World Cup 2026 Quarter-Final Stats: Goals, Assists, XG, Chances Created & More

A tantalising pair of World Cup semi-finals lie in store this week, after the competition’s heavyweights finally flexed their muscles.

Each of FIFA’s four top-ranked teams will take part in the tournament’s penultimate round, with France vs Spain kicking off proceedings later today (Tuesday 2pm CDT / 8pm BST).

Didier Deschamps’ men can feel confident after comfortably dispatching Morocco 2-0 in the quarter-finals, while La Roja benefited from a late goalkeeping error to claim a 2-1 victory over Belgium.

Then there’s the mouthwatering prospect of England vs Argentina on the other side of the bracket (Wednesday 3pm EDT / 8pm BST).

It’s a narrative-laden fixture between two teams who haven’t always convinced this summer, yet have consistently delivered when the pressure is on.

That was the case in the Three Lions’ 2-1 extra-time triumph against Norway, with their upcoming opponents also needing 120 minutes to beat ten-man Switzerland 3-1.

There’s plenty to look forward to this midweek, then – so we thought we’d get warmed up by highlighting some of the data-leading star performers from across the quarter-finals…

World Cup Quarter-Finals Top Goalscorers: Bellingham moves into Golden Boot contention with brace

Jude Bellingham was the only player to score more than once in the 2026 World Cup quarter-finals.

England’s star man struck just before half-time with a sublime run and finish, to cancel out Andreas Schjelderup’s opener for Norway.

And he came up with the goods again in extra-time – pouncing on a poorly-placed save from goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland to send his side through.

That brace takes Bellingham’s total to six goals at the tournament, which is only two behind top scorers Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé with eight each.

Messi was unable to add to his tally against Switzerland, allowing Mbappé to draw level with him at the summit after netting in the clash with Morocco.

Ousmane Dembélé scored the other goal in that game, keeping him in top scorer contention after registering five times over six appearances.

World Cup 2026 Quarter-Finals Top Goalscorers

World Cup Quarter-Finals Most Assists: López makes an immediate impact

There was an even spread of assists across the four 2026 World Cup quarter-final matches, with eight different players setting up goals for their team-mates.

Of those players, Argentina’s José Manuel López needed the least amount of time to make an impact – setting up Julián Alvarez for La Albiceleste’s second goal of the night vs Switzerland, despite only spending a total of ten minutes on the pitch.

Elsewhere, Norway creator-in-chief Martin Ødegaard took his total assists to four in five matches, when he played the pass for Schjelderup’s first-half strike against England.

Mbappé and Messi chipped in with one apiece, too, taking their total goal contributions at the tournament to 11 (eight goals and three assists) and ten (eight goals and two assists), respectively.

The other players to make the list were Anthony Gordon (England), Désiré Doué (France), Ricardo Rodríguez (Switzerland) and Timothy Castagne (Belgium).

None of them are troubling the competition’s overall assist provider, though. France’s Michael Olise still leads the way with five, despite not adding to that total against Morocco.

World Cup 2026 Quarter-Finals Most Assists

World Cup Quarter-Finals Highest XG: Bellingham shows clinical qualities

Two sides of Mbappé were on display at the Boston Stadium, as Les Bleus’ No.10 missed a penalty before making amends with a brilliant effort from the edge of the box.

That’s reflected in his expected goals (xG) from the game, which is enhanced by the spot-kick opportunity and stands at 0.96.

No other player matched that number in the quarter-finals, though Argentina goalscorer Alexis Mac Allister posted an xG of 0.74 from 120 minutes of action.

He is followed by a trio of players on 0.46 xG who all enjoyed significantly less game time – Thiago Almada (30 minutes), Lautaro Martínez (35 minutes) and Mikel Merino, who needed just four minutes on the pitch to score Spain’s winner.

Notably, Bellingham’s brace for England came from a total xG of 0.44, which reflects the clinical form the 23-year-old is in at this World Cup.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Messi remains top of the expected goals chart overall – an xG of 4.71 is dwarfed by his actual tally of eight strikes while stateside.

World Cup 2026 Quarter-Finals Highest XG

World Cup Quarter-Finals Most Shots: No goals but plenty of endeavour from Yamal

It may not have resulted in a goal, but Lamine Yamal wasn’t afraid to try his luck in Spain’s win over Belgium.

The talented teenager racked up a notably high six shots against Rudi Garcia’s outfit, which was more than anyone else over the four quarter-finals.

A respectable two of those attempts were on target, so he’ll be hoping for a little more good fortune on that front in today’s meeting with France.

Bellingham’s desire to drive England to victory against Norway is reflected via his shooting stats, too. His five shots puts him second on the list, with both efforts on target resulting in goals.

Four players sit just behind on four shots each and nobody will be surprised by the stars in question – Mbappé, Dembélé, Messi and Mac Allister.

Messi and Mbappé’s contributions mean they remain first and second overall for shots, with 33 and 30.

And the duo switch places if we look at shots on target, with 18 for Argentina’s talisman and 19 for his French rival.

World Cup 2026 Quarter-Finals Most Shots

World Cup Quarter-Finals Most Chances Created: Messi takes on creator role in Kansas

The World Cup’s biggest stars are coming to the fore as we enter the tournament’s latter stages – and not just for their goalscoring prowess.

If we look at chances created in the quarter-finals, the same recognisable names continue to appear, with Messi having conjured six opportunities against Switzerland in Kansas City.

That’s two ahead of Mbappé and Dembélé (four each) and three in front of Doué and Swiss mainstay Rodríguez, who complete the top five.

However, it’s a slightly different story if the focus switches to big chances created.

Dembélé is the man who really shines based on that metric, with a sizeable three of his four chances registering as Opta-defined big opportunities.

No other player can boast more than one across the four matches, though Messi is still the overall leader for both chances (21) and big chances (6) at the 2026 World Cup.

World Cup 2026 Quarter-Finals Most Chances Created