Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo after scoring a goal against Uzbekistan in Houston on June 23, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
If goals are currency of football, the 2026 World Cup is raking in the moolah, averaging 3.09 goals a game by the second round of group stage fixtures, higher than any edition in over 60 years. Apprehension about the sapping summer heat, extensive travelling between cities and American disdain for goalless “soccer” may have been raised ahead of the tournament, but to the detriment of goalkeepers and defenders, the sweet sound of the ball hitting the back of the net is winning hearts and grabbing more eyeballs than expected for an expanded group stage. Fatigue? What fatigue?But the real success of the tournament so far has been the goals scored by the most marketable superstars of the game. Lionel Messi eclipsed Mt. Miroslav Klose for most World Cup goals ever; Kylian Mbappe is hot on his heels, just two goals behind Messi; Erling Haaland is the first man in decades to score four goals in his first two World Cup games; and then, arriving late to the party, was 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo becoming the first man to score in six different World Cups. And in the same round of fixtures, all four scored twice. You couldn’t have scripted it. The Golden Boot race is well and truly on!Goalkeepers aren’t happy, though. Some, including former England shot-stopper Joe Hart, say the Adidas Trionda made for this World Cup is moving unpredictably away from goalkeepers and out of their reach, particularly above shoulder height after a player shoots from distance. The growing criticism is a callback to the outrage over the infamous Jabulani ball of the 2010 World Cup. The presence of more lower-ranked teams in this expanded World Cup is possibly another reason for the glut of goals and the aforementioned superstars ‘stat-padding’. But with the group stage ending soon, the knockouts beckon and we’ll see a new side of a tournament that has been devoid of shocks so far. Pragmatism is sure to set in and the moolah may stop flowing. But here’s hoping the charm stays alive.Stay tuned for The Hindu’s daily coverage of the World Cup. Published - June 24, 2026 03:08 pm IST
