Picture : Manuel Neuer became the second goalkeeper to play at five World Cups, after Mexico’s Antonio Carbajal (1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966).
World Cup 2026 Statistics – Day 4 (June 14)
Germany vs Curaçao 7-1 (Group E)
*It was the fourth 7-1 scoreline in World Cup history. The precedents:
Italy vs USA (round of 16, 1934)
Brazil vs Sweden 7-1 (final group, 1950)
Germany vs Brazil 7-1 (semi-final, 2014)
*Curaçao suffered the heaviest defeat for a World Cup debutant since Korea Republic in 1954 (0–9 against Hungary).
*Only five FIFA World Cup matches this century have seen a team score 7+ goals, while three of those five have been by Germany, also:
8-0 vs Saudi Arabia (2002)
7-1 vs Brazil (2014)
*With 7 goals against Curaçao, Germany becomes the team with the most goals scored in World Cup history (239), surpassing Brazil (238).
The next teams are well behind: Argentina 152, France 136, Italy 128, Spain 108.
*Manuel Neuer became the second goalkeeper to play at five World Cups, after Mexico’s Antonio Carbajal (1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966).
*Neuer became Germany’s oldest ever player (aged 40 years and 79 days) at a major tournament (World Cup/Euro), surpassing Lothar Matthäus who was 39 years and 91 days old against Portugal in the group stage of Euro 2000.
*Jamal Musiala scored the 80th goal by a Bayern player in the World Cup, the highest total for a club in the history of the competition ahead of Real Madrid (79).
*Deniz Undav scored (1 goal) and assisted (for 2 goals) being a substitute. He is only the third German substitute to score and assist in the same World Cup match, after:
Rudi Völler vs Argentina 2-3 (final, 1986)
Niclas Füllkrug vs Costa Rica 4-2 (group stage, 2022)
*Undav is only the second player to score a goal and provide two assists as a substitute in a World Cup match, after Colombia’ James Rodriguez (against Japan in 2014).
Netherlands vs Japan 2-2 (Group F)
*UEFA nations have not won any of their 4 matches against AFC teams at the 2026 World Cup (2 draws, 2 losses) despite each of the 4 teams having taken the lead.
*The Netherlands have reached 13 consecutive matches without losing in the World Cup, tying the all-time record held by Brazil between 1958 and 1966. Oranje’s last defeat was 0-1 against Spain in the 2010 World Cup final.
*The Netherlands have not lost any of their last 17 group stage matches at the World Cup (12 wins, 5 draws): the best unbeaten run for any nation currently in the competition.
Netherlands’ last defeat in a group match was 0-1 vs Belgium in 1994.
All-time record: Brazil unbeaten in 23 group stage matches in a row (from 1970 to 1998, broken by Norway).
*The Netherlands have still never lost their opening group stage game of a World Cup tournament: 7 wins and 3 draws in 10 occasions.
This is the longest run of this kind among nations unbeaten in opening group stage games in the competition’s history.
*The Netherlands started a World Cup match without a player from the Dutch Eredivisie for the first time ever.
*Virgil van Dijk is now the second-oldest goalscorer for the Netherlands at the World Cup (aged 34 years and 341 days), behind Giovanni van Bronckhorst (35 years 151 days).
Ivory Coast vs Ecuador 1-0 (Group E)
*Ecuador suffered their first defeat since 7 September 2024 (0-1 against Brazil), ending a run of 19 consecutive unbeaten matches (8 wins, 11 draws).
It was Ecuador’s longest unbeaten streaks in history (ahead of two similar 9-game runs in 2012-2013 and in 2022).
*Ivory Coast are the 2nd African team to win a World Cup match thanks to a goal scored in the 89th minute or later (excluding extra time). The first was Cameroon with goal against Brazil in 2022.
*Ecuador’s Hernán Galíndez became the 2nd oldest goalkeeper (39 years 76 days) to play a World Cup match with an American national team behind Faryd Mondragón with Colombia (43 years 3 days).
*Ecuador are the fifth team to lose a World Cup match after hitting the woodwork 3 or more times, after:
Belgium (1-4 vs USSR in 1970) — 3 woodwork shots
Italy (1-2 vs Brazil in 1978) — 4 woodwork shots
Brazil (0-1 vs Argentina in 1990) — 3 woodwork shots
USA (1-2 vs Iran in 1998) — 3 woodwork shots
*This is the 11th match in the history of the World Cup with 4+ shots against the woodwork between these two teams (3 by Ecuador and 1 by Ivory Coast).
The last such instance was Switzerland vs Costa Rica (2 by each side) in 2018.
Sweden vs Tunisia 5-1 (Group F)
*Sweden had not scored 5 goals in a World Cup game since 12 June 1938 against Cuba (8-0).
*The first goal by Yasin Ayari (whose father is a Tunisian) scored in 7th minute is Sweden’s earliest goal in a World Cup match since Martin Dahlin’s in the 6th minute vs Saudi Arabia (3-1) in 1994.
*Sweden’s Mattias Svanberg scored after just 17 seconds from the moment of his World Cup debut.
Only one player in World Cup history scored quicker at his debut: Václav Mašek, for Czechoslovakia, after 16 seconds, vs Mexico on 7 June 1962.
*Svanberg’s goal is also the second-fastest by a substitute in the history of the World Cup. The record is still held by Uruguay’s Richard Morales: 16 seconds, vs Senegal on 11 June 2002.
*Viktor Gyökeres became the sole top European scorer (6 goals) among all national teams in 2026, ahead of Montenegro’s Milutin Osmajić (5).