The quarterfinal round of the 2026 World Cup has concluded, with Argentina, France, Spain, and England making up the final four of the tournament. Beyond the major upsets, the statistics surrounding the four title contenders are particularly interesting.

Real Madrid broke a historic record, as its players scored a total of 19 goals in the tournament. This is the highest tally by players from a single club in a single World Cup tournament.

Jude Bellingham’s two goals against Norway allowed the “The Queen” to surpass the previous record of 18 goals, which had been shared by three clubs from different eras.

Honved had scored 18 goals at the 1954 World Cup, Bayern Munich matched that feat in 2014, while Paris Saint-Germain tied that record in the 2022 tournament.

The top scorer among Real Madrid players at this year’s World Cup is Kylian Mbappé with eight goals. Bellingham follows with six, while Vinícius and Arda Güler—who have already been eliminated—finished their tournaments with four and one goal, respectively.

The previous record was set in 1954 by Sándor Kocsis, who scored 11 of Honvéd’s 18 goals. In 2014, Thomas Müller scored five goals for Germany, contributing to Bayern Munich’s performance.

At the 2022 World Cup, Paris Saint-Germain relied primarily on the tournament’s top two scorers. Kylian Mbappé scored eight goals for France, and Lionel Messi scored seven for world champion Argentina.

Barcelona has the most players in the final four
The representation of clubs in the semifinals is also of particular interest. Barcelona tops the list, with ten players on the four teams still in the tournament.

Eight of them represent Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Gavi, Dani Olmo, Ferran Torres, Eric García, Pau Kubarsi, and Joan García. Rounding out the top ten are Jules Koundé with France and Marcus Rashford with England.

In second place is Atlético Madrid with nine players. Six of them are playing for Argentina and three for Spain. They are Julián Álvarez, Nahuel Molina, Nico González, Thiago Almada, Giuliano Simeone, Juan Musso, Marcos Llorente, Alex Baena, and Marc Pubill.

Arsenal follows with eight representatives. Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Embereci Eze, and Noni Madueke are with England, David Raya, Mikel Merino, and Martín Zubimendi are with Spain, and William Saliba is with France.

Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City each have six players available. The French team is represented by five French internationals and Fabián Ruiz of Spain.

Manchester City has four English players—John Stones, Mark Gekhi, Nico O’Reilly, and James Trafford, as well as Rodri of Spain and Rayan Cherki of France.

Chelsea and Aston Villa each have five players in the semifinals, while Crystal Palace rounds out the top eight clubs with four representatives.

The English presence is particularly strong, as several Premier League teams still have a significant number of players in the tournament. Barcelona and Atlético Madrid, however, hold the top two spots, confirming the strong representation of Spanish clubs in the final stretch of the World Cup.

*photo source: AP