An independent archive

A century of World Cups, and the road to 2030.

Twenty-three tournaments played, two cancelled, one more to come. Every figure links to its source.

All-time top scorers →Player profiles →

The Uruguay squad in light-blue shirts, one row standing and one crouching, in a team photograph.
Uruguay’s team, 1930 World Cup final
Zito (left) and Pelé walking along a shopping street in Gothenburg during the 1958 World Cup, a small car parked at the kerb.
Pelé and Zito · Gothenburg, 1958 World Cup
The stands and pitch of the Estadio Centenario seen from the upper tier.
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo · 2007
Players in red on a trophy podium in front of a packed stadium, under a Champion du Maroc 2014-2015 banner.
Moroccan league title presentation · May 2015
22All-time top scorer: Kylian Mbappé, 22 goalsSource: FIFA · as of 19 Jul 2026
13Most goals in one tournament: Just Fontaine, 13 goals in 1958Source: FIFA · as of 19 Jul 2026
17Players with 10 or more World Cup goalsSource: FIFA · as of 19 Jul 2026

1930

URU

Montevideo, Uruguay

13 teams

Source: FIFA · as of 1 Aug 2018

100Years

2030

MARESPPOR

Morocco · Spain · Portugal

The three centenary celebration matches will be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay

Source: FIFA · as of 19 Mar 2026

CONCACAF qualifying starts in the September–October 2027 windowSource: CONCACAF · as of 6 Feb 2026

The 24th tournament — June–July 2030Source: FIFA · as of 23 Sep 2026

Players

All 16 player profiles →

Goals: FIFA · as of 19 Jul 2026 (Klose, Ronaldo Nazário, Müller, Just Fontaine, Pelé, Paolo Rossi, Roberto Baggio); FIFA · as of 16 May 2024 (Eusébio); RSSSF · as of 23 Sep 2026 (Romário); FIFA · as of 25 Sep 2026 (Garrincha); RSSSF · as of 23 Sep 2026 (Michel Platini). Matches: the Total row of the “World Cup record by tournament” table on each profile.

All-time scoring table

World Cup finals goals, all time: every player ranked 9th or higher. Goals per match is goals divided by matches, rounded to two decimals.
RankPlayerGoalsGMatchesMPer matchG/M
1stMbappé22221.00
2ndMessi21340.62
3rdKlose16240.67
4thRonaldo Nazário15190.79
joint 5thG. Müller14131.08
joint 5thKane14180.78
7thFontaine1362.17
8thPelé12140.86
joint 9thKocsis1152.20
joint 9thKlinsmann11170.65
joint 9thC. Ronaldo11270.41

Goals and matches: Source: FIFA · as of 19 Jul 2026. Per match = goals ÷ matches.Full list of all 17 →

Latest files

Three scoring records

All records →

Featured edition

All editions

01

The 1930 World Cup: How the First World Cup Was Won in Montevideo

13 teams Source: FIFA · as of 1 Aug 2018

The first World Cup, Uruguay 1930: why Montevideo got it, how 13 teams got there, all 18 results, the first goal and hat-trick, the third place nobody played for, and Uruguay's 4-2 final win over Argentina.

Open the 1930 edition →

Every figure we mark carries a source and a verification date →

  • 22Kylian Mbappé, World Cup goalsRatified · Source: FIFA · verified
  • 16Miroslav Klose, World Cup goalsRatified · Source: FIFA · verified
  • 13Just Fontaine, World Cup goalsRatified · Source: FIFA · verified
  • 13Teams at the 1930 World CupRatified · Source: FIFA · verified
  • 9Paolo Rossi, World Cup goalsRatified · Source: FIFA · verified

Sources cited CONCACAF FIFA RSSSF Wikipedia

Image credits — 11 photographs from Wikimedia Commons

Photographs on this page come from Wikimedia Commons and are reused under the licence shown for each. Public-domain images carry no condition; Creative Commons images require this attribution wherever they appear. Every image was cropped and resized for this site.