Revealed: The hardest-hit goals of the 2026 World Cup

Pape Gueye’s strike against Iraq during the group stage remains the hardest-hit goal at the World Cup.

The Senegal international’s shot — his second goal of the game — hit a top speed of 131.94km/h, which is just over 3km/h faster than Johan Manzambi’s goal — clocking 128.73km/h — for Switzerland in their win over Canada on June 24.

Thelo Aasgaard’s spectacular finish for Norway in their group-stage defeat to France is third on the list at 125.95km/h.

The data, which has been provided by FIFA, is tracked by an inertial measurement unit (IMU) in the World Cup ball, the Adidas Trionda, and is integrated with 16 dedicated cameras mounted inside the stadiums.

The cameras monitor the ball and players, collecting up to 29 data points per player around 50 times per second.

As part of the Trionda’s design, the IMU sensor is lightweight to ensure it does not negatively impact the ball’s performance or balance.

Also making the top-10 for the hardest-hit strikes is Cape Verde’s Kevin Pina, whose goal against Uruguay was his country’s first-ever goal at a World Cup, reaching a top speed of 125.22km/h.

The 29-year-old’s finish was struck from just over 31 yards out, which is further than any of the other strikes on the list.

Before the round of 16 got underway, nine of the 10 fastest goals were from the group stage, with only Mohamed Saber’s penalty in Egypt’s shootout win over Australia on Friday night in Dallas being the only entrant from the knockout stage.

This is not the first time this technology has been deployed by FIFA and Adidas, with similar data being tracked at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the Women’s World Cup in 2023.