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The 2026 World Cup goes down in history, own goals the "unwanted stars" of the tournament

Politiko 2026-06-27 15:17:14

The 2026 World Cup goes down in history, own goals the "unwanted

The 2026 World Cup is breaking records not only for its expanded scale with 48 teams and 104 matches, but also for an unusual statistic that is attracting attention: the high number of own goals.

As of June 25, the tournament has recorded 12 own goals out of a total of 173 goals in 59 matches, equaling the record set at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, although fewer matches were played then.

The first own goal of the tournament came in the USA's opening match, when Damián Bobadilla deflected the ball into his own net in the opening minutes of the match. Since then, several teams have taken advantage of their opponents' mistakes, with the USA emerging as one of the most favored of these episodes.

The list of own goals also includes several teams from the Middle East and North Africa, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq and Tunisia, showing that the phenomenon has affected a wide range of national teams at the tournament.

Historically, own goals have been a rare occurrence at the World Cup, with several editions of the 20th century recording none. However, since the late 1990s, their incidence has increased significantly, peaking at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The Qatar 2022 edition marked a slight decline, but the current World Cup has restored the upward trend, suggesting that the record could easily be broken by the end of the tournament, given the high number of matches still to be played.

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