While the world’s elite forwards arrived in North America with their eyes fixed on the Golden Boot, they are currently being outpaced by a rather embarrassing collective entity. Seven own goals have already been registered at the 2026 World Cup - five more than the entire 2022 tournament in Qatar.

At this rate, the 2026 edition is on a direct trajectory to shatter the all-time World Cup record of 12 defensive mishaps, set during the 2018 tournament in Russia.