The 2026 FIFA World Cup has already delivered a night that may never be repeated. Within the span of a few hours, three of football’s biggest names — Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, and Erling Haaland — each scored twice, combining for six goals and shattering a collection of tournament records.
Messi, now 39, reached 18 career World Cup goals to become the all-time leading scorer in the competition’s history. He has scored all five of Argentina’s goals in their first two matches. Mbappé hit his milestones on his 100th cap for France, while Haaland continued his relentless march through the record books.
As Der Spiegel noted in a tactical analysis, the tournament’s extraordinary goal-scoring rate can be partly explained by how differently teams play at international level compared to club football. Fewer sides are employing man-marking systems, and a more passive defensive approach is leaving space for attackers of this caliber to exploit. The result has been a flood of goals that has captivated audiences worldwide.
