▲ Lionel Messi, who set the record for the oldest hat-trick in his 6th World Cup appearance
The first round of the group stage for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which kicked off on June 12 (KST), concluded today, June 18, seven days after it began.
With a record-high 48 nations participating, the teams were divided into 12 groups to complete their opening matches.
A total of 75 goals were scored across the 24 matches of the first round, averaging 3.125 goals per game.
The highest-scoring match was the Group E opener on June 15, where Germany defeated Curaçao 7-1.
Goal-fests also took place in the matches between Sweden and Tunisia in Group F (5-1), England and Croatia in Group L (4-2), Norway and Iraq in Group I (4-1), and the United States and Paraguay in Group D (4-1).
Early tournament upsets included the 0-0 draw between Spain and Cape Verde, the 1-1 draw between Brazil and Morocco, and the 1-1 draw between Portugal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Draws occurred in 9 out of the 24 matches.
Notably, all eight teams in Group G (New Zealand, Iran, Belgium, Egypt) and Group H (Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Cape Verde) each earned one point.
Lionel Messi, the "God of Football" leading defending champion Argentina, poured out historic records in their 3-0 victory against Algeria: becoming the first player to appear in 6 World Cup final tournaments, scoring the oldest hat-trick in history (38 years and 357 days), and tying the record for the most goals in World Cup history (16 goals).
France's star striker Kylian Mbappé also scored two goals in their 3-1 win over Senegal, setting new records for his country's most international goals (58 goals) and most World Cup goals (14 goals).
Portugal's iconic forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who defined an era alongside Messi in their legendary rivalry, became the oldest outfield player to start in a World Cup match at 41 years and 132 days old.
The records of Messi, Mbappé, and Ronaldo are still ongoing.
Panelists from the U.S. online sports media outlet The Athletic selected the Iran-New Zealand (2-2), England-Croatia, and Japan-Netherlands (2-2) matches as the best games of the first round.
Participating nations will now enter the second round of the group stage, starting with the Group A match between South Korea and Mexico on June 19.
(Photo: Getty Images)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.