2026 FIFA World Cup Recap: By the Numbers
By: AT
🧤 1: Goal that Spain conceded throughout the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament. The lone goal scored against goalkeeper Unai Simón occurred in the first half of La Roja's quarterfinal match against Belgium, with Atalanta BC forward Charles De Ketelaere being the lucky scorer. However, most of the credit goes to Spain's defence, which was effective enough to force Simón to make only 14 saves throughout the tournament. Spain also broke the record for conceding the lowest number of goals in a tournament, despite playing one additional match compared to the former record holders: France (1998), Italy (2006) and Spain (2010). All three of those nations won that year's tournament. Defence surely wins titles!
🏆 2: World Cup titles that Spain possesses after defeating Argentina 1-0 after extra-time in the 2026 final. La Rojaeclipsed England's record and is now level with France, which won the tournament in 1998 and 2018. Spain and France trail 2022 World Cup winner Argentina (3), Germany and Italy (4 each), and record holders Brazil (5). See our article tracking the number of World Cup titles and tournament match victories.
⚽️ 10: Goals that French forward Kylian Mbappé scored during the 2026 World Cup, finishing top scorer and consequently winning the tournament’s Golden Boot. In France’s eight matches played, the Frenchman scored 10 goals; with 769 minutes played, Mbappé averaged a goal every 76.9 minutes. Argentine forward and former Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) teammate Lionel Messi finished second in scoring with eight goals in as many matches (853 minutes). The following four players in goalscoring are England midfielder Jude Bellingham (seven goals in 698 minutes), Norway forward Erling Haaland (seven in 537), France forward Ousmane Dembélé (six in 648) and England forward Harry Kane (six in 732). See our article on the all-time World Cup scorers.
📈 28: World Cup winners that had played for Serie A club Juventus FC at the time they won a World Cup title, a record among all clubs. However, no Juventus player won the 2026 World Cup, with the last Juventus player to win the World Cup being Argentina forward Ángel Di María, who won the World Cup in 2022. Bundesliga club Bayern rank second in this category with 23 titles, while Serie A's Inter Milan rank third with 22 titles. Rounding out the top five are LaLiga club FC Barcelona (20) and Serie A's AS Roma (18). Among those five clubs, only Barcelona fielded players (8) who won this year's World Cup.
🇪🇸 50: Matches that PSG midfielder Fabian Ruiz has played for Spain. In those matches, Spain remained undefeated, winning the 2024 UEFA European Championship and the 2026 World Cup in the process. Spain also made it to the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League final but lost on penalties against Portugal; however, that match is not considered a loss because it went beyond regular- and extra-time. In his 50 appearances, Ruiz produced seven goals and 12 assists.
💶 €3.9 million: The amount that Premier League (EPL) club Manchester City will receive from FIFA via the FIFA Benefits Programme, which provides compensation to clubs based on the number of club players participating in the tournament and the length at which the players were away from the club. City had 19 players released for the World Cup — the highest number among all clubs — with midfielder Rodri not only winning the tournament with Spain but also earning the tournament's Golden Ball for being the best player. Barcelona rank second in this category, receiving €3.4 million; Bayern rank third, receiving €3.0 million. Rounding out the top five clubs are EPL club Arsenal FC and Ligue 1's PSG, pocketing €2.9 million and €2.8 million, respectively. AC Milan, which rank 10th, have received the highest amount among all 20 Serie A clubs, with €2.1 million.
🏟️ 6,810,966: The cumulative attendance for all 104 matches at the 2026 World Cup, an all-time tournament record. This record was expected because of the additional 40 matches played across Canada, Mexico and the United States, and the large crowd capacities at the American stadiums and at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. With the final being played at MetLife Stadium — the third-largest stadium by capacity at the tournament — in East Rutherford New Jersey, it generated a crowd of 80,663. Interestingly, the tournament's opening match, which was held at Estadio Azteca — the second-largest stadium by capacity — generated a crowd of 80,824, narrowly beating the final's attendance.
