World Cup 2026: Who are the best and worst players according to statistics?

The 2026 World Cup offers many exciting events so far. The tournament witnessed 24 matches, with 75 goals scored, meaning the goal average reached 3,125 goals per match, the highest after the first round of group matches since 1958. Despite concerns regarding the duration of the tournament, the competition was strong, with nine of the matches ending in a draw, representing a draw rate of 37.5%, the highest at this stage since 2010.

With the first round of matches over, here are the most notable player statistics in the World Cup so far. Six players made six or more shots in their opening match, but only two found the back of the net - England's Harry Kane and Argentina's Lionel Messi. Kane managed to score two goals, equaling Gary Lineker's record as the best English scorer in the history of the World Cup with 10 goals, while Messi scored a hat-trick to equal the record for the best scorer in the history of the tournament with German Miroslav Klose with 16 goals.

As for the Turkish player Arda Guler, he scored the largest number of shots in the tournament so far, as he made eight balls, but his attempts were very ineffective, reaching 0.26 xG. While South Korean Son Heung-min was the worst in the opening round in terms of expected goals, as he was unable to score from six chances worth 1.0 xG.

So far, there are 24 players who have achieved a shot conversion rate of 100%, but only two of them have taken more than one shot, Yassine Ayari of Sweden and Eli Gast of New Zealand, who both scored two goals each. Seven players also created five chances in their opening match, but only Joshua Kimmich of Germany made the most of his chance, as he notched two assists in a 7-1 win against Curacao.

Spain's Pedri went to great lengths to help his team break the deadlock against Cape Verde, as he was the most creative player in the first round in terms of expected assists (1.23). He also recovered the ball in the final third six times, which is twice as many as any other player in the World Cup.

Ivory Coast's Amed Dioulou was praised for his performance in the tournament, as he considered his best dribbling so far, despite playing 34 minutes as a substitute, completing the most dribbles and achieving the best success rate among the 32 players who attempted five or more dribbles.

Vinicius Junior scored Brazil's equalizer against Morocco, but was unable to successfully dribble in any of his nine attempts during the match. No other player has attempted more than four dribbles without success so far.

When it came to success in singles fights, Panama's Giovanni Ramos and Senegal's Krebin Diatta were the best in the 50-50 challenges in the first round. Of the 158 players who participated in 10 or more battles, both were the most successful, although it was not enough to help their teams win.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's Jovo Lukic also deserves credit, as he was flawless in the aerial battles against Canada, winning all nine of his aerial battles. No other player in the tournament has fought more than four aerial battles and remained undefeated.

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