Spain’s triumph saw another PSG player become world champion
Les Parisiens will look to defend their crown at the FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2026
FIFA looks back on PSG’s representatives’ World Cup exploits
Aged 18 years and 143 days when he scored against France, Ibrahim Mbaye became the youngest African goalscorer in FIFA World Cup™ history. His goal against France for Senegal also made him the fourth-youngest goalscorer in the competition’s history.
Paris Saint-Germain had 16 players at the , making the two-time European champions the tournament’s joint third-best-represented club – along with Champions League final opponents Arsenal – behind Manchester City and Bayern Munich with 19 and 17 players respectively.
That figure fell to 15 when Goncalo Ramos joined AC Milan during the tournament. PSG players also scored 15 goals in North America, the second-highest tally of any club behind Real Madrid’s 22.
Bradley Barcola, Mbaye, Joao Neves, Ousmane Dembele, Nuno Mendes, Achraf Hakimi, Desire Doue and Fabian Ruiz all found the net in North America. In doing so, they helped PSG set a new record for the most different goalscorers from a single club at a World Cup, surpassing the seven recorded by Barcelona in 2018 and Bayern Munich in 2014.
PSG’s players proved just as effective at creating goals as they were at scoring them. The Parisian contingent provided seven assists in total, while Lee Kangin’s contribution for Korea Republic meant that nine different PSG players registered a goal or assist during the tournament.
Crowned The Best FIFA Men’s Player in 2025, Dembele scored six goals and provided two assists. His six-goal haul included a hat-trick against Norway completed just 32 minutes after kick-off – the second-fastest of its kind in World Cup history. He finished joint third for goal involvements at the tournament alongside Jude Bellingham, behind former PSG pair Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi. Mbappe is the only other PSG player to have scored a World Cup hat-trick, having done so in the 2022 final.
After Mbappe, Alphonse Areola and Presnel Kimpembe in 2018, and Messi in 2022, Ruiz ensured that a PSG player was crowned world champion for a third successive tournament.
Ruiz became the first PSG player to feature in both a UEFA EURO final and a FIFA World Cup final. He is also the 13th player in history to win the UEFA Champions League and the World Cup in the same year. The final was his 50th appearance for La Roja, with whom he remains unbeaten.
In addition to winning UEFA EURO 2024 and the FIFA World Cup 2026 with Spain, Ruiz has lifted the UEFA Champions League twice, in 2025 and 2026. His honours with PSG also include four Ligue 1, two Coupe de France and three Trophée des Champions titles, as well as the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup™.
Ruiz will have the chance to defend the latter in December, when PSG aim to become the second club to retain the coveted trophy. Real Madrid are the only side to have done so, winning three successive editions in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Sources: FIFA Official
