The group stage of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ has come to a spectacular close, with the biggest edition of football's greatest tournament already rewriting the record books and captivating fans across Canada, Mexico, the USA and all over the world.

In just 17 days, the first-ever 48-team tournament has united more nations, players and supporters than ever before, transforming 72 matches across 16 host cities into a celebration of global passion, drama and unforgettable football.

The statistics of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ group stage illustrate the scale of the tournament, which extends far beyond the pitch to encompass every facet of the fan experience, from the 4,644,549 people who attended the matches to the 300,000 hot dogs consumed. To put that into perspective, if all the hot dogs sold were lined up end to end, they would span the roughly 28 miles (45 kilometres) between New York New Jersey Stadium and JFK International Airport.

With 1,248 players representing 48 nations — 999 of whom played in the group stage — and an unprecedented tournament footprint, the first 17 days of the FIFA World Cup 2026 have set a powerful tone for what lies ahead. Below are some of the official facts and figures from the record-breaking edition of the world's greatest sporting event.

ON THE PITCH

On to the knock-out

Of the 32 teams that have qualified, 13 are from UEFA, nine are from CAF, five are from CONMEBOL, three are from CONCACAF, and two are from the AFC.

Never before have more than two African nations reached the knockout round of a FIFA World Cup™. In 2014, there were two CAF teams (Algeria and Nigeria), and in 2022, there were two more (Morocco and Senegal). Only once before have there been three Concacaf representatives in the knockout stage: in 2014, when Costa Rica, Mexico and the USA made it through their respective groups.

This year, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cabo Verde, Canada, Congo DR, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt and South Africa have all qualified for the knockout phase of the FIFA World Cup™ for the first time.

Cabo Verde were the only one of the four debutants to remain undefeated in the group stage of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and qualify for the knockout phase. Kevin Pina scored Cabo Verde’s first ever World Cup goal against Uruguay.

Goals

A total of 215 goals were scored during the group stage — an average of three per match — setting a new FIFA World Cup™ record (only 172 were scored in total at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™). France, Germany and the Netherlands top the scoring charts with 10 goals each.

A total of 1,774 shots were recorded (an average of 24.6 per match), with Belgium registering a tournament-high 73 attempts. Of the 48 nations, 47 scored a goal in the group stage – only Panama failed to do so. To date, there have been 2,935 goals in the history of the competition.

Canada's 6–0 win over Qatar marked the first instance in FIFA World Cup history where a CONCACAF nation scored more than four goals in a match.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi made history by becoming the first player to score in seven consecutive FIFA World Cup™ final tournament matches. He also became the tournament's all-time leading scorer with 19 goals. However, this ranking could change in the current tournament, with Kylian Mbappé (France, Golden Boot winner at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™) close behind on 16 goals.

Messi also became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in tournament history, aged 38 years and 357 days, surpassing Ronaldo, who was 33 years and 130 days old when he scored three against Spain in 2018.

Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored ten goals, making him Portugal’s all-time top scorer in FIFA World Cup history and surpassing Eusébio, who netted nine.

Harry Kane, Golden Boot winner at the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018™, is now England’s all-time top scorer in FIFA World Cup history with 11 goals, surpassing Gary Lineker's tally of 10.

The 4–1 win over Paraguay was the first time the USA had scored four goals in a FIFA World Cup match.

The record breakers

Curaçao's head coach, Dick Advocaat, set a new record by becoming the oldest coach in the tournament's history, aged 78 years and 271 days.

Meanwhile, Hugo Broos became the oldest head coach to win a match in FIFA World Cup history, aged 74 years and 75 days. This surpasses the record set by Carlos Queiroz, who was 73 years and 108 days old when he led Ghana to victory over Panama earlier in the tournament.

Meanwhile, Ismael Saibari (Morocco) became the first African player to score in three consecutive matches at the global showpiece.

Japan's 4-0 victory over Tunisia was the 1,000th match in FIFA World Cup™ history and the biggest win ever by an AFC team in the tournament.

Mexico have now won four successive FIFA World Cup fixtures for the first time, extending their record as the first CONCACAF team to achieve the feat.

Senegal have become the first African team to score five goals in a FIFA World Cup match.

Debutants

The FIFA World Cup 2026 saw four teams make their debut: Curaçao, Cabo Verde, Jordan and Uzbekistan. One of the most notable stories was that of Cabo Verde, whose population of just 500,000 belied their historic progress to the Round of 32, where they will face Argentina in Miami.

Of the 1,248 players that made up the 48 squads, 354 had played in a previous tournament. Meanwhile, 894 players were representing their nation at a FIFA World Cup for the first time.

Line-ups

A total of 1,248 players from 48 countries have participated in the tournament so far, with 999 of them appearing in at least one match. Of those players, 687 were substitutes.

Substitutions

The average number of substitutions used by the 48 teams was 4.77, showing that teams are making the most of the increased number of substitutions allowed. Three teams (Iraq, Mexico and Norway) used 25 players, almost their entire squad.

Passing & Distribution

Teams completed 68,162 passes during the group stage, averaging 946.7 per match. Spain led the competition with 2,191 passes, 2,013 of which were successful. A total of 2,359 successful crosses were recorded during the group stage, with Canada topping the standings with 117.

Disciplinary

Players committed an average of 22.3 fouls per match during the group stage, totalling 1,604. Haiti recorded the most fouls (55). Referees issued an average of 2.5 yellow cards per match, totalling 180, with Paraguay receiving the most (eight). Ten red cards were also shown, including two to South Africa.

FAN EXPERIENCE

Stadium attendances

A total of 4,644,549 people attended matches during the group stage, filling an extraordinary 99.7% of available seats and creating an average crowd of 64,508 per match.

Fans from 210 countries and territories attended the group stage of the FIFA World Cup 2026™, surpassing the all-time attendance record of 3.5 million set at the 1994 FIFA World Cup USA. FIFA also recorded its highest-ever single-day tournament attendance on 25 June, with 426,834 spectators.

So far, the FIFA World Cup has had more than 80,000 people in attendance on a single match on eight occasions.

Tickets

The tournament's most requested matches across all 104 fixtures were Portugal v Colombia (Miami, 27 June), the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Final (New York/New Jersey, 19 July) and Mexico v Korea Republic (Guadalajara, 18 June). The top ticket-buying countries were the USA, Canada, Mexico, England, Germany, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Australia and France.

FIFA Fan Festivals™

During the group stage, more than 5.5 million fans gathered at FIFA Fan Festivals across the three host countries, consuming almost 2 million units of soft drinks and water and over 2 million alcoholic beverages. A record 527,402 people attended on 24 June, and Mexico City's FIFA Fan Festival™ saw its highest single-day attendance of 201,500 on 18 June.

Kansas City's FIFA Fan Festival attracted people from 157 different countries. On that day, when Scotland and Brazil played in Miami, supporters at the city's festival consumed 32,000 beers.

Canada Celebrates the FIFA World Cup 2026™

Canada's passion for football has been on full display through Canada Celebrates, a first-of-its-kind programme for FIFA that has already welcomed 94,250 fans across 22 of its 40 stops. From coast to coast to coast, Canadians have come together to celebrate the FIFA World Cup 2026™ through live match screenings, football activities, music and local culture. By the conclusion of the countrywide celebration, Canada Celebrates will have reached every province and one territory, bringing communities together and showcasing football’s power to unite Canadians like never before.

Music and entertainment

With 374 million streams across all digital streaming platforms as of 22 June, the Official FIFA World Cup 2026™ Album has achieved remarkable success. Notably, Shakira and Burna Boy’s 'Dai Dai', the Official FIFA World Cup 2026™ Song, is currently ranked 2nd on Spotify's Top 50 Global Chart and 5th on Shazam's Global Top 200.

The FIFA World Cup 2026 Official Album is at number 152 in the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart — this is the first time a FIFA soundtrack has featured in the list.

This week, Dai Dai and Champions (by IShowSpeed) are ranked at numbers one and 14 respectively on YouTube's Top 100 Music Videos Global chart. The FIFA YouTube channel has amassed 30 million subscribers and 459 million views of the album songs.

In addition to the official music programme, there are over 750 curated music assets at the stadiums, designed to shape the FIFA World Cup experience at every venue and for every team. These include over 350 team-submitted and approved tracks, covering signature songs, warm-ups, goal stings, and post-match celebratory moments.

Broadcast

With more than 50 million viewers tuning in across Canada, Mexico and the United States, the opening FIFA World Cup 2026™ matches featuring the three host nations highlighted the tournament's ability to unite and inspire audiences across North America.

A total of 7.2 million viewers tuned into the Mexico vs South Africa opening match on Fox. This is the most-watched FIFA Men’s World Cup opening match ever broadcast in English in the US.

Meanwhile, 10 million viewers watched Brazil vs Morocco on Fox, setting a new record. It was the most-watched non-USMNT FIFA Men’s World Cup group stage broadcast in the history of English-language US television (a record that was broken twice during the tournament).

5.3 million: Canada's historic first FIFA World Cup victory attracted an average audience of 5.3 million, making it the country's most-watched group-stage match ever and the highest-rated national team broadcast.

49.9 million: Brazil recorded the highest-rated television broadcast of 2026, with an average of 28.9 million viewers watching Brazil vs Morocco. Meanwhile, Globo reached 49.9 million unique individuals across its platforms for the same match.

205 million: In China, the 2026 FIFA World Cup has already reached 205 million unique viewers on CCTV channels after 41 games. The live match with the highest number of unique viewers so far was Tunisia v Japan, which was broadcast on CCTV5 this weekend and reached 24 million viewers.

Food & Beverage

During the group stage, fans purchased more than 2.8 million beers and 300,000 hot dogs — equivalent to around 45 kilometres laid end to end — in stadiums, as well as nearly one million bottles of water. Popular menu items varied across the host countries, with beer and chips proving most popular in Canada, hot dogs leading in the USA, and pizza and French fries topping the menu in Mexico.

FIFA Fan IDs

More than three million FIFA Fan IDs were issued to supporters attending matches across all 16 host cities. Fans could unlock an exclusive digital experience by tapping their card with their smartphones, including the ability to personalise official FIFA World Cup 2026 merchandise with their own content and curated official tournament images.

Team Jerseys

Mexico's national team jersey was the best-selling shirt for adidas during the group stage of the tournament. So far, adidas has reported event-related sales of more than 1.13 billion USD.

Digital engagement

There have been 130 million unique visitors to FIFA.com so far during the tournament (of which 34 million are from the host countries), representing growth of +26% compared to the group stage of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. There were 30 million unique visitors to the FIFA World Cup app, representing growth of +130% compared to the last FIFA World Cup.

There were 39 million new followers across all platforms during the group stage – 16 million on TikTok, where FIFA is now the second most-followed sports organisation account in the world. On YouTube, FIFA’s channel gained five million new followers, reaching 30 million in total. There have been 17 billion impressions to date and one billion engagements across all social media platforms. Eight billion video views occurred on the preferred platforms, TikTok and YouTube, with a total of 11 billion video views across all social media platforms. Engagement and video views are already higher than the ones occurred in the 2022 full tournament.

The performance of 'Dai Dai' by Shakira and Burna Boy at the FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremony received 131 million views on Instagram and 44 million on YouTube. Messi’s goal in the Argentina–Algeria match is the most-viewed video on TikTok for FIFA World Cup related content, with 53 million views.

In the US, searches for "World Cup" on TikTok have increased by more than 300% since the start of the tournament. Official FIFA World Cup broadcasters have posted more than 44,000 pieces of content on TikTok since the beginning of the tournament, sharing match highlights and behind-the-scenes content.

Social Impact Campaign

FIFA’s social impact campaigns, including Football Unites the World, No Racism, Be Active and Unite for Peace, have reached stadium attendances of over 4.6 million, carrying messages of unity, health and friendship. Meanwhile, FIFA's social impact campaigns were shared with audiences of 5.5 million at FIFA Fan Festivals. Content from the No Racism campaign has received over 180 million views on social media. A total of 56,204 guests were welcomed to community training sessions where the 'Be Active' message was communicated. A further 1,150 children took part in 'Be Active' training sessions, joined by players participating at the tournament.

OPERATIONS

Tournament Operations

During the group stage, FIFA activated 645 official tournament sites, including airports, hotels, team base camps, training sites, stadiums, accreditation centres, and so on.

A total of 5,020 transfers were delivered, including 1,899 escorted movements by team bus and 1,696 kit van movements.

These operations were delivered by a workforce of 4,738 people from 134 different nationalities (representing 45 of the 48 competing nations). Over 20,000 security personnel worked a total of 265,369 shifts to ensure the safety of everyone involved in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Volunteers

A total of 40,050 volunteers from 162 countries and territories supported during the group stage, continuing to play a vital role at the heart of the FIFA World Cup.

Media

A total of 5,230 accredited media representatives from around the world attended the group stage of the FIFA World Cup 2026™, with an average of 445 per match. During the first phase of the competition, FIFA also hosted 218 official press conferences.

Ceremonies & Entertainment

More than 10,000 volunteers helped deliver pre-match ceremonies across the group stage.

The large country banners have become a key feature of the pre-match ceremony at the FIFA World Cup 2026. Around 70 volunteers display each banner during each match. Each banner measures 5,272 cm x 3,784 cm, equating to approximately 200 square metres. A complex logistics plan involving over 200 movements is in place to transport these banners to the correct location for their next matches using various methods of transportation.

The opening match ceremonies in each host country featured world-renowned artists, including Alejandro Fernández, Andrea Bocelli, Shakira, Burna Boy, J Balvin, Future, Katy Perry, Alessia Cara, Michael Bublé and Alanis Morissette, among others. These performances celebrated the rich musical cultures of Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The world-class matches have attracted a host of global superstars from the worlds of film, sport, and music. These include Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, Edward Norton, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Colin Farrell, Paris Hilton, Katy Perry, Travis Scott, Kelly Rowland, Ryan Reynolds, David Beckham, Tom Brady, Dwyane Wade, Jessica Alba, Halle Berry, Ashton Kutcher, Salma Hayek, and Sofía Vergara, to name but a few.