Barely 64 seconds had passed in the match between Paraguay and Türkiye when Matías Galarza took a left-footed shot from outside the area and sent the ball into the back of the net. The score, as made official by FIFA, meant 1-0 for the Albirroja at the Bahía de San Francisco Stadium (Levi’s Stadium) and, in addition, established the fastest goal of the 2026 World Cup so far.
The goal came at an important moment for Paraguay, which was looking to react after the defeat suffered against the United States on the first day of Group D. Galarza took advantage of a rejected ball on the edge of the area and scored with precision to put his team ahead.
Hours earlier, Moroccan Ismael Saibari had scored the fastest goal of the tournament when he scored against Scotland 70 seconds into the game.
According to data from Opta Analyst, Morocco recovered the ball just 14 seconds after the kickoff and built a play that ended with Saibari’s definition to open the scoring.
However, Galarza’s score surpassed that record by just a few seconds and went on to top the list of the fastest goals of the 2026 World Cup.
The goal play
The action was born after an imprecise departure from Türkiye. Paraguay exerted pressure in the rival field, recovered possession and the ball reached Galarza in a favorable position.
The midfielder adjusted his left-footed shot from outside the area and beat the Turkish goalkeeper to open the scoring when the match was just beginning.
For the team led by Gustavo Alfaro, the goal represented an early advantage in a key match for their aspirations to advance to the next round.
Türkiye seeks to react
Türkiye came into the match needing to score points after their loss to Australia on the opening day.
The early goal forced the European team to advance lines and take greater offensive risks from the first minutes of the match.
Far from the historical record
Although the scores of Galarza and Saibari stand out among the fastest of the 2026 World Cup, both are far from the absolute record of the World Cups.
The historical mark is still held by the Turkish Hakan Şükür, who scored 11 seconds into the match for third place at the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup.
Note: At the time of publication of this note, the match between Paraguay and Turkey remains in dispute during the first half, so the result and positions of Group D are subject to change.