Best Goals of FIFA World Cup 2026: The Full Countdown

From Cape Verde’s fairytale wonder strikes to Ferran Torres settling the final in extra time, these were the best goals of Fifa World Cup 2026.

Three hundred and eight goals were scored across the 2026 World Cup — the most in the competition’s history, a direct product of the expanded 48-team field and its extra round of knockout football. Picking the best of them is always going to be subjective, but a handful of strikes stood clearly above the rest, for their quality, their stakes, or simply the size of the moment they arrived in. Here’s the full countdown.Golden Ball Winner Rodri: The Case for Football’s Quietest Superstar

The Final Winner: Ferran Torres vs Argentina

No goal in the tournament carried more weight than the one that actually won it. Thirty-nine seconds into the second period of extra time in the final, with Spain having spent 105 minutes unable to find a way past a heroic Emiliano Martínez, Nico Williams headed a deep cross into the path of substitute Ferran Torres, who fired first-time into the roof of the net. It wasn’t the most technically spectacular goal of the tournament, but for pure stakes — the goal that decided a World Cup — nothing else comes close.

Messi’s Return to Form: The Opening Strike Against Algeria

Messi’s first-ever World Cup hat-trick, scored against Algeria, is remembered as much for the first goal as the other two. Given far too much space in midfield, Messi turned, drove forward, and curled a left-footed finish into the top corner — a moment of pure individual quality that instantly recalled the Messi of a decade earlier, and set the tone for an Argentina run that would eventually reach the final itself.

Cape Verde’s Fairytale Strikes

No team produced more feel-good moments with the ball at their feet than Cape Verde, playing in their first-ever World Cup. Kevin Pina’s free kick against Uruguay — struck from more than 30 yards, threading a gap in the wall before beating Fernando Muslera at his near post — delivered Cape Verde’s first-ever World Cup win and their first goal in tournament history in the same moment. Later, in the round of 32 against Argentina, Sidny Lopes Cabral went end to end before finishing from the edge of the box to briefly drag Cape Verde level in extra time, in what remains one of the great near-upset goals of the tournament, even in an eventual defeat.

Julián Álvarez’s Rescue Act Against Switzerland

With Argentina in genuine danger of an early elimination in the quarterfinal against Switzerland, Julián Álvarez produced one of the individual goals of the tournament to change the complexion of the match — a moment of composure and finishing quality that arrived at exactly the moment Argentina needed it most, part of the same knockout run that would eventually carry them all the way to the final.

Antonio Nusa’s Curler for Norway

Norway’s stunning run to the quarterfinals was built on more than just Erling Haaland’s presence up front, and Antonio Nusa’s goal against England in the last eight was proof of that: receiving from Martin Ødegaard on the left, Nusa drove at two defenders before cutting onto his right foot and curling a finish just inside the far post — the kind of individual moment of quality that had been missing from the match until he provided it.

Mbappé’s Record-Breaking Opener Against Senegal

Kylian Mbappé’s long-range strike to open the scoring against Senegal did double duty as a highlight-reel goal and a record-breaking one — it was his 14th career World Cup goal at the time, making him France’s all-time leading World Cup scorer. He would go on to add enough further goals across the tournament to become the World Cup’s all-time top scorer outright by the time the third-place playoff was played.

Wilson Isidor’s Rocket for Haiti

Haiti, back at the World Cup for the first time in 52 years, produced one of the tournament’s most spontaneously joyful moments when Wilson Isidor smashed a shot from outside the box through a crowd of defenders and in against Morocco. It ended up being Haiti’s only goal scored by an actual outfield player across the whole tournament — but it was enough to have both teammates and Haitian fans in the stadium on their feet.

Late Drama: Eustaquio, Martinelli and Merino

Some of the tournament’s best goals were less about technique than timing. Stephen Eustaquio’s 92nd-minute winner sent co-hosts Canada into the round of 16 for the first time in their men’s World Cup history. Gabriel Martinelli’s 95th-minute strike rescued Brazil from extra time against Japan in the round of 32. And Mikel Merino’s stoppage-time winner off the bench against Austria — with more than a passing resemblance to his similarly late winner for Spain at Euro 2024 — set the tone for the kind of tournament Spain would go on to have.

The Bigger Picture

With 308 goals scored across the tournament — England and France tied as the joint top-scoring nations with 20 apiece, Argentina close behind on 19, and Panama the only team in the entire field not to find the net even once — this was a genuinely prolific World Cup for attacking football. From free kicks that made history to a substitute’s finish that decided the final itself, the goals that stood out weren’t just about technique; they were about the moments they arrived in, and few tournaments have produced quite as many moments worth remembering.

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