Who are the World Cup's record holders?

Two goal records have already been broken or equalled in the first round of games at the 2026 World Cup.

Lionel Messi 's first world cup hat-trick ensured he is now level with Germany 's Miroslav Klose for most individual goals scored at the tournament, after he netted three times against Algeria .

France 's Kylian Mbappe - the only other player who can break the record this tournament - had overtaken the Argentina captain's tally earlier in the evening by scoring twice against Senegal , only to then in turn be leapfrogged by Messi.

Germany have also broken Brazil 's record for total goals scored by a nation in the history of the World Cup following their 7-1 win over Curacao .

The 2026 contest held across the United States, Canada and Mexico was already a record-breaking tournament in terms of size.

With 48 teams, it is comfortably the largest World Cup in history, introducing a 50% increase from the 32 teams that have participated since the 1998 World Cup in France .

But there are plenty more records that could be broken this year, including the most minutes played, most individual goals and most team goals if Brazil re-take the title from Germany.

Here is a look at some of the current World Cup record holders and how their place in the history books could be affected in the coming weeks.