Records tumble during historic opening round

The record books have been well and truly rewritten during the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2026™ group stage.

On matchday one, Morocco defeated New Zealand 4-0 to claim the biggest victory ever by a host nation. The previous record was the Atlas Lionesses' 3-1 win over Costa Rica at last year's event, and New Zealand's triumph by the same scoreline against Colombia in 2008.

“We had studied New Zealand closely and knew we could win, while still respecting a team that had the quality to hurt us. But the plan worked,” coach Youness Rabie told FIFA after the match. “They already know how this World Cup works – the mixed zones, the pre-match build-up – and that helped us a great deal in our preparations.”

Two days later, USA got their campaign under way with a bang by defeating Samoa 17-0. The victory was the largest ever witnessed at an 11-a-side World Cup, and goes down as the tournament's highest-scoring match. Maddie DiMaria plundered six of the 17, becoming the first player to bag a half-dozen in one match at this event.

"I feel super, super-excited and grateful just to be in this place," DiMaria said after her goal spree. "I don't think I would be here, have been able to do it, without my team-mates. Going out there, our goal is to just give it our best and I think we totally did that. Just go straight from the start and I think scoring early set us up for success."

Less than 24 hours after the team-goals record was smashed, DPR Korea starlet Yu Jong-hyang became the competition's most prolific markswoman. She entered these finals on eight goals after leading the AFC powerhouses to the title last year, and followed up her brace versus Puerto Rico with another against Poland to take her to 12 goals and one clear of the record set by Venezuelan Deyna Castellanos at Jordan 2016.

"I am very satisfied with the match today," she said. "I’ve scored 12 goals in this tournament and I am happy to have scored so many, but I’m more happy that I was able to help our team win.”

The appearance record was next to go, as Mexico captain Citlalli Reyes won her 13th finals cap to once again surpass a record Castellanos set ten years earlier. She led by example on her special day, scoring the only goal to secure El Tri their passage to the knockouts.

"I’m obviously very happy (to hold the record)," the delighted teen told FIFA. "It means a lot to me because I’ve always worked hard to achieve this, but now I have even bigger dreams.”

Across the 36 matches, a huge 157 goals were scored, breaking the previous first-round high of 130 set at Morocco 2025. The tally is just 18 off the whole-tournament record of 175, which was also set last year.