World Cup

Get the latest news, updates, and highlights from the World Cup.

  • Michael Olise ranks top in most assists at the 2026 World Cup

    Michael Olise ranks top in most assists at the 2026 World Cup

    With his assist for Kylian Mbappé’s goal, Michael Olise is now joint-top of the most assists at the 2026 World Cup:

    As the thrill of a football match lies in the pursuit of one ultimate objective: scoring goals, but it is is very difficult to score goals in a match without being assisted by a team mates, mostly those who assist might also score them but looking for who is best position to do needful. Apart from Michael Olise scoring 27 goals in two seasons at Bayern Munich, back-to-back Bundesliga titles and a Player of the Season award, his creative role for France at the World Cup 2026 was amazing to check how Olise was full of energy as it France opened with a 3-1 win over Senegal at MetLife Stadium. He played the full 90 minutes and was man of all moments as an effective creator, laying on a goal and creating four chances in all, with two shots of his own, eight passes into the penalty area and five corners. Kylin Mbappé scored twice and Bradley Barcola added another as France made a strong start, with Olive’s creativity central to the win and also turned magic in their game against Iraq having two assists, 59 touches, 6 touches in opposition. Box, 6 duels won, 5x possession won, 3 chances created,3 shots and
    3 successful take-ons. These are all that led him to join top of the most assists in the ongoing 2026 World Cup with assist.

    The names of the top assistants presently are listed below.

    🇫🇷 Michael Olise — 3
    🇸🇪 Alexander Isak — 3
    🇩🇪 Joshua Kimmich — 2
    🇪🇸 Brahim Díaz — 2
    🇳🇱 Denzel Dumfries — 2
    🇩🇪 Deniz Undav — 2
    🇪🇬 Mohamed Salah — 2
    🇵🇾 Julio Enciso — 2
    🇳🇿 Chris Wood — 2
    🇳🇱 Ryan Gravenberch — 2

  • Kylian Mbappé Chases Lionel Messi’s FIFA World Cup Goals Record After France Win Over Iraq

    Kylian Mbappé Chases Lionel Messi’s FIFA World Cup Goals Record After France Win Over Iraq

    Kylian Mbappé is closing in on Lionel Messi’s FIFA World Cup goal record after another brilliant performance for France.

    The French captain scored twice as France defeated Iraq 3-0 in their FIFA World Cup match, strengthening his standing among the greatest goalscorers in World Cup history. His latest goals moved him level with Miroslav Klose on 16 World Cup goals, while Messi remains ahead with 18.

    Mbappé has already established an outstanding World Cup legacy. From his breakthrough at the 2018 FIFA World Cup to his unforgettable hat-trick in the 2022 final against Argentina, the French forward has become one of the most dangerous players in the tournament’s history.

    The big question now is whether Mbappé can overtake Messi before the tournament ends. With France still in the competition and Mbappé in strong scoring form, the race for the all-time FIFA World Cup goals record is becoming one of the biggest stories of the tournament.

    All-Time FIFA World Cup Top Scorers

    1. Lionel Messi — 18 goals
    2. Kylian Mbappé — 16 goals
    3. Miroslav Klose — 16 goals
    4. Ronaldo Nazário — 15 goals
    5. Gerd Müller — 14 goals

    Mbappé’s consistency on the biggest stage has placed him among football’s greatest forwards. At his current rate, he has a strong chance of becoming the highest goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history.

    For now, Messi leads the race, but Mbappé is closing the gap.

    Can Kylian Mbappé overtake Lionel Messi to become the greatest goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history?

  • 2026 FIFA World Cup: Historic Moments, Records and Golden Boot Race So Far

    2026 FIFA World Cup: Historic Moments, Records and Golden Boot Race So Far

    The 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup has already delivered several historic moments, major records and unforgettable storylines.

    From debutant nations scoring their first-ever World Cup goals to Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé leading the Golden Boot race, the tournament has given football fans plenty to talk about.

    One of the biggest stories so far has been the rise of new World Cup nations. FIFA confirmed that Cabo Verde, DR Congo, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan all scored their first-ever goals at the tournament, making the expanded 2026 World Cup a memorable one for several countries.

    Cabo Verde has also become one of the fairytale stories of the tournament. The World Cup debutants impressed with their organisation, defensive strength and resilience, earning respect against bigger football nations.

    There has also been a history for Ivan Perišić, who became only the second player, after Lionel Messi, to provide assists in four different World Cup editions since detailed records began in 1966.

    Another major milestone came through Guillermo Ochoa, who joined Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as one of the few players to feature at a sixth FIFA World Cup.

    Messi has also continued to add to his World Cup legacy. He remains the only player to win the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball twice, having won the award in 2014 and 2022.

    There has also been African history, as Ghana equalled Nigeria’s record for the most FIFA World Cup wins by an African nation after beating Panama.

    2026 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot Race So Far

    The race for the Golden Boot is also becoming one of the biggest talking points of the tournament.

    Current leading scorers include:

    1. Lionel Messi — 6 goals
    2. Kylian Mbappé — 6 goals
    3. Harry Kane — 5 goals
    4. Erling Haaland — 5 goals
    5. Ousmane Dembélé — 4 goals
    6. Vinícius Júnior — 4 goals

    With the tournament now in the knockout rounds, more records could still be broken. Messi, Mbappé, Kane and Haaland are all chasing history, while smaller nations such as Cabo Verde have already shown that the 2026 FIFA World Cup is not only about the biggest names.

    This tournament has already produced goals, records, shocks and emotional moments. As the competition continues, football fans can expect even more history before the final whistle.

  • List and biography of the top 5 all-time Fifa men’s World Cup goal scorers.

    List and biography of the top 5 all-time Fifa men’s World Cup goal scorers.

    The FIFA World Cup is the biggest football event in the history of the football gathers over 30 countries together for one trophy 🏆 with over 700 players of different qualities and have certain players who do great by scoring goals and lead the goal scoring as follows

    Miroslav Klose 16 goals
    Lionel Messi 16 goals
    Ronaldo de Lima. 15goals
    Gerd Muller 14 goals
    Kylin Mbappe 14 goals
    They have done wonderfully to the beauty of the game.

    1
    Miroslav Klose was born in Opole, Poland, in the Silesian region of Central Europe on June 9, 1978, in Opole, Poland. His parents were top athletes: his father, Josef Klose, played for the French professional football club Auxerre, and his mother, Barbara Jez, represented the Polish women’s national handball team. The German football player who played in the center forward position as a striker. Klose is the all-time leading goalscorer for the German men’s national team. He shares the record for the most goals scored in the history of the men’s FIFA World Cup tournament with Argentina’s Lionel Messi. Klose was part of the German national team that won the World Cup in 2014.

    2

    Lionel Messi was born on June 24, 1987, to a middle-class family who lived in Argentina. Growing up in a football-loving family, he developed a passion for football from his father at an early age.
    At 5, he showed great skills at a local club coached by his father.
    When he was 11, he was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency and had to seek medical assistance. His quote: “Every night I had to stick a needle into my legs, over a period of 3 years.” Unfortunately, his family could not afford the treatment for long.when he was 13, FC, Barcelona offered treatment which led to the top 5 all-time goal scorers in Fifa men’s world .

    3

    Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima (born September 18 or 22, 1976, Itaguai, Brazil) and grew up in the poor Rio de Janeiro suburb of Bento Ribeiro. He began playing football as a junior for the neighborhood Social Ramos Club at age 12 and two years later joined São Cristóvão in the Carioca League. By 1992, he was playing in the Brazilian championship for Cruzeiro. This amazing player was first introduced to the world in 1994 at age 17, and was the youngest member of the Brazilian squad that won the 1994 FIFA World Cup. At the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo received the Golden Ball and led Brazil to a World Cup title in 2002.

    4

    Gerhard Müller was born on November 3, 1945, in Nördlingen, Germany. The names of his parents are unknown and there are few known facts about his early life. But at the beginning of his career, Gerd Müller played for his boyhood team, where he bagged 52 goals in the 5th division.

    5

    Kylin Mbappé Lottin was born 6 months after France won the World Cup in 1998, which fell on the 20th of December 1998. Mbps was born in Paris, France to parents Wilfried Mbappé, a father from Cameroon & Fayza Lamari Mbappé’s mother from Algeria.he began playing football at age 6, under Antonio Riccardi.

  • List of 54 hat-tricks in FIFA men’s World Cup

    List of 54 hat-tricks in FIFA men’s World Cup

    The FIFA Men’s World Cup is the world’s most-watched single sporting event, uniting billions of fans globally.

    Presently Total 54 hat-tricks have been scored in the history of the FIFA Men’s World Cup in which Only four players have ever scored two World Cup hat-tricks: Gabriel Batistuta, Just Fontaine, Sándor Kocsis, and Gerd Müller.

    The most recent hat-tricks were scored in 2026 by Lionel Messi in first game against Algeria and 2022 by Kylian Mbappé (in the final) and Gonçalo Ramos.

    The complete list of players who have achieved this feat on football’s biggest stage includes:Notable Multiple Hat-Trick ScorersGabriel Batistuta (Argentina) – 1994, 1998Just Fontaine (France) – 1958Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) – 1954Gerd Müller (West Germany) – 1970Recent Hat-Tricks (2002–2022)Kylian Mbappé (France) vs. Argentina – 2022Gonçalo Ramos (Portugal) vs. Switzerland – 2022Harry Kane (England) vs. Panama – 2018Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) vs. Spain – 2018Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland) vs. Honduras – 2014Thomas Müller (Germany) vs. Portugal – 2014Gonzalo Higuaín (Argentina) vs. South Korea – 2010Miroslav Klose (Germany) vs. Saudi Arabia – 2002Pauleta (Portugal) vs. Poland – 2002Historical World Cup Hat-Tricks (1930–1998)1998: Gabriel Batistuta (ARG), Guillermo Stábile (ARG) Note: Stábile’s was the first-ever hat-trick in 1930.1994: Oleg Salenko (RUS) – He scored 5 goals in one match, the World Cup record.1990: Míchel (ESP), Tomáš Skuhravý (TCH), Gary Lineker (ENG)1986: Preben Elkjær Larsen (DEN), Gary Lineker (ENG), Igor Belanov (USSR), Emilio Butragueño (ESP)1982: László Kiss (HUN), Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (GER), Zbigniew Boniek (POL), Paolo Rossi (ITA)1978: Rob Rensenbrink (NED), Teófilo Cubilas (PER)1974: Dušan Bajević (YUG), Andrzej Szarmach (POL)1970: Gerd Müller (GER, x2), Pelé (BRA) – Pelé scored two hat-tricks across his World Cup career.1966: Geoff Hurst (ENG) – The only player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup Final. Eusébio (POR)1962: Flórián Albert (HUN)1958: Just Fontaine (FRA, x2), Pelé (BRA), Vava (BRA), Just Fontaine (FRA)1954: Sándor Kocsis (HUN, x2), Josef Hügi (SUI), Max Morlock (GER), Carlos Borges (URU), Erich Probst (AUT), Theodor Wagner (AUT), Robert Ballaman (SUI), Burhan Sargun (TUR)1950: Oscar Míguez (URU), Ademir (BRA)1938: Leonidas (BRA), Ernst Wilimowski (POL), Tore Keller (SWE)1930: Bert Patenaude (USA), Pedro Cea (URU), Guillermo Stábile (ARG)

  • When is the FIFA World 2026 draw and tournament starting ?

    When is the FIFA World 2026 draw and tournament starting ?

    The biggest tournament, the World Cup, has 206 days to go, with 48 nations taking part — an expansion from formal 32 countries, which witnessed three countries hosting the USA, Mexico and Canada qualifying automatically, while nations from other confederations have their own qualifying campaigns and whose main tournaments are going to be played between 11 June-19 July.
    The first ever Fifa Peace Prize will also be awarded by the organization’s president, Gianni Infantino, on Friday, 5 December, which is the draw day for fifa world 2026.

    Who has qualified?
    As of today November 2025, here are the teams who have qualified for the 2026 World Cup:
    Hosts: Canada, Mexico, United States
    Africa: Algeria, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia
    Asia: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Uzbekistan
    Europe: England, France and croatia
    Oceania: New Zealand
    South America: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay

  • FIFA World Cup Qualifying: Super Eagles. Each player performs with the qualified country list.

    Starting from goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali’s everybody it is not easy, but Nigeria’s number choices doing very well in communication, one-on-one situations and area ball, but he needs to check his composure. Consider the amount of damage he has done to the Nigeria Super Eagles. Just look at the goal he gifted Lesotho and the 2nd goal he gave them if not for the ball slipping away from the post. Could it possibly be that Nwabali has replaced Nigeria to draw against Lesotho? Something has to be done with his display.

    The 20-year-old defender, Benjamin Fredrick, has been amazing in his 5 match appearances for the Super Eagles of Nigeria.🦅 and Which he has never been substituted since making his debut for Nigeria🇳🇬.
    Vs. Jamaica 🇯🇲‬ – 90 min
    Vs. Rwanda 🇷🇼 – 90 min
    Vs. South Africa 🇿🇦 – 90 min
    Vs. Lesotho 🇱🇸 – 90 min
    Vs. Benin Republic 🇧🇯 – 90 min
    This wonderful young lad has done excellently well at ball making and interception of the ball , despite the fact he was played out of position because he is known to be a center back and asks to play from full back, but he still produced a solid shift and stopped Benin from getting much joy in the final third.

    The 28-year-old Nigerian, Ola Aina, was another well-talented player who missed the last two of the qualifiers due to injury against South Africans from Samukele. Kabini challenge. In that particular game, Aina was a substitute in the 10th minute of the game. Ola Aina has not really put his best for his country, as it was for his club side playing all ball in attack. Maybe the Nottingham Forest star had been afraid of the injury which he later got.

    William Troost -Ekong, Nigeria national team captain, was not on field Against Benin although doing very well in set pieces, both defensively and offensively, but needed to work on strength for a rough job and speed to cover spaces because this has been reason why Nigeria find themselves where they are now at the qualifiers stage of the FIFA World Cup.

    Calvin Bassey is the only Super Eagles player to have played all 10 FIFA World Cup qualifier matches with maximum minutes — 900.
    Strong, always available, and never gets injured 🇳🇬 very good one I suggest this players needed to work on anticipating .

    Fisayo Dele- Bashiru was absent from the Super Eagles game because it was revealed that the midfielder suffered a Grade I injury to his right thigh flexor during the Derby Della Capitale on September 21 and this gifted player was identified with a key role in Eric Chelle’s plans. I suggest this wonderful player should include a box-to-box mentality.

    Raphael Onyedika was on the bench for the first two games before being given an opportunity to play 10 minutes in the third game against South Africa as central back whose initial position was midfielder. Onyedika played a total of 135 minutes for the country before securing a hamstring injury, but for me, his pass accuracy in the national assessment was very poor compared to his club side.

    Wilfred Ndidi’s performance for the country’s qualifiers game was very low compared to his performance at the club. Wilfred Ndidi’s debut for Besiktas saw him contribute significantly to a 2-1 victory against Eyupspor, with an impressive performance that included 42 touches and an 86% passing accuracy. But for what reason do most of them not give their best to the country?

    Alex Iwobi has managed to play all 10 games for Super Eagles in 847 minutes, but go by his performance, although this talent was blessed with good skill with good ball control and dribbling skills, his marking and some other areas on the field to me at the World Cup qualifier were very poor 29%, interception 24% and aggressive 46% but look to be physical stable with 70%.

    Tolu Arokodare broke into the squad unexpectedly and was introduced as a substitute player, scoring the equalizer goal against Russian and his 51-minute goal against Rwanda after being a substitute on 46 minutes gave him recognization, but he had to improve to claim a permanent spot in Nigeria team.

    Ademola Lookman was suspended and not able to play against Benin because of two yellow cards during the 2-1 win over Lesotho. Ademola has struggled to make a real impact in recent outings for the Super Eagles. He has no goals and 1 assist in all 9 matches for World Cup qualifiers.

    Samuel Chukwueze is one of the team’s most creative wingers. I will have to give him full credit based on the last game’s performance. Two assists were absolutely crucial in the 4-0 win over Benin, but as an attacker from the wing, there was no goal in 7 matches.

    His confidence and creativity, constantly tormenting defenders with his pace and quickly with endless energy in the last game was superb. If he had maintained this level of intensity in past games for Nigeria, the Nigeria team would have been unstoppable and qualified automatically, but they were not committed enough.

    Moses Simon was on top of his game at Uyo in the last game against Benin, proving two assistants and doing very well at pushing the attack for the time, but his performance in the last 5games for the country for
    The FIFA World Cup qualifiers were poor. There were no record of goals, but just 1 assistant.

    Victor Osimhen :The fullest part of this guy’s performance was that Nigeria played five World Cup qualifiers without Victor Osimhen, and they didn’t win a single one.
    Lesotho 1-1 Nigeria 1st leg
    Zimbabwe 1-1 Nigeria 1st leg
    South Africa 1-1 Nigeria 1st leg
    Benin 2-1 Nigeria 1st leg
    South Africa 1-1 Nigeria 2nd leg

    They’ve won 4 out of 5 of the games he has played, with Osimhen scoring six goals.it shows in his eyes that the guy is very ready for the country.

    The country’s overall performance was very bad compared to the quality of players they got, although they finished second in the table with 17 points, lost just one match and drew 5, while the South Africans who came first lost 1 too but managed to draw 3 matches and have 18 points.to me all the listed players for Nigeria need to develop right attitude towards each game starting from the beginning of qualifiers till end .

    Here are the nine automatic qualifiers for FIFA 2026 World Cup , as well as the four teams set for next month’s second round playoffs

    Africa’s nine automatic qualifiers

    Morocco (previous appearances in 1970, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2018, 2022)

    Tunisia (1978, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018, 2022)

    Egypt (1934, 1990, 2018)

    Algeria (1982, 1986, 2010, 2014)

    Ghana (2006, 2010, 2014, 2022)

    Cape Verde (debutants)

    South Africa (1998, 2002, 2010)

    Ivory Coast (2006, 2010, 2014)

    Senegal (2002, 2018, 2022)

    Top-ranked runners-up

    Gabon

    Nigeria

    Cameroon

    DR Congo

  • Nigeria have an emphatic 4-0 victory over Benin Republic

    Nigeria have an emphatic 4-0 victory over Benin Republic

    The Super Eagles of Nigeria were at home today, winning 4-0 over Benin Republic having Victor Osimhen deliver a hat-trick for his country, Nigeria. The hat – trick goals by Osimhem today granted him 6 goals and 1 assist for the club / country this season and 29 goals for Nigeria in 43 matches – eight (8) goals behind Rashidi Yekini, who is the Nigerian all-time goalscorer.

     The victory didn’t give Nigeria an automatic ticket to the world, but only the CAF playoff competition that would feature the four best runners-up from the nine qualifying groups. Why is it always like this for a great country like Nigeria always having problems in qualifying games? What I think is that Nigeria don’t have proper preparation for it at the beginning of the qualification and also, most of their players are not determined enough for the country. Below is how Nigeria got to miss the automatic qualification.

    Under coach Jose Peseiro:

    Nigeria 1-1 Lesotho.

    Zimbabwe 1-1 Nigeria.

    * 2 games.

    * 2 points.

    Under coach Finidi George:

    Nigeria 1-1 South Africa.

    Benin Republic 2-1 Nigeria.

    * 2 games.

    * 1 point.

    Areic Chelle:

    Rwanda 0-2 Nigeria.

    Nigeria 1-1 Zimbabwe.

    Nigeria 1-0 Rwanda.

    South Africa 1-1 Nigeria.

    Lesotho 1-2 Nigeria.

    Nigeria 4-0 Benin.

    * 6 games.

    * 14 points.

    Playing draw at home for the three good games, even against Lesotho.

    List of the Best second place teams in World Cup qualifier’s
    Nigeria. 17 points
    Gabon 16 points
    Cameroon 15 point
    Burkina Faso 15 points
    Uganda 15 points
    Niger. 15 points
    DR Congo. 13 points
    Madagascar. 13points
    Namibia. 9point

    *CAF Playoff Format:*
    – *4 teams*
    – *Single-leg semifinals* (neutral venue or as decided by CAF)
    – *Single-leg final*
    – *Winner* advances to the *Intercontinental Playoff*

     

  • Who are going to be favourites to win the final phase of World Cup qualifiers in group c ❓

    Who are going to be favourites to win the final phase of World Cup qualifiers in group c ❓

    The three countries who are in the race for Group C are

    Benin 17

    South Africa 15

    Nigeria 14

    If Nigeria manages to beat Benin with maximum goal-scoring difference and South Africa lose or draw a match against Rwanda, they will qualify automatically for the next World Cup. But if Nigeria win by maximum goals and South Africa win their match, then Nigeria may qualify through the playoffs.

    Nigeria is out this morning for propagation of the upcoming World Cup qualifier against Benin Republic. It is not an ordinary match, it is a decided game which Nigeria must win with 3:0 victory.

    It is my greatest joy to see the Super Eagles at the World Cup next year. However, this joy will only manifest if the team gets their act together. I must say the truth: if our goalkeeper and defensive line of Nigeria keep repeating mistakes against Lesotho, the country may not get what they want.

    Although Nigeria and Benin have met 12 times, of which 9 were won by Nigeria, they played 1 draw and lost 2, scoring 20 goals in the 26 goals during the encounter. South Africa and Rwanda have met just which was won by Rwanda, but this time the match is going to be played in South Africa. It’s a game of football, but Rwanda has nothing to lose if they lose the game.

    Wishing Nigeria the best who failed to prepare it prepare to fail.

  • Three Africans are qualifying for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Round of 16 as Nigeria faces Argentina for the 3rd time in the age grade.

    Three Africans are qualifying for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Round of 16 as Nigeria faces Argentina for the 3rd time in the age grade.

    penalty from captain Daniel Bameyi’s in the 75th minute earned the Flying Eagles to join two others African countries South Africa 🇿🇦 and Morocco 🇲🇦 to qualified for round of 16 in FIFA
    U-20 World Cup which They will face 🇦🇷Argentina in the Round of 16 on Wednesday.the match ended Nigeria 🇳🇬 1-1 🇨🇴 Colombia.. Bameyi Back-to-Back Goals As A Defender make young player as World Class defender with record of highest scoring defender at the FIFA U-20 world cup tournament in Chile.
    Big congratulations to the Daniel Bameyi of winning the player of the match and Nigeria 🇳🇬 20 team qualified to the next stage .My major concern right now is Nigeria winning 🇦🇷Argentina and the trophy 🏆 .

    Nigeria and Argentina have met three times and Argentina 🇦🇷 won two. One was on 3-07-2005 at 2-1 in the FIFA u20 World Cup category, where Nigeria 🇳🇬 won on 01-06 -2023 with 2-0. Who will win this year ?