Every World Cup produces one clip that will still be on television in thirty years. The 2026 edition produced ten, and the argument about which one goes on top of the list has been running since the confetti landed at MetLife. Here is our ranking of the tournament's best goals — a mix of technique, moment, and degree of difficulty.
10. Ferran Torres · Spain vs England, final
The goal that ended a World Cup. Substituted on in extra time, Torres arrived at the far post to meet a low cross first-time and lifted a finish into the roof of the net past a scrambling Pickford. It ranks tenth because the technique was clean rather than remarkable, but no list of 2026 goals could sensibly leave out the strike that put the trophy in Spanish hands.
9. Serhou Guirassy · Guinea vs Portugal, group stage
A bicycle kick from twelve yards to salvage a draw against Portugal, scored with the game already deep into stoppage time. Guinea did not progress, but their scrappy group-stage campaign produced this moment, and Guirassy's contortion in the air was replayed for a week in Lisbon and Conakry alike.
8. Franco Mastantuono · Argentina vs Ivory Coast, group stage
The 19-year-old came off the bench with Argentina toiling and, in his second touch, chested down a Nicolás Otamendi diagonal, turned inside two defenders, and drilled a low finish into the corner. It was the first sign that Argentina had genuine attacking depth beyond the starting XI and it announced Mastantuono to the tournament.
7. Bukayo Saka · England vs Belgium, quarter-final
Saka's third of the tournament, and probably the best individual England goal of any of them. He cut inside from the right, feinted past Zeno Debast twice, and bent a right-footed shot into the top corner from the edge of the box. It broke Belgium's spine in a game that had been level at half-time.
6. Cody Gakpo · Netherlands vs USMNT, round of 16
The goal that eliminated the host nation. Gakpo, brought on with the score at 1-1, latched onto a Denzel Dumfries pull-back on the edge of the six-yard box and, instead of taking the shot in stride, delayed it for the split-second required to send the ball whipping the opposite way from the diving Matt Turner. Technique on that specific type of finish is Gakpo's speciality; nobody in the tournament did it better.
5. Kylian Mbappé · France vs Senegal, group stage
A vintage Mbappé chip. He was played through by Aurélien Tchouaméni from inside the France half, took three strides, spotted Édouard Mendy off his line, and lofted the ball into the empty net. Sublime for its coolness rather than any special technique — a 22-year-old could not have executed this. Mbappé's game has entered a phase where the difficult finishes look easy.
4. Pedri · Spain vs Norway, semi-final
A first-time volley from just outside the penalty area, struck as the ball dropped from a cleared corner. Pedri's foot came through the ball with the sort of stillness that midfielders spend careers practising. The finish flew low into the corner past a stranded Nyland. Pedri was elite from start to finish; this was the highlight of his highlight reel.
3. Erling Haaland · Norway vs France, quarter-final
The header that finished France. Norway's stunner in the quarters hinged on a set-piece plan Ståle Solbakken had drilled all summer: Martin Ødegaard whipping to the back post, Haaland attacking a space that runners cleared for him. The delivery was perfect. Haaland met it flush and directed it downward, giving Mike Maignan zero chance. Not the prettiest goal on the list, but the most consequential — it knocked out the reigning champions.
2. Jude Bellingham · England vs Croatia, round of 16
The solo. Bellingham collected on the halfway line, glided past Josip Šutalo, dragged the ball across Mario Pašalić, dinked around Joško Gvardiol on the edge of the box, and slotted low across Dominik Livaković. Nine touches, four defenders beaten, the sort of run that gets replayed at half-speed for a decade. It also unlocked a match Croatia had been strangling to death; without it, England's tournament ends earlier.
1. Lamine Yamal · Spain vs England, final
The winner. 106th minute, 0-0, Spain building patiently through the third-and-half of extra time when Yamal took a Rodri lay-off, shifted the ball onto his left foot twenty yards from goal, and bent a shot around Konsa and past Pickford into the far top corner. It was the finish of a player who had earned the confidence to attempt it in that moment — a 19-year-old choosing the harder ball because he knew it was going in. The goal that won the World Cup and completed the Golden Ball / Golden Boot / Young Player treble tops the list on skill, timing and consequence combined.
The ones that missed
Honourable mentions that could just as easily have made the ten: Vinícius Júnior's outside-of-the-boot curler for Brazil against Morocco, Musiala's turn-and-shot for Germany against Ecuador, De Bruyne's free-kick for Belgium against Iran in the group opener, and the audacious Nicolò Barella lob for Italy — playing at a World Cup again after eight years away — in the group stage against Colombia. Any of them are worth ten minutes of your evening on YouTube.
FAQ
Was there a FIFA official Goal of the Tournament? The public vote runs through August and will be announced on FIFA's channels. Yamal's winner is the heavy favourite; Bellingham's solo is the sentimental pick.
Who scored the most goals from outside the box? Pedri and Bellingham each scored twice from outside the area — the highest total among any players at the tournament.
Fewest touches to score? Ferran Torres's final strike was struck first-time inside two seconds of coming onto the pitch — the shortest ball-to-goal sequence of the tournament's knockout rounds.
Where next? Head back to our World Cup blog hub for the awards recap, the final's minute-by-minute, and the tournament-in-numbers post, or follow the club season restart on live soccer scores.