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World Cup Tit-Bits

By DailySports Nigeria on June 24, 2026

FIFA WORLD CUP STATS: RONALDO BREAKS MESSI'S WORLD CUP RECORD...SETS THREE RECORDS IN ONE NIGHT

The FIFA World Cup saw another record-breaking day as this time Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up and made it his own. His brace saw Portugal hammer Uzbekistan 5-0 as they got their first win of this edition under their belt.

The big one for the day: Cristiano Ronaldo is the first player to score at 6 different World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026).

In case you were wondering Lionel Messi has also played at six World Cups (only other man to do so), but he failed to score for the Diego Maradona coached Argentina side in the 2010 edition.

Ronaldo also became the oldest player with a multi-goal game at the World Cup (41y, 138d). This breaks the record set by Lionel Messi this tournament.

Ronaldo is the second oldest player to score at the World Cup after Cameroon's Roger Milla (42y, 39d in 1994)

There are three players who hold the unique distinction of being both the youngest and oldest scorer for their country at the men's FIFA World Cup: Michael Laudrup (Denmark) Lionel Messi (Argentina) and now Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal).

Against Uzbekistan, Ronaldo played his 24th World Cup match for Portugal. Only Lionel Messi (28) and Lothar Matthäus (25) have made more World Cup appearances.

Uzbekistan is the 49th nation Ronaldo has scored against. He's now hit an incredible 145 goals in 230 appearances.

Ronaldo went past Eusebio (9) as Portugal's top-scorer at the FIFA World Cup.

The gap of 22 years and 183 days between Uzbekistan's Bekhruz Karimov (18y 320d) and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (41y 138d), became the biggest gap between two starting players in a match in FIFA World Cup history.

England's 12 game winning run snapped

England saw their 12-game competitive winning streak come to an end - the first time they failed to win a competitive match since Oct. 2024 vs Greece.

Bellingham is the youngest English player to reach 50 caps

Jude Bellingham made his 50th appearance for England; at 22 years and 359 day, he became the youngest Englishmen to reach this milestone for the national team.

Guehi's 125 passes is the most by an English player since 1966

Marc Guéhi completed 125 passes today - the most by an England player on record (since 1966) in a FIFA World Cup game.

Modric joins the 200+ cap party in international football

Luka Modric made his 200th appearance for Croatia - becoming the fourth man to do so in international football, after Cristiano Ronaldo (230), Bader Ahmed Al-Mutawa (202) and Lionel Messi (201).

Players 40 years old or older have made 10 appearances at this year's FIFA World Cup, more games than in any other prior edition.

Panama's pathetic World Cup run

Panama have now lost all five of their five World Cup games (scoring 2 goals). Only El Salvador has a worse 100% losing record in the competition's history (6 games, 6 losses). This is made worse by another stat: both games by Panama so far in this World Cup are tied for fewest shots (3) and lowest expected goals (0.11) in a first half.

Substitutes make their mark

30 of the 140 goals at the 2026 World Cup (including own goals) so far have been scored by substitutes. This 21.4% of goals scored by subs is the highest such percentage in FIFA World Cup history (previous high was 18.7% in 2014)

1970 Mundial set the pace

Substitutions were first allowed at the 1970 FIFA World Cup.

European countries continue to wax strong against CONCACAF opposition

CONCACAF teams are now 0W, 5D, 12L in the last 17 matches against UEFA opponents at the World Cup. The last win was Mexico in 2018 (1-0 vs Germany). The last CONCACAF team to defeat an UEFA opposition after conceding first in a World Cup match remains Costa Rica against Sweden in 1990.

At 34 years and 336 days old, Ante Budimir is the oldest player to score for Croatia at the World Cup.

Colombia in three straight World Cup knockout stages

Colombia have advanced to the Round of 32 with this win. They advance to the knockout stages for a third straight World Cup (also 2014 and 2018, they missed out entirely on 2022).

Munoz can't stop scoring

Daniel Muñoz is the third Colombian man to score in team's first two games at a FIFA World Cup after 1994 Adolfo Valencia and 2014 James Rodríguez. He also joins Yerry Mina as the only Colombian defenders with multiple goals at the World Cup (Mina scored 3 in 2018).

Bayern Munich ace in the history books for wrong reasons

Luis Díaz is the first player to be caught offside 5 times in a World Cup match since Robin van Persie (6) in 2014 vs Costa Rica.

James Rodriguez can't stop making waves

James Rodríguez is the first player to create five chances for Colombia in a World Cup match since Carlos Valderrama against England in 1998.

Congo DR keeper makes history

Congo DR goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi became the first player to make five saves within the opening 20 minutes of a World Cup match since Jamaica's Warren Barrett against Argentina in 1998.

Messi, Mbappe, Haaland battle for Golden Boot

After two matches each at the 2026 World Cup, it appears the battle for the Golden Boot will be between Lionel Messi (Argentina), Kylian Mbappe (France) and Erling Haaland (Norway).

The trio are the only players to score multiple goals in every match they have played so far.

Messi currently leads the way with five goals. The 39-year-old netted a hat-trick as the champions thrashed Algeria 3-0.

He followed it up with a record-breaking brace in the 2-0 win over Austria on Monday, taking his tally to five.

Mbappe is just behind with four goals, after scoring twice against both Senegal and Iraq.

The Real Madrid striker is now the fourth player to score two goals plus in at least three successive FIFA World Cup appearances, along with Sándor Kocsis in 1954 (run of four), Guillermo Stabile in 1930 and Messi in 2026.

Haaland also has four goals to his name, with braces against Iraq and Senegal.

Jude Bellingham: I don't deserve the man of the match award

The Three Lions endured a frustrating afternoon in Boston, where they failed to break the deadlock against the resilient Africans despite boasting almost 80 per cent possession. Nico O'Reilly struck the crossbar and Harry Kane missed a gilt-edged chance from close range as Thomas Tuchel's side were forced to settle for a point. The England boss - and indeed his players - were full of praise for the Ghanaian defence post-match, who restricted the afternoon's favourites to just three shots on target.But, in a somewhat surprising turn of events, Bellingham was awarded the occasion's man of the match.TheReal Madrid star, 22, appeared less than thrilled while posing with the award - and later admitted it should have been handed to one of the Ghanaian stars.Jude Bellingham says he 'didn't deserve' to be awarded man of the match after England were held to a 0-0 draw against Ghana on Tuesday. He said: "I didn't deserve it, to be honest. It probably should have gone to one of their (Ghana) lads who defended so well."

Mbappe, colleagues, French FA pay tribute to head coach over mother's demise

France will be without their head coach Dider Deschamps on the touchline for their final World Cup group game against Norway as the latter has returned back home to attend the funeral of his mother, who died on Tuesday. The FFF made the announcement in a statement on their X account and later posted a video of the team and the coaching staff paying tribute before starting their training session.

Source DailySports Nigeria

Posted June 24, 2026