2026 World Cup: Records Shattered and Set to Fall

The 2026 World Cup may only be 10 days old but the tournament has already rewritten football history.

Not wanting to be outdone by the other, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland all came out of the blocks firing in their respective nations' opening fixtures.

And as the World Cup's biggest hitters prepare to make their second appearances at the first 48-team competition, records aplenty look ready to fall.

From Argentina's Messi and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo extending their World Cup legacies to Mbappe becoming France's all-time leading scorer, BBC Sport takes a look at a list of the major records already broken or set to be.

Since 2014, Germany striker Miroslav Klose stood on his own with 16 World Cup goals.

But Messi's stunning hat-trick in Argentina's opening 3-0 win over Algeria moved the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner level at the top of the all-time standings and poised to move out in front on his own.

Messi required 27 games - three more than Klose - to hit 16 but the 2022 World Cup winner will not mind.

Lurking close behind with 14 is France captain Mbappe, who is now the all-time leading scorer for France with 58, and could well have the goals record in his sights himself.

Kane is four further back - but surely it is too far for him this tournament?

Next up for Messi and Co. in Group J are Austria. Are we about to witness a new record?

After watching Messi, Haaland and Mbappe all hit the back of the net, Kane reminded the footballing world what he could do in England's 4-2 win over Croatia on Wednesday.

The Three Lions skipper netted twice in Dallas to move England top of Group L and draw level with Gary Lineker as their all-time leading scorer at World Cup finals on 10 goals.

With Ghana to come on Tuesday night, Kane might not be level with Lineker for long.

Wednesday's game also meant Kane became just the second England player - after Sir David Beckham in 1998, 2002 and 2006 - to score at three different World Cups.

The Croatia match also marked Kane's 115th England appearance, moving him level with Beckham among the country's most-capped players.

Sticking with Mbappe, is he going to become the first player to win multiple World Cup Golden Boots or will it be England skipper Kane?

Mbappe struck eight times to win the Golden Boot in Qatar in 2022 but faces fierce competition to retain the accolade.

Kane, also with records on his mind, won the prize in 2018 with six goals.

Messi, Germany's Denis Undav and Canada's Jonathan David currently lead the way on three but Kane, Haaland and Mbappe are just a goal adrift.

This could be a race for the ages.

Ronaldo was bound to appear at some point.

It may have been a lacklustre performance from him in Portugal's shock 1-1 draw with DR Congo but a record is always around the corner.

In 2022, Ronaldo set the record for the most World Cups scored in at five - 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 - but Messi has already equalled that.

But a goal for Ronaldo at the 2026 edition will make it a record six for the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.

But a record did fall for Ronaldo in the opening game.

Taking to the pitch in Houston, the Portuguese had joined Messi as the second man to play in six World Cup tournaments.

In doing so, he also became the oldest outfield player to start at the World Cup - aged 41 years and 132 days.

The record previously belonged to Canada's Atiba Hutchinson, at 39 years and 296 days when he started at the 2022 World Cup in a group match against Croatia.

Where records are falling, Haaland is always close by.

The Norway striker needed just 20 touches to score twice in the 4-1 win over Iraq and become the first player to net a double for his nation at the World Cup.

Haaland only needed one game to become Norway's joint all-time leading scorer at the World Cup - levelling with Kjetil Rekdal.

He can move clear of Rekdal when taking on Senegal on Tuesday morning.

The record for the most red cards at a World Cup stands at 28, in 2006.

In the 2026 competition, six reds have been brandished already.

Three red cards were shown in Mexico's opening-game win over South Africa, before Bosnia-Herzegovina's Tarik Muharemovic and Qatar duo Assim Omer Madibo and Homam el Amin soon followed.

This tally is more than the past two World Cups, where four red cards were shown in Qatar and Russia.

There is still a way to go for this record, but there is an awful lot of football to come.