FIFA WORLD CUP 2026:Records Tumble, Goals Rain, Knockout Rounds Beckon …As ‘Elephants Stormed The China Shop’
By Akeem Busari
For several exciting reasons, this FIFA World Cup 2026, played across three countries, Canada, Mexico and USA, has set records tumbling and with goals raining endlessly.
Acknowledged as a championship that has so far, seen the big boys turning up in the party with style and panache, yet, the football world received shocking waves, as some elephants, also stormed the china shop.
Save for the 18 drawn matches, as well as, the expected wins by the big boys, the games equally saw debutants like Curaçao, Cabo Verde and a returning Congo DR, proving to be elephants in the china shop, with shocking results that tore the pundits books.
The goals rained heavily across the host nations and in 73 matches played in the preliminary rounds, an impressive total of 212 goals were scored.
Super stars Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Mohammed Sallah, Cristiano Ronaldo, Vinicius Junior, and Alexander Isak and Yoane Wissa, have been major contributors to the avalanche of goals recorded so far.
Interestingly, ahead of the rounds of 32 knockout stage, African teams made incredible strides as 9 out of 10 teams made the knockout stage.
Pundits, analysts, and football technicians have continued to wax lyrical about this championship and millions of football fans across the world are already salivating over some exciting fixtures of the rounds of 32.
It pitches South Africa against Canada, Brazil up against the Blue Samurais of Japan, Germany faces Paraguay, Netherlands tackle African giants Morocco.
Ivory Coast versus Norway, and France against Sweden, in some the matches that begins tomorrow, June 29th, across the three host countries.
