Team USA needed just three group stage matches to score more goals than it has in a single World Cup. The Americans’ eight goals surpassed the record of seven set in 1930 and matched in 2002. The inaugural World Cup in 1930 drew 13 teams to Uruguay, which beat Argentina 4-2 in the final.

The United States scored 3-0 victories against Paraguay and Belgium to advance to the semifinals. Bert Patenaude provided all the scoring against Paraguay for the first World Cup hat trick. There have been 56 in the World  Cup since then, but Patenaude remains the only American to have one.

Three players have scored two hat tricks in a single World Cup – Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis in 1954, France’s Just Fontaine in 1958 (Pele had one for Brazil) and West Germany’s Gerd Muller in 1970. Argentina’s Gabriel Batistuta is the only player to score hat tricks in two World Cups (1994 and ’98). 

The record for most hat tricks in a single World Cup is eight in 1954. There have been three thus far in 2026 with Argentina’s Lionel Messi, Canada’s Jonathan David and France’s Ousman Dembele joining the three-goal club. Messi has already added two records to his impressive resume in 2026.

Messi’s first of two goals against Austria on June 22 made him the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history with 18, That goal in the 38th minute also extended his scoring streak in the World Cup to a record seven consecutive games. That took Messi off the hook for earlier missing a penalty kick.

That wide right miss made the 38-year-old Messi the first player in World Cup history to misfire on three penalty attempts.  He is 3-for-7 with his first two misses coming in the past two World Cups. Fans will surely forgive Messi for one dubious record given how he has made Argentina a soccer power.

Messi is the Golden Boot leader with six goals, but there is little chance he will come within sniffing distance of Fontaine’s record 13 goals in 1958. Messi has contributed to the record 215 goals scored thus far in the 2026 tournament, which is the first after the 32-team field expanded to 49.

— Levi’s Stadium has hosted two Super Bowls, three Taylor Swift concerts, WrestleMania 31, the 2019 college football championship game and now six World Cup matches. Levi’s is not a World Cup sponsor, so any signage at the stadium for the company that invented blue jeans is covered.

The seating capacity at Levi’s Stadium is 68,827, but it can be expanded to 75.000 for events such as the Super Bowl and World Cup. The NFL requires a capacity of 70,000 for a Super Bowl, so that is why the 1985 Super Bowl was at Stanford Stadium (84,892) instead of Candlestick Park (69,732). 

By 1985, Stanford’s football attendance was so low that sections of empty seats were covered by red tarps. The stadium built in 1921 was demolished in 2006 and rebuilt with a capacity of 50,424. The Cardinal had an average attendance of 28,171 in 2025, ranking 78th among 132 FBS teams.

— Bosnia and Herzegovina’s captain is Edin Dzeko, one of five players in their 40s at the World Cup. The oldest is Scotland’s Craig Gordon at 43. Dzeko is 40, so he is six years older than his country. Bosnia and Herzegovina was one of six Yugoslavian republics until declaring its independence in 1992.

Mexico’s Gilberto Mora is the youngest player at 17. Ivory Coast is the youngest team with an average age of 25.35 years.  Panama is the oldest with an average of 30. The United States is one of the youngest team with an average of 26.4.  The youngest American is Alex Freeman at 21. The oldest is Tim Ream at 38.