Data Sources & Methodology

Live scores, match status, and results normally flow from a primary third-party football data provider via an API. This covers all 104 World Cup 2026 matches. When provider coverage is incomplete or conflicts with verified evidence, we perform documented reconciliation against canonical tournament records and publish a provenance-backed correction.

Refreshing begins 15 minutes before kickoff and stops 3 hours after kickoff. While a match is live, eligible pages refresh every 30 seconds. Bounded verification checks may occur in the same window before kickoff or while final data is being reconciled. There is no continuous provider polling outside match windows, and cached or verified data remains available there.

Displayed scores can lag the event itself because the upstream provider controls its own update cycle and network conditions. We do not guarantee real-time accuracy to the second.

Goal scorer and match event data come from an additional enrichment source that supplements primary match data. Scorer details can lag scores by several minutes.

We reconcile recorded goal events against the final score. Where there is a discrepancy, score accuracy takes priority and verified corrections are applied when evidence supports them.

Group standings are computed by our own code from completed, synced match results. Fixture schedules, kickoff times, venues, and group assignments come from official pre-tournament information and are shown in the viewer's selected timezone.

Historical results and tournament statistics remain available from cached and verified records without continuous provider polling.

If the live data feed is unavailable, the site falls back to the last successfully cached snapshot. A Live data unavailable notice appears on affected pages, and scores may not reflect the current match state. We do not fabricate or estimate scores during outages.

WorldCupMatchDay is an independent fan project. We are not affiliated with FIFA, any national football federation, stadium, broadcaster, or official sponsor. For details on our publisher independence and factual verification, see our Editorial Policy.

If you see a score, scorer name, venue, or other data that appears incorrect, email us at worldcupmatchday@proton.me. Include the match name, the issue, and a source for the correction where possible. You can read more about how corrections are processed and applied in our Corrections Policy.