IFFHS CONTINENTAL STATS - EUROPE WORLD CUP 2026 QUALIFIERS
Picture : Erling Haaland is the first European player to score 5 goals in a World Cup qualifier since Hans Krankl (he scored 6 for Austria vs Malta in 1977).
Statistics on WC 2026 qualifiers in Europe (8-9 September)
Israel vs Italy 4-5
*Italy have scored 5+ goals in two consecutive matches (also 5-0 vs Estonia) for the first time in their history.
*In the entire history of World Cup qualifying, this is the very first game to end in a 4-5 away win.
*Italy have already once won a match when they conceded 4 goals. It was 105 years ago, 9-4 vs France, a home friendly in Milan, on 18 January 1920.
*Mateo Retegui is the first player in XXI century to provide 3 assists in a single match for Italy.
*Moise Kean notched 5 goals in his first 3 World Cup qualifiers, with only Luigi Riva having scoring more (6) for Italy in his first 3 such matches.
*Curiously, the last game between any national teams (including friendlies) that brought the result 4-5 (win of visiting team) also had Israel as home side. In 1996, they conceded 4-5 to South Korea in a friendly.
Hungary vs Portugal 2-3
*Cristiano Ronaldo, converting a penalty, has equaled Guatemala's Carlos Ruiz as the all-time leading scorer in World Cup Qualifying (39 goals for both).
Ruiz had held this record alone, after surpassing Iran's Ali Daei, since 6 September 2016.
Armenia vs Republic of Ireland 2-1
*Evan Ferguson is the first Republic of Ireland player to score in 3 competitive appearances in a row since Stephen Ireland in 2006-07.
Serbia vs England 0-5
*It's Serbia/Yugoslavia's worst home defeat in their history, including friendlies. The 2-6 against Czechoslovakia in 1926 and the 1-5 against Germany in 1939 were the heaviest home defeats before.
*England last scored 5 goals away against a top team in 2001 (the legendary 5-1 defeat against Germany in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers).
*3+ players have scored their first goal in the same match for England: Noni Madueke, Ezri Konsa, Marc Guéhi.
This happened for only the third time since winning the 1966 World Cup:
in October 2020 vs Wales (Ings, Coady, Calvert-Lewin),
in November 2024 vs Republic of Ireland (Gordon, Gallagher, Harwood-Bellis, Bowen).
France vs Iceland 2-1
*France have not lost any of their last 25 qualifying matches for the Euro and World Cup (20 wins, 5 draw), since a 0-2 defeat in Turkey in June 2019.
*France have won after trailing in official competition for the first time since 22 November 2022 (against Australia at the World Cup).
*Kylian Mbappé became the sole France’s 2nd best scorer (52 goals) surpassing Thierry Henry (51).
*Aurélien Tchouaméni is the first player to receive 2 red cards for France (also on 14 October 2024 vs Belgium 2-1) since Zinédine Zidane (in 1998 and 2006).
Overall, 4 players have received 2 red cards in history for Les Bleus (also Yvon Le Roux and Franck Leboeuf).
*Kingsley Coman became the first player in history to have played not a single full game out of his 59 matches for national team (France).
Norway vs Moldova 11-1
*Moldova suffered the biggest defeat in their history. The previous took place in March 2021, 0-8 vs Denmark.
*Norway matched their biggest win in competitive games (on 9 September 1992 vs San Marino 10-0).
*This is the 4th double-digit win in the Norway’s history, including two friendlies:
12-0 vs Finland on 28 June 1946,
11-0 vs USA on 6 August 1948.
*Erling Haaland is the first European player to score 5 goals in a World Cup qualifier since Hans Krankl (he scored 6 for Austria vs Malta in 1977).
*Haaland has scored in each of his last 8 appearances for Norway.
*Thelo Aasgaard has just scored a poker after coming off the bench for Norway in just his third appearance for the country.
He is the second substitute to score 3+ goals in a 2026 World cup qualifier. The first was Jamie Maclaren (Australia) against Bangladesh.
*Martin Ødegaard (Norway) has provided more assists than any other European player in 2026 World Cup qualifying (7).