following the tournament and want to place a football bet, knowing which records are genuinely under threat adds a whole new layer to the summer. Here are five that could fall.

Miroslav Klose’s all-time top scorer record

Klose scored 16 World Cup goals across four tournaments for Germany between 2002 and 2014, and the record has stood unchallenged ever since. Lionel Messi currently sits on 13 goals from five tournaments, while Kylian Mbappe has 12 from just two, and with both players expected to feature in 2026, the record is in serious danger for the first time.

Mbappe is only 27 and has averaged 0.86 goals per game at World Cups across his two appearances, meaning a full seven-game run in 2026 would put him on roughly six goals for the tournament and comfortably past Klose’s tally. Messi needs just four to break it outright. With both Argentina and France among the favourites in the World Cup winner odds, the opportunities will be there.

Most goals in a single World Cup tournament

Just Fontaine scored 13 goals in six games for France at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, a record that has stood for nearly 70 years and has never been seriously threatened, with Gerd Muller’s 10 goals in 1970 the closest anyone has come in the modern era.

The 2026 format changes the equation, because teams that reach the final will now play up to seven games rather than the previous maximum of six, and the expanded field brings weaker opposition in the group stage where a prolific striker can do real damage.

Mbappe scored eight goals in just seven games at the 2022 World Cup, and if he carries that form into a tournament with an extra potential game, 13 is no longer the untouchable figure it once seemed.

Most total goals scored in a World Cup

Both the 1998 tournament in France and the 2014 edition in Brazil produced 172 goals across 64 games, but in 2026, there are 104 games to be played, which makes this record almost certain to fall by a considerable margin.

Even if the goals-per-game average matches the lowest in World Cup history, which was 2.21 at Italia ‘90, the 2026 tournament would still produce around 230 goals in total, meaning the existing record would be beaten by nearly 60. It is less a question of whether this record falls and more a question of by how much.

Most appearances in World Cup history

Messi broke Lothar Matthaus’s long-standing record of 25 appearances when he played in the 2022 final, finishing on 26 games across five tournaments, and with Argentina among the frontrunners in 2026, he could extend that total significantly if he plays the full tournament.

Seven games in North America would take him to 33 appearances, a figure that would likely stand for a very long time given how rare it is for outfield players to sustain the fitness and form required to feature at five or six World Cups.

Harry Kane becoming England’s all-time top World Cup scorer

Gary Lineker scored 10 goals for England at World Cups across the 1986 and 1990 tournaments, a record he has held for over three decades, and Harry Kane is two behind him with eight, including winning the Golden Boot in Russia in 2018 with six goals.

The editorial unit