2026 World Cup: The key stats from matchday one

19.06.26 FT World Cup

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With Ghana's 1-0 win over Panama and Colombia's 3-1 triumph over Uzbekistan, the opening round of the World Cup has come to a close. Time to break down the numbers.

- 75 goals were scored across the 24 matches of matchday one, averaging an impressive 3.12 goals per game.

- Germany boast the tournament's most lethal attack so far, having netted 7 times against Curaçao, ahead of Sweden (5), Norway, the United States, and England (each with 4).

World Cup 2026: The official and complete group stage schedule

- Eight teams share the best defensive record, keeping clean sheets in their opening fixtures: Mexico, Scotland, Australia, Ivory Coast, Spain, Cape Verde, Argentina, and Ghana.*

- There have been 3 red cards in the first 24 games—and all three came in the curtain-raiser between Mexico and South Africa, which ended 2-0.

- Lionel Messi stands alone as the only player to have scored a hat-trick. There were 7 braces, courtesy of Folarin Balogun, Elijah Just, Yasin Ayari, Kai Havertz, Harry Kane, Erling Haaland, and Kylian Mbappé.

- The tournament’s highest-scoring clash so far is Germany vs Curaçao (7-1), while just one match ended goalless: Spain vs Cape Verde.

Imed Ben Amara |

Editorar, fr

Imed Ben Amara - bilingual sports writer and web editor with experience in football content creation. Since 2021, he has contributed to Foot Africa, providing news coverage and analysis.

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