Tuesday, September 8, 2026

FIFA confirms World Cup records set by Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappé, others

Deschamps, who resigned as the manager of the France national team after the tournament, set the new record as the coach with most World Cup appearances with 26 matches.

• July 25, 2026

World football governing body FIFA has officially confirmed the records set by players during the recently concluded 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by the United States of America, Canada and Mexico.

Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Michael Olise, Rodri, Cristiano Ronaldo and Eloy Room were among the players who broke FIFA World Cup records, some which had lasted for years. 

Below is full list released by FIFA

Lionel Messi 

The 39-year-old was definitely one of the standout players of the World Cup as Argentina reached the final of the tournament before losing to Spain. 

Messi set multiple records during the tournament, including becoming the player with the most World Cup wins (23), player scoring in most successive appearances (nine) and player with the most goals from outside the box (seven).

Cristiano Ronaldo 

The Manchester United and Real Madrid legend became the first player to score in six different World Cup editions — a feat that eluded his rival Lionel Messi despite having played in six tournaments after  failing to find the target at South Africa 2010.

Ronaldo also became the second oldest player to score in World Cup history after Cameroon’s Roger Milla.

Eloy Room

Room equalled the most saves (16) by a goalkeeper in a World Cup match following his impressive display in Curaçao’s historic 1-1 draw against Ecuador in the group stage. 

United States’ Tim Howard had been the outright record-holder since the 2014 match against Belgium before Room matched the numbers but the latter achieved the feat within the 90 minutes regulation time while the former needed the 30 minutes extra time. 

Unai Simon

Another goalkeeper who made history was Spain’s Simon, setting the record for most clean sheets (seven) at a single World Cup tournament.

The next best at one edition was five, managed by the Netherlands’ Jan Jongbloed in 1974, Italy’s Walter Zenga in 1990, Brazil’s Taffarel in 1994, France’s Fabien Barthez in 1998, Germany’s Oliver Kahn in 2002, Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon in 2006 and Spain’s Iker Casillas in 2010.

Kylian Mbappe

The 27-year-old extended his World Cup scoring tally to 22 goals in North America to become the player with the most goals in World Cup history. 

Germany’s Miroslav Klose, with 16 goals, was leading the chart before the tournament but Mbappe scored 10 goals at the just concluded tournament to take the crown. 

Messi, who was three goals adrift of Klose before competition, scored eight goals in North America, putting just one-goal behind Mbappe in the all-time list. 

Johan Manzambi

The 20-year-old midfielder became the youngest substitute to bag a brace in a World Cup match. He scored three goals and provided two assists as Switzerland reached the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Didier Deschamps

Deschamps, who resigned as the manager of the France national team after the tournament, set the new record as the coach with most World Cup appearances with 26 matches. 

Despite missing the 4-1 victory over Norway to attend his mother’s funeral, the 57-year-old surpassed the previous 25 appearances held by Helmut Schon who took four World Cups to reach the figure. 

Dick Advocaat

At 78 years old, Advocaat became the oldest coach to manage a World Cup team after leading Curaçao to their first-ever appearance in the tournament. 

Jude Bellingham & Harry Kane, Ousmane Dembele & Kylian Mbappe

They become first teammates to reach six goals in one World Cup edition.

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