FIFA opens voting for World Cup knockout stage best goal

Zurich: The second round of voting for the Goal of the Tournament is under way with users invited to select their favourite from a selection of 10 Round of 32 goals.

FIFA said the goal rush in North America goes on and with the Round of 32 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 completed, now comes the chance for fans to select their favourite from the opening set of knockout games.

After a record 215 goals in the group stage, the Round of 32 has produced another 42 – and left FIFA.com users with a bunch of brilliant strikes to choose from.

''As with the group-stage vote, won by Uzbekistan captain Eldor Shomurodov, we have narrowed the selection down to eight and our list includes goals from three of the world's greatest forwards – Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane – as well as from players netting on the global stage for the first time, such as Norway’s Antonio Nusa and Cabo Verde's Sidny Lopes Cabral,'' FIFA said.

This is the latest step in the process towards deciding the Hyundai Goal of the Tournament, with users having 48 hours to place their vote once the window opens. After the voting window has closed, the winning goal will be announced.

There will be three further votes following the same process: the next after the Round of 16, another after the quarter-finals and semi-finals (combined), and then a final vote at the end of the tournament.