The Best Goals of the 2026 World Cup So Far: Our Top 10, Ranked
This has been a World Cup drowning in goals. The expanded 48-team group stage produced a record 215 of them — an average of 2.99 per game, also a record — and the knockout rounds have somehow raised the quality even higher. Some blame the minnows, some credit the superstars, and some point at the slippery Adidas Trionda ball that goalkeepers cannot seem to read. Whatever the reason, picking the ten best is genuinely difficult. Source: Complex
We have tried anyway. Drawing on the strikes that FOX Sports' running goal rankings and Complex's golazo countdown have rated the finest of the tournament, here is our top ten — followed by why each one made the cut.
| World Cup 2026: Best Goals So Far — The Ranking | ||
| Rank | Goal | Match / Stage |
| 1 | Lionel Messi — solo run and top-corner finish | Argentina vs Algeria, Group Stage |
| 2 | Erling Haaland — long-range strike of pure power | Brazil vs Norway, Round of 16 |
| 3 | Rafik Belghali — corner-flag-to-net solo slalom | Algeria vs Austria, Group Stage |
| 4 | Lionel Messi — record-breaking team move off the Almada dummy | Argentina, Group Stage |
| 5 | Kylian Mbappé — record-setting laser past Mendy | France vs Senegal, Group Stage |
| 6 | Antonio Nusa — double take-on and far-post curler | Ivory Coast vs Norway, Round of 32 |
| 7 | Daniel Muñoz — first-time flick over the keeper from a Luis Díaz pass | Colombia, Group Stage |
| 8 | Gio Reyna — outside-of-the-boot trivela | USA vs Paraguay, Group Stage |
| 9 | Crysencio Summerville — cut inside and weak-foot curler | Netherlands vs Japan, Group Stage |
| 10 | Livano Comenencia — Curaçao's first-ever World Cup goal | Germany vs Curaçao, Group Stage |
| Editorial ranking compiled from FOX Sports' running goal rankings and Complex's tournament golazo countdown, as of 6 July 2026. | ||
1. Messi Turns Back the Clock in Kansas City
The opening goal of Messi's first-ever World Cup hat-trick was the tournament announcing itself. Given far too much room in midfield, the 39-year-old collected the ball, turned, drove at the Algerian defence and bent a left-footed shot into the top corner — a strike FOX Sports singled out as the standout moment of an unforgettable night, made sweeter by the fact he'd already had an early goal ruled out for offside. Vintage Messi, in a tournament he refuses to let age define. Source: FOX Sports
2. Haaland Breaks Brazil With Brute Force
Haaland has scored plenty at this World Cup, but FOX Sports rates the second of his brace against Brazil as his best yet — a strike from outside the box, hit with no momentum, powered home through sheer strength. It was his seventh of the tournament, it dumped the five-time champions out, and it sent Norway into their first-ever quarter-final. Goals rarely carry more weight than beauty; this one carried both. Source: FOX Sports
3. Belghali's Run From the Corner Flag
The most improbable goal of the group stage belonged to Algeria's Rafik Belghali, who won the ball practically at the corner flag, weaved his way through the entire Austrian defence and lashed in a finish that FOX Sports immediately labelled one of the goals of the tournament. If a neutral watched only one strike from the group stage, this should be it. Source: FOX Sports
4. The Goal That Made Messi the All-Time King
Records should be broken like this. Complex highlights the strike that carried Messi past every scorer in World Cup history as one of the tournament's finest — a slick, sweeping Argentina team move crowned by a brilliant Thiago Almada dummy that opened the lane for the finish. Individual brilliance won him the record chase; collective beauty sealed it. Source: Complex
5. Mbappé's Record-Setter Against Senegal
Having equalled the all-time French men's scoring record, Mbappé broke it in a manner worthy of the moment. With the referee playing advantage after a foul on Michael Olise, he collected possession and unleashed a laser past Édouard Mendy — a goal that both crowned France's statement win over a serious Senegal side and set a new national record in a single swing of the boot. Source: FOX Sports
6–10: Nusa's Statement, Muñoz's Flick, Reyna's Trivela and a Small Nation's Big Moment
Antonio Nusa's opener against Ivory Coast — driving at two defenders before cutting onto his right foot and curling just inside the far post — was described by FOX Sports as the kind of goal the tournament hadn't yet seen. Colombia's Daniel Muñoz produced the prettiest flick over a goalkeeper of the summer, though Complex rightly gives half the credit to the sumptuous Luis Díaz pass that made it possible. Source: FOX Sports
Gio Reyna's outside-of-the-boot trivela for the USA's fourth against Paraguay was pure showmanship — celebration included — while Crysencio Summerville's cut inside and weak-foot curler past Zion Suzuki briefly had the Netherlands dreaming against Japan. And at number ten, sentiment wins: Livano Comenencia's sweet left-footed strike was Curaçao's first-ever World Cup goal, and for seventeen glorious minutes the smallest nation at the tournament stood level with mighty Germany. Source: Complex
Honourable Mentions
Cutting the list to ten meant leaving out goals that would headline most tournaments. Jude Bellingham's solo gallop from halfway against Croatia, Cristiano Ronaldo's first-time near-post finish against Uzbekistan, Amad Diallo's delicate chip for Ivory Coast, Bosnia teenager Alajbegović's thunderbolt into the top corner, and Daichi Kamada-esque team play from Japan crowned by Daizen Maeda's run against Sweden all came agonisingly close. So did the tournament's great emotional strikes — Issa Diop's last-gasp header that broke Dutch hearts, Gonçalo Ramos' 94th-minute winner against Croatia and Kane's 86th-minute rescue act against DR Congo — goals whose stories outran their aesthetics.
And the Best Is Probably Still Coming
A quarter-final line-up featuring Messi, Mbappé, Haaland, Kane, Yamal and possibly one last Ronaldo night means this list has a short shelf life — and that is exactly how it should be. The group stage broke the scoring records; the business end tends to produce the goals people talk about for decades. Keep this ranking handy. Something is about to knock half of it out.