Paraguay’s Matias Galarza scores fastest goal at FIFA World Cup 2026 in 64 seconds

Daily Update, Sports

Matias Galarza became the fastest goal scorer of the FIFA World Cup 2026 tournament by netting after just 64 seconds in Paraguay’s Group D match against Turkey.

The 24-year-old midfielder capitalized on a turnover deep inside Turkiye’s half before sending a powerful low shot from outside the penalty area past goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir to give Paraguay an early 1–0 lead.

Galarza’s goal surpassed the previous tournament’s fastest strike, set earlier the same day by Morocco’s Ismael Saibari, who scored in the 70th second in a 1–0 victory over Scotland.

Argentina, referred to as La Albirroja,

had been under pressure following a 4–1 defeat to the United States in their opening group match. The early goal offered a critical boost and shifted the tactical balance, forcing Turkiye to chase the game from the start.

Turkiye had also endured a difficult start, losing 2–0 to Australia in their first match, and faced the possibility of another damaging result that could place them at the bottom of Group D.

Born in Assuncion on February 11, 2002, Galarza has been an important player for Paraguay since his international debut in 2022. He has scored two goals in 14 appearances for the national team.

While Galarza holds the record for the quickest goal in the 2026 tournament, the all-time World Cup record remains with Turkish forward Hakan Sukur, who scored after 10.8 seconds against South Korea in the third-place playoff of the 2002 World Cup.

Paraguay’s Matias Galarza scripted history by scoring the quickest goal of FIFA World Cup 2026 during the Group D match against Turkiye on Saturday. It took just 65 seconds for Paraguay to take the lead in the match as Galarza scored from a sensational long-ranging effort. Earlier in the day, Morocco’s Ismael Saibari claimed the record when he scored after just 72 seconds during the match against Scotland. However, the record did not last long as Galarza capitalized on a furious start by Paraguay and handed his team the lead in a must-win game for them.

Previously, Matheus Cunha scored twice as Brazil eased past Haiti 3-0 on Friday to breathe life into their FIFA World Cup campaign and close in on a spot in the last 32.

After a much-criticized display in their opening 1-1 draw with Morocco, the five-time world champions underlined the gulf in class with outsiders Haiti, who became the first nation to exit this World Cup.

Cunha’s scruffy goal in Philadelphia gave Brazil the lead halfway through the first half, and he struck again as Carlo Ancelotti’s side asserted their dominance. Vinicius Junior added a third before the break.

Brazil play Scotland in their final Group C game in Miami on June 24.

Haiti’s first World Cup appearance since 1974 will end after they played Morocco in Atlanta.

The Selecao currently have the edge over Morocco for top spot on goal difference. If they finished first, they would face the Group F runners-up — likely to be the Netherlands, Japan or Sweden — in the next round.

Neymar did not travel with the squad as he continues his recovery from a calf injury, prompting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva to joke he was “working remotely”.

As promised Ancelotti made changes after the insipid showing against Morocco, bringing United forward Cunha in for Brentford’s Igor Thiago and replacing Roger Ibáñez with Danilo at right-back.

Despite a US government ban which has prevented fans traveling from Haiti, the Caribbean nation received loud support from the sizeable Haitian diaspora, which filled rough half of the 68,324 crowd.

Aggravated at not coming away with a point from their 1-0 loss to Scotland last week, Haiti coach Sebastien Migne urged his players to embrace the opportunity to play Brazil at a World Cup.

With 77 places separation the nations in the FIFA rankings, Brazil quickly took control and thought they had scored when Raphinha fired home, only for the Barcelona winger to be flagged offside.

It was a sign of what was to come though and Brazil broke the deadlock on 23 minutes.

Cunha sparked the move by winning possession in midfield and, after Vinicius’s shot was parried, he reacted fastest to block Hannes Delcroix’s clearance to send the ball trickling into the net.

Vinicius and Cunha combined again to double the lead, the former slipping his team-mate in behind the Haiti defense to explode in a powerful left-footed shot as he fell to the ground.

Brazil lost Raphinha to injury but scored a third before half-time as Vinicius ran onto Lucas Paqueta’s floated pass and steered through the legs of Jony Placide.

Haiti nearly bagged their first World Cup goal in 52 years when Ricardo Ade’s glancing header at a corner forced Alisson Becker into a sharp stop, but it was a rare moment of hope.

The introduction of 19-year-old Endrick as Ancelotti turned to his bench triggered huge cheers from Brazil supporters, who almost had another goal to celebrate when substitute Gabriel Martinelli rattled the crossbar.

Haiti refused to go down without a fight as Alisson made two late saves to preserve Brazil’s first clean sheet in seven outings, turning the page on an underwhelming start to the competition.

Earlier in the day, Morocco’s Ismael Saibari had become the tournament’s fastest scorer when he found the net after 71 seconds in a 1-0 victory over .