The world of soccer remembers the 19th minute of the opening match of Uruguay 1930. At that moment, Lucien Laurent, a French player, scored the first goal in the history of the World Cups. His right-footed volley against Mexico started a goal-scoring tradition that, almost a century later, has accumulated 2,720 goals in 974 matches. Since that historic goal, more than 1,400 footballers have left their mark on the 22 World Cups played to date. Legendary figures like Pelé, Diego Armando Maradona, Bobby Charlton, and James Rodríguez are part of the extensive list of protagonists who have enriched the goalscoring history of the most important tournament on the planet. The offensive growth of the World Cup has left emblematic moments. Dutchman Rob Rensenbrink scored goal number 1,000 in Argentina 1978, while Swede Marcus Allbäck signed the 2,000th goal in Germany 2006. The first two editions of the Cup barely reached 70 goals each, but the progressive expansion of the tournament notably increased the figures. France 1998 became the first World Cup to surpass 150 goals, a trend that reached its peak at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 with an absolute record of 172 goals. However, the most explosive edition in terms of average goals scored remains the FIFA World Cup Switzerland 1954, with 5.38 goals per game, a record that remains intact.
At the level of national teams, Brazil leads the historical list with 237 World Cup goals, followed by Germany with 232 and Argentina with 152. France, the nation that scored the first goal, has a total of 136 celebrations.
The history of the World Cups has also left records of precocity and longevity. Pelé continues to be the youngest scorer, having scored at just 17 years and 239 days in Sweden 1958. In contrast, Cameroonian Roger Milla became the oldest scorer after scoring at 42 years and 39 days in the United States 1994. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup in sight, the new 48-team format and 104 matches promise to open the door to new offensive records. The expansion of the tournament could take goalscoring figures to levels never before seen in the history of football. When the ball rolls again in North America, the forwards will try to write new chapters in the eternal history of the goal. But none will have the symbolism of that shot by Lucien Laurent in the 19th minute of Uruguay 1930, because the first goal of a World Cup only happens once.
