The 2026 World Cup became the fastest edition of the tournament to reach 100 goals since 1958, with the milestone achieved in the 33rd game.
Liverpool striker Cody Gakpo reached his century with the Netherlands’ fourth goal in their 5-1 victory over Sweden on Saturday (20).
It’s the first time in 68 years that it took 33 games to reach three figures.
The only faster tournament was in Switzerland in 1954, won by West Germany, when only 20 matches were needed.
“Probably the most compact and tactically balanced game I’ve seen so far was Holland against Japan and, even then, it had four goals,” England’s Euro 2022 champion Ellen White told BBC Sport.
In 2014, in Brazil, it took 36 games to reach one hundred, the same number as in 1982.
There were 38 games in Argentina, in 1978, and in the United States, in 1994.
This World Cup, co-organized by the USA, Mexico and Canada, averages 3.09 goals per game and is on track to surpass 300 goals.
So why did it only take 33 games to reach 100 goals?
Mexican Julián Quiñones opened the scoring in this World Cup in a 2-0 victory over South Africa on June 11.
The goals have continued to come since that opening match in Mexico City.
From Germany’s 7-1 thrashing of newcomers Curaçao in Houston on June 14 to Canada’s 6-0 victory over Qatar in Vancouver four days later, there was an avalanche of goals.
One of the reasons for so many goals could be the Adidas Trionda ball used in the games.
It seems that several goalkeepers have already been surprised by the trajectory of the ball.
That was evident earlier this week when France captain Kylian Mbappé scored his second goal of the match, and his furthest of the tournament so far, beating Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy with a shot from around 27 yards.
It was one of five goals in the first round scored from more than 20 meters away.
Two of these goals were scored by Swede Yasin Ayari against Tunisia, with shots from 22.7 meters and 22.2 meters, respectively.
The other two goals in the group were scored by Australia’s Connor Metcalfe, with a shot from 23.4 meters against Tunisia, and by Morocco’s Ismael Saibari, from 22.6 meters against Brazil.
Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart, speaking to BBC Sport, suggested that goalkeepers are finding it difficult to adapt to the ball.
Hart noticed the ball reaching Jordan Pickford quicker than expected when Martin Baturina equalized for Croatia against England on 17 June.
More than 10 goals were scored from outside the box, not to mention simple shots after goalkeepers missed effective shots.
“It’s something to watch.”
“There were one or two occasions where that ball didn’t necessarily behave as you would expect,” said former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who is working on the World Cup for BBC Sport.
This is not the first time that World Cup balls have caused problems. During the 2010 tournament in South Africa, the ‘Jabulani’ became known for his deflections, drops and changes of trajectory, which were believed to have contributed to several long-range goals.
During the 2010 tournament in South Africa, Jabulani became known for his deflections, drops and changes in trajectory, which were believed to have contributed to several long-range goals.
“The ball is terrible,” James said. “It’s horrible, but it’s horrible for everyone.”
At the end of that tournament, 26 of the 145 goals scored were from outside the box.
Is an expanded format behind the increase in goals?
Goalless draws at this World Cup have been as rare as Neymar appearing on the field for Brazil.
After 33 games of the new expanded 104-match tournament, there was just one.
And it was a memorable goalless draw for debutants Cape Verde, who held off 2010 world champions Spain in Atlanta on June 15.
The Blue Sharks are one of four debuting countries in the expanded 48-team World Cup, along with Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan.
While Cape Verde frustrated Spain, Curaçao – the smallest nation ever, in size and population, to participate in the tournament – conceded seven goals against Germany in their opening match.
“Of course, having more lower-ranked teams and selections has had a small impact in terms of quality,” said former Brentford and Tottenham manager Thomas Frank.
“But apart from a few games, like Germany against Curaçao, where the game got away from them, there haven’t been that many teams beaten so far.”
Jordan, 68th in the FIFA rankings, began their campaign with a 3-1 defeat to Austria, while Uzbekistan lost by the same score to Colombia.
Has the break between games been a factor in so many goals?
Mexico, which kicked off the tournament on June 11, had to wait a week before returning to play against South Korea.
Did this give the stronger teams a chance to recover before playing again?
Is the heat leading to wear and tear… and more goals?
This World Cup (3.09 goals per game) surpasses Qatar’s average four years earlier (2.69 per game), with that tournament played in December to mitigate the high summer temperatures in the Middle East.
So the heat in North America could be leading to physical difficulties – and more goals?
Of the 105 goals in the tournament (after Germany’s victory over Côte d’Ivoire), 30 came between the 76th minute and the end of the match (28.6% – on pace to be the sixth most in history and the most since 2014).
There were also a high number of errors that resulted in goals.
Tunisia’s Ellyes Skhiri lost possession in a dangerous area against Sweden, allowing Viktor Gyokeres to score.
The North African team made six shooting errors in total, four of which resulted directly in goals, as Graham Potter’s side won 5-1 in their opening match.
In other cases, did hydration breaks – booed by fans in some games – allow teams to regroup and then score?
The mandatory three-minute breaks in all 104 games are intended to allow players to hydrate, but coaches have used them to make tactical adjustments and give new instructions.
Brazil trailed 1-0 to Morocco in their opening game in New Jersey, but equalized within 10 minutes of the restart following a first-half hydration break.
“You can tell the players what to do,” said Switzerland coach Murat Yakin.
“We can show them images. For three minutes we can talk to them, talk about substitutions, we can talk about changes.”
Starting with everything
Another factor behind the increase in goals is that many of the big stars arrived with everything from the start.
Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick against Algeria, Kylian Mbappe scored twice against Senegal, while Vinicius Jr scored in each of Brazil’s two games.
Erling Haaland, who won the 2025-26 Premier League Golden Boot with 27 goals for Manchester City, also scored twice in Norway’s 4-1 victory over Iraq, as did England captain Harry Kane in the victory over Croatia.
“We have seen many times, at World Cups or Euros, that key players were not fully fit after a difficult season, which is exactly what happened to Harry Kane two years ago at Euro 2024,” Frank added.
“But he and other key players like Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland are flying and couldn’t look fitter.”
In an interview with BBC Sport, former Manchester City defender Micah Richards said: “The forwards at this World Cup look very confident.”
“It’s as if everyone believes they will score a goal and everyone is confident in themselves. It’s not so much about tactics anymore, but rather the feeling of happiness of being at a World Cup.”
