The 2026 World Cup semifinals carry more than just a dream of reaching the final; a 64-year-old historical record stands in the way of a new generation of stars, as the three-goal barrier has remained unbroken since Brazil's Vavá reached it in the 1962 edition. While the world anticipates the matches between France and Spain, then England and Argentina, eyes turn to Julián Álvarez, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, and Harry Kane as the most capable of shifting a record that has withstood generations and remains held by only four players.

Four players share the top scorer list in the semifinals with three goals each: Uruguay's Pedro Cea, Czechoslovakia's Oldřich Nejedlý, and Brazilians Pelé and Vavá. However, their paths to the record differed: three achieved it in a single match, while the last needed two editions. Cea inscribed his name first in the 1930 edition, scoring three goals in Uruguay's 6–1 victory over Yugoslavia, leading his country to the final of the tournament's first edition. Four years later, Nejedlý repeated the feat by scoring all three goals for Czechoslovakia in a 3–1 win over Germany, before finishing the 1934 World Cup as the tournament's top scorer with five goals. As for Pelé, he reached the record in the 1958 Sweden World Cup, scoring a hat-trick against France, contributing to Brazil's 5–2 victory and their advance to the final. According to FIFA records, Cea, Nejedlý, and Pelé are the only players to have scored three goals in a single World Cup semifinal match. Vavá reached the record via a different route: he scored one goal in Brazil's 5–2 win over France in the 1958 semifinal, then added two goals against Chile in a 4–2 victory in the 1962 semifinal. The Brazilian striker thus became the only one among the record holders to have scored in the semifinals of two different editions, with three of his nine World Cup goals coming in this round.

Argentina's Julián Álvarez enters the match against England as the closest player in the current edition to equaling or surpassing the record, having scored two goals against Croatia in the 2022 semifinal, which his team won 3–0. One more goal would suffice for Álvarez to join the top four, while a brace would make him the first player in tournament history to reach four goals in the semifinals. Argentine legend Lionel Messi has one goal in this round, scored from a penalty against Croatia in 2022, meaning he needs a brace against England to equal the record. In contrast, France's Kylian Mbappé has not scored in his two previous semifinal appearances; Samuel Umtiti's goal led France past Belgium to the 2018 final, while Théo Hernández and Randal Kolo Muani scored the two goals in the victory over Morocco in the 2022 edition. A notable irony: Messi and Mbappé enter the semifinals with eight goals each in the current edition, yet both trail Álvarez in goals scored in this round.