USA Sets Record with Own Goals at World Cup 2026
June 20, 2026 · Gonzalo Torres
Own goals are taking center stage at World Cup 2026, with the USA benefiting from two consecutive own goals, marking a unique record in the tournament's history.
Fans following the ongoing World Cup in North America have surely noticed an interesting trend: own goals are becoming major players in the tournament. In the past 24 hours, there have been two more recorded, the latest being an unfortunate contribution from Australian defender Burgess. His mishap opened the scoring in the Seattle match, which the United States went on to win 2-0, a victory that secured their qualification to the Round of 16 under coach Mauricio Pochettino. This isn’t the first time for the American team in this competition; they also benefited from an own goal by Bobadilla during their opening match against Paraguay. This statistic places the United States in the history books of the tournament: no national team had previously gained from two own goals in two consecutive World Cup matches. The numbers don’t stop there. After just over a week of competition, with 29 matches already played and another 51 yet to come, there have been seven own goals recorded in North America. The absolute record still belongs to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, which saw a total of 12 own goals. However, given the current pace, this record is far from safe and could be surpassed in the coming weeks.
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