Every figure we publish is traced to a named source and counted by the rules below; figures kept in our fact register also show a status, a source link and the date of our last check. Nothing is written from memory.
Where the figures come from
- FIFA for official totals, such as its all-time leading scorers list, and for its own match reports.
- RSSSF, the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation, for the line-ups, substitutions, scorers and minutes of each match. From these records we recount a player’s appearances and goals match by match instead of taking a total on trust.
- Wikipedia as a cross-check: articles on players, tournaments and matches, read in their raw source text, where every table cell appears as entered.
Tables are read in the source itself, never in a summary, and a detail resting on a single source is attributed to it.
Two sources that agree
A figure or a match detail is published when two sources agree on it. When two agree and a third differs, we follow the two and record the difference; the minute of a goal is the usual case. When the sources split with no majority, we do not choose: we leave the detail out and say so, giving a goal without its minute, or we give each version and name its source. Each article lists these cases under “Where the sources disagree”, in its Sources and method section.
What counts
- Final tournaments only. Qualifying, the Confederations Cup and other competitions are left out, as in FIFA’s World Cup records.
- Matches. A match counts for a player when he was on the pitch, from the start or as a substitute.
- Squads and tournaments played are counted separately. Ronaldo Nazário was in Brazil’s squad in 1994 and Paolo Rossi in Italy’s in 1986; neither played. A player left out of the squad is credited with neither.
- Replays. In 1934 and 1938, a match still level after extra time was replayed. The replay counts as a separate match, and its goals count.
- Penalties. A penalty scored during a match is a goal; a kick in a penalty shoot-out is not.
Figures we calculate
Goals per match is our own arithmetic: goals divided by matches played, rounded to two decimal places. Just Fontaine‘s 13 goals in six matches in 1958 work out at 2.17 a match.
Any sentence stating a rank, a gap, a count or an age is recalculated before publication, and a tie is written as a tie. Calculated figures are not kept in the register and carry no status mark; each article says which figures it calculated.
How figures are marked
The fact register holds one record per figure: value, status, source, date of the source and date of our last check. Every page that cites the figure reads it from there. Scores, minutes and most other numbers are not registered and carry no mark, but follow the same rules.
In the text, a registered figure is followed by a small gauge of three marks, filled according to its status. It links to “Figures on this page” at the foot of the article, a table of each registered figure with its status, its linked source, that source’s date (publication date, or the day we read it if undated) and the date we last checked it.
| Status | Marks filled | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Ratified | Three of three | The linked source and at least one other agree on the figure. |
| Confederation announcement | Two of three | Announced by a continental confederation, such as a qualifying calendar; it can still change. |
| Reported | Two of three | Given by a source we cite, not yet confirmed by a second one. |
| Projected | One of three | Expected, not yet announced. |
| Unverified | None | No check on record. A missing or unclear status is shown this way, never as ratified. |
Figures that will change
Some figures describe careers that are not over. Kylian Mbappé had 22 World Cup goals after the 2026 tournament, and the number of players with ten or more can grow at any World Cup. They are true as of their source’s date, shown beside the source link, and are rechecked against FIFA after each tournament.
A source published before the 2026 tournament is checked for what the tournament changed before we repeat it. The date under each article’s title is the day the article as a whole was last checked.
Corrections
A wrong figure is corrected where it is kept: in the register, which changes it at once on every page citing it from there, and by hand wherever text or a table repeats it, along with any rank or comparison that depended on it. Our editorial policy explains how corrections are made and keeps a dated log of them.