England's World Cup 2026: Records and milestones

The FIFA World Cup 2026 proved to be a landmark tournament for England as they achieved their best-ever finish at a men’s World Cup staged on foreign soil.

Thomas Tuchel’s side beat France 6-4 in a thrilling bronze final to seal third place and their highest finish since being crowned world champions in 1966.

It was a tournament which provided numerous memorable moments, with several players breaking records over the course of the eight matches in North America.

Here we take a look at some of the standout stats from our World Cup campaign...

More greatness from Kane

Harry Kane continues to hit milestones in an England shirt, and this summer was no different.

The striker matched Gary Lineker’s record of 10 World Cup goals for the men’s side with his brace in the 4-2 win against Croatia in the opening game. He then went on to break that record with a goal in the 2-0 victory over Panama.

Kane scored another three goals, netting a match-winning brace against DR Congo in the Round of 32, before converting a penalty in the 3-2 win over Mexico.

That took his overall tally to 14, which leaves him joint fifth on the all-time list of World Cup goalscorers alongside Germany’s Gerd Muller.  

Meanwhile, the skipper also became our most-capped outfield player, surpassing Wayne Rooney with 121 appearances. He is now just four appearances away from Peter Shilton’s record of 125.

Additionally, Kane is now the Three Lions’ most capped captain, having broken Billy Wright and Bobby Moore’s record with his 91st appearance as skipper in 2-1 win over DR Congo.

Bellingham’s brilliance

Jude Bellingham had an outstanding summer, with his seven goals the most a Three Lions player has ever scored at a major tournament.

He hit singles against Croatia and Panama, and back-to-back braces versus Mexico and Norway before rounding things off with a fine solo goal in the bronze final.

It was a tournament to remember for the midfielder, who set several other records to highlight his rapid rise in international football.

By starting against Croatia, Bellingham became the youngest European player to play in four major international tournaments aged 22 years and 353 days.

Six days later he achieved another record in the goalless draw with Ghana, becoming the youngest England men’s player to reach 50 caps, aged 22 years and 359 days. He now has 56 appearances for the Three Lions.

Pickford and Rice make history

Jordan Pickford is now England’s leading appearance maker at a men’s World Cup.

The goalkeeper made his 18th appearance in the 2-1 quarter-final win over Norway to surpass Shilton.

He extended the record to 19 matches in the last four against Argentina, which was his 31st consecutive appearance at a major tournament.

Declan Rice also set a new Three Lions record as he became the first player to both score and assist in their first World Cup match as captain.

Deputising for Kane against France, Rice curled in a delightful early opener before providing the corner for Ezri Konsa’s header in the 6-4 win.

Only Kane has registered two goal contributions in their first match captaining England at a men’s World Cup, scoring twice in a 2-1 victory over Tunisia at the FIFA World Cup 2018.

Saka’s half century

Bukayo Saka won his 50th cap in the opening win against Croatia and in doing so joined a select group of players to reach a half century before their 25th birthday.

The Arsenal man got there aged 24 years and 285 days, following in the footsteps of Rooney, Michael Owen and Raheem Sterling, with Bellingham joining the list as the youngest of them all after his appearance against Ghana.

Lions’ pride

Tuchel’s side’s run to the last four also signalled the consistency England has achieved with both its men’s and women’s teams over the last decade.

England have reached at least the semi-final stage at the last four major tournaments across the men’s and women’s games and, in the last 10 major tournaments, the Three Lions and Lionesses have made nine out of 10 semi-finals.