Four-time champions Germany are taking on Ecuador in their third and final Group E match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 on Thursday (Friday IST). In the fixture at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, winger Leroy Sane needed just 1 minute and 49 seconds to open the scoring. He scored his first-ever goal for Germany in a major tournament (the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA European Championship) on Thursday, and the strike also helped him enter the record books.
The goal by the former Manchester City and Bayern Munich star is the second-fastest goal scored by a German player in a FIFA World Cup match.
The record for the fastest goal scored by a German player in a FIFA World Cup match is held by Ernest Lehner. In the third-place match of the 1934 FIFA World Cup,
Lehner needed just 25 seconds to score against Austria at Stadio Giorgio Ascarelli in Naples.
The overall record for the fastest goal in FIFA World Cup history is held by Turkey’s Hakan Sukur. Sukur scored after just 11 seconds in the third-place match of the 2002 FIFA World Cup against South Korea at Daegu World Cup Stadium in Daegu.
Fastest goals in FIFA World Cup
| PLAYER | COUNTRY | TIME | AGAINST | VENUE | YEAR |
| Hakan Sukur | Turkey | 11 seconds | South Korea | Daegu World Cup Stadium, Daegu | 2002 |
| Vaclav Masek | Czechoslovakia | 15 seconds | Mexico | Estadio Sausalito, Vina del Mar | 1962 |
| Ernest Lehner | Germany | 25 seconds | Austria | Stadio Giorgio Ascarelli, Naples | 1934 |
| Bryan Robson | England | 28 seconds | France | San Mames, Bilbao | 1982 |
| Clint Dempsey | USA | 30 seconds | Ghana | Arena das Dunas, Natal | 2014 |
| Bernard Lacombe | France | 31 seconds | Italy | Estadio Jose Maria Minella, Mar del Plata | 1978 |
| Arne Nyberg | Sweden | 35 seconds | Hungary | Parc des Princes, Paris | 1938 |
| Emile Veinante | France | 35 seconds | Belgium | Stade Olympique, Colombes | 1938 |
| Florian Albert | Hungary | 50 seconds | Bulgaria | Estadio Braden Copper Co., Rancagua | 1962 |
| Adalbert Desu | Romania | 50 seconds | Peru | Estadio Pocitos, Montevideo | 1930 |
| Seung Zin Pak | North Korea | 50 seconds | Portugal | Goodison Park, Liverpool | 1966 |
| Celso Ayala | Paraguay | 52 seconds | Nigeria | Stade Municipal, Toulouse | 1998 |
| Mathias Jorgensen | Denmark | 55 seconds | Croatia | Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod | 2018 |
So far, a total of 13 goals have been scored within the opening minute of a FIFA World Cup match.
