Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo brought up a landmark century with the Netherlands' third goal in a 5-1 win over Sweden on Saturday – the 33rd match of the 2026 World Cup, making it the fastest edition to hit 100 goals since 1958. The only quicker tournament was in Switzerland in 1954, when it took just 20 matches. In Brazil in 2014 it took 36 games, the same number as in 1982, while in Argentina in 1978 and the United States in 1994 it took 38. This World Cup – co-hosted by the USA, Mexico and Canada – is averaging 3.09 goals per game and is on course to surpass 300.
So why have the goals flown in? The Adidas 'Trionda' ball has been blamed. Goalkeepers appear to be caught out by its flight: France captain Kylian Mbappe scored his second goal from 30 yards against Senegal, one of five strikes from more than 22 yards in the first round of fixtures. Sweden's Yasin Ayari scored twice from 24.8 and 24.3 yards against Tunisia, Australia's Connor Metcalfe from 25.6 yards and Ismael Saibari from 24.7 yards. Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart told BBC Sport that the ball rushed Jordan Pickford faster than expected during Martin Baturina's equaliser for Croatia against England. "There are one or two occasions where this football has not necessarily behaved as you would expect it to," Hart said.
“2026 World Cup reaches 100 goals in 33 games, the fastest since 1958, amid speculation over the new Adidas ball.”
England's Euro 2022 winner Ellen White noted the sheer volume of goals, even in tight games. "Probably the most compact and tactically tight game I've seen so far was Netherlands versus Japan – and even that had four goals," she told BBC Sport. From Germany's 7-1 rout of debutants Curacao to Canada's 6-0 hammering of Qatar, the avalanche has been relentless.
For UK fans, every one of the 104 games across the five-week tournament is available free-to-air on BBC and ITV – with kick-off slots including 6pm and 8pm BST, though some matches run through the night. With the goals showing no sign of stopping, the question now is whether the record for the fastest 100 goals will be broken again.