Robert Lewandowski of Poland scored the 2600th goal in the FIFA World Cup against Saudi Arabia in a Group C match, at the Education City Stadium in Qatar, on Thursday.
It was also his first-ever goal in the FIFA World Cup, which also saw a meltdown of emotions from the forward, who broke down after the landmark goal.
A defensive error by Abdulelah Al Malki of Saudi Arabia saw Poland captain, Lewandowski, punish Saudi Arabia with his country’s second strike in the match.
With 77 goals for Poland, the Barcelona forward has now got level with Brazil legend Pele in his international goal tally, with the latter having the same number of goals in 92 matches. He achieved the feat in his 136th appearances and entered the list of top 10 list of men’s international goalscorers.
The 2018 edition of the World Cup had seen the tournament enter the 2500 goal tally, with the last goal in Russia, coming from Mario Mandzukic, who scored the 2548th goal.
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The first goal of the tournament had come from Lucient Laurent of France on July 13, 1930.
“When I scored my goal, which was the first of the tournament and my first for France, we congratulated each other but without jumping all over one another like they do now,” explained Laurent at a gala dinner held by the organisers of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy.
Since then, over 2500 goals have been scored, with Robert Collins scoring the 500th goal in 1958 and Rob Rensenbrink of the Netherlands completing a thousand twenty years later.
Marcus Allback of Sweden was the scorer of the 200th goal in the FIFA World Cup history, while 20 years later, the tally went to 2600 in Qatar.
In the 22nd edition of the tournament, Enner Valencia of Ecuador began the goal tally, scoring twice in the opening match of the Qatar World Cup. Within 20 games, that tally rose to 50 goals, with Mitchell Duke of Australia scoring the 50th goal, against Tunisia at the Al Janoub Stadium.
Lewandowski’s goal saw Poland secure a 2-0 win over Saudi Arabia, taking his country to the top of Group C, cementing its hopes to make it to the round of 16. Poland will play its remaining fixture against Argentina on December 1, at the Stadium 974.
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