Rubik's Cube World Records: WCA Table 2026

Rubik's Cube world records change several times a year, and in 2025 and 2026 they have fallen at a pace not seen in a decade. That is why this page is dated: all the figures come from the official WCA results database as of October 2026. Here you will find the current records in all 17 official events, the history of the 3x3 world record since 1982, the US national records and what it takes for a time to count as a real record.

If you are just getting started, you may want to read our complete Rubik's Cube guide first, where we cover the history of the puzzle and the main solving methods.

Two records per event: single and average

In every event the WCA recognizes two separate records, and it helps to keep them apart before reading the tables:

• Single record (single): the best individual solve ever done in an official competition. It depends heavily on skill, but also on getting a favorable scramble.
• Average record (average): in most events competitors get five attempts, the best and worst are dropped and the middle three are averaged (average of 5). In 6x6, 7x7 and the events with fewer attempts, the plain mean of three is used (mean of 3). Many cubers see the average as the better measure of someone's real level, because it punishes mistakes and does not rely on one lucky scramble.

There are two exceptions to timed results: in fewest moves (FMC) the result is a number of moves rather than a time, and in multiblind the score is cubes solved minus cubes missed, with time used only as a tiebreaker.

WCA world records table (October 2026)

The tables show the records standing on October 22, 2026. The date given is that of the competition where each result was set. Countries are those listed on each competitor's WCA profile.

Cubes from 2x2 to 7x7

3x3 variants

The fewest moves single record of 16 moves is shared by Sebastiano Tronto (Italy, 2019), Aedan Bryant and Levi Gibson (USA, both at the same competition in June 2024) and Jacob Sherwen Brown (United Kingdom, October 2024). The WCA recognizes any result equal to or better than the current record, so a tie counts too.

Other puzzles

Who dominates speedcubing in 2026

A look at the tables shows that a handful of names hold most of the records. That is no coincidence: each event needs its own specific training, and specialists tend to focus on a group of similar puzzles.

Other names with two records are Tommy Cherry (3x3 blindfolded), Lachlan Gibson (Clock) and Brian Johnson, who holds two very different records: the Square-1 single and the fewest moves mean.

What is measured in each event

If the figures for the special events look odd, that is because each one has its own rules. Here is a summary of the ones that raise the most questions. If you want to see what each puzzle looks like, check our article on the types of Rubik's cubes.

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History of the 3x3 world record: from 22.95 to 2.51 seconds

The 3x3 record is the most followed in speedcubing, and its history sums up how the sport has changed over four decades: from a single championship with toy cubes to hundreds of competitions a month with magnetic cubes and electronic timers.

1982: Minh Thai and the first World Championship

On June 5, 1982, the first Rubik's Cube World Championship was held in Budapest, with 19 competitors, one per country. The scrambles were generated by a computer, the cubes were brought on stage in a locked case and each participant had 15 seconds to look at the cube before starting. The winner was Minh Thai from the United States with 22.95 seconds, his best of three attempts.

That championship was a one-off: the cube craze faded and there was no other World Championship until 2003. When the WCA was founded in 2004, it chose to recognize the 1982 results retroactively, so Minh Thai's 22.95 now stands as the first official world record. The difference is that back then the winner was decided by a single time rather than an average.

2003-2008: competitions return and the 10-second barrier falls

The Toronto World Championship in August 2003 brought competitions back. There the record dropped to 16.71 (Dan Knights, USA) and, at the same event, to 16.53 (Jess Bonde, Denmark). Dan Knights also set the first recognized average: 20.00 seconds. The WCA was founded the following year, and Japan's Shotaro Makisumi set four records in a row in 2004, bringing the single down to 12.11.

The following years were a duel between Europeans and Americans: Jean Pons (France), Leyan Lo and Toby Mao (USA), Edouard Chambon (France). The 10-second barrier was broken by France's Thibaut Jacquinot with 9.86 in May 2007, in Spain, at the Spanish Open 2007 in Murcia. In 2008 Chambon lowered it to 9.18 at the Murcia Open, and that same year the Dutch cuber Erik Akkersdijk set 7.08 at the Czech Open, a record that lasted more than two years.

2010-2018: the Feliks Zemdegs era

Australia's Feliks Zemdegs is the central figure of this story. He first broke the single record in November 2010 (7.03) and set a total of ten single and thirteen average 3x3 records. He held the average continuously from January 2010 until April 2017, when a very young Max Park took it with 6.39; Zemdegs won it back two months later.

During those years the single record changed hands several times: Mats Valk (Netherlands) with 5.55 in 2013, Collin Burns (USA) with 5.25 in 2015 and Lucas Etter (USA), who in November 2015 became the first to go under 5 seconds with 4.90. Zemdegs closed his era with 4.22 in May 2018, and his last average record, 5.53 in November 2019, stood until June 2021.

2018-2023: Yusheng Du and Max Park

In November 2018 China's Yusheng Du set 3.47 at the Wuhu Open, an improvement of three quarters of a second in one go that seemed unbeatable for four and a half years. It was finally beaten by American Max Park with 3.13 in June 2023, at Pride in Long Beach. Park, who was diagnosed with autism as a young child, started cubing as an exercise for his fine motor skills and is probably the best known cuber outside the community.

Meanwhile the average was contested by Max Park, China's Ruihang Xu (5.48 in 2021) and Poland's Tymon Kolasiński, who in September 2022 ended up sharing the record with exactly 4.86.

2023-2026: the kids' generation

Since 2023 the 3x3 records have been in the hands of very young competitors. Yiheng Wang took the average in March 2023 (4.69) and kept lowering it down to 3.90 in July 2025; in between, in February 2025, he also took the single from Max Park with 3.08. Two months later, Xuanyi Geng brought it down to 3.05.

In February 2026, in Gdańsk, nine-year-old Teodor Zajder from Poland set 2.76 and became the first human to go under 3 seconds in an official competition. The record lasted eight months: on October 5, 2026, at the Guangzhou Grand Open, Xuanyi Geng set the current 2.51, a quarter of a second faster. The average, after two records by Geng in 2026 (3.84 and 3.71), went back to Wang with 3.51 in June.

US national records

The WCA also keeps national records, which are assigned according to the nationality on the competitor's profile, not the place of the competition. These are the US records standing in October 2026:

Names are written exactly as they appear in the WCA database. In 15 of these categories the US record is also the world record, and Max Park alone holds nine US records, all in the NxN cubes.

How the US 3x3 record has evolved

The first US 3x3 record in the WCA database is also the first world record: Minh Thai's 22.95 seconds at the 1982 World Championship in Budapest. In August 2003, at the Toronto World Championship, Dan Knights brought it down to 16.71. From then on progress was fast:

• 2006: Leyan Lo takes the world record with 11.13 in January, and Toby Mao lowers it to 10.48 at the US Nationals 2006.
• 2008-2011: Rowe Hessler is the first American under 10 seconds (9.13 at the US Nationals 2008) and gets down to 6.94 in 2010; Anthony Brooks sets 6.93 in 2011.
• 2015: Collin Burns (5.25) and Lucas Etter (4.90) set world records just seven months apart.
• 2017-2022: Patrick Ponce sets a 4.69 world record in 2017, and Max Park and Asher Kim-Magierek take turns until Park's 3.63 in August 2022.
• 2023: Max Park sets 3.13 at Pride in Long Beach, the world record until 2025 and still the US record.

Americans with a world record

More than 70 American competitors have held a world record in one of today's events. Two of them mark the history of the 3x3:

• Minh Thai: the first recognized record, 22.95 seconds at the 1982 World Championship in Budapest.
• Lucas Etter: the first solve under 5 seconds, 4.90 at River Hill Fall 2015 (Clarksville, Maryland), in November 2015.

World records set in the US

More than 360 world records in today's events have been set at competitions in the United States. Some of the most notable:

• Pride in Long Beach 2023 (Long Beach, California): Max Park's 3.13 in 3x3, which ended Yusheng Du's four and a half year reign.
• Doylestown Spring 2015 (Doylestown, Pennsylvania): Collin Burns sets 5.25 in 3x3.
• Caltech Winter 2006 and US Nationals 2006: Leyan Lo (11.13) and Toby Mao (10.48) bring the 3x3 single closer to the 10-second barrier.
• Burbank Big Cubes 2025 (Burbank, California): Max Park sets the current 6x6 single world record, 57.69 seconds.

How a world record is ratified

A time only counts as a record if it is achieved at an official WCA competition under its regulations. A video at home, however good, does not count. These are the main requirements according to the current regulations (version of April 1, 2026):

If the same record is improved several times on the same day, only the best result is recognized, and the official date of each result is the last day of the round in which it was set.

Unusual records outside the WCA

Guinness World Records lists some cube-related records that the WCA does not recognize, because they are not human solving competitions run under its regulations. These are some with an official Guinness entry:

Frequently asked questions

What is the Rubik's Cube world record?

As of October 2026, 2.51 seconds for a single solve, by Xuanyi Geng (China), set in October 2026. The best average of five is 3.51 seconds, by Yiheng Wang (China), from June 2026.

Who was the first to go under 3 seconds?

Teodor Zajder from Poland, with 2.76 seconds at a competition in Gdańsk in February 2026. He was nine years old.

What is the US record for the Rubik's Cube?

3.13 seconds for a single solve (Max Park, June 2023) and 4.72 seconds for the average of five (Matty Hiroto Inaba, November 2025), according to the WCA.

What is the 2x2 world record?

0.39 seconds for a single solve (Ziyu Ye, China, October 2025) and 0.86 seconds average (Sujan Feist, USA), as of October 2026.

What is the difference between the single and the average record?

The single is the best individual solve. The average is calculated from five consecutive attempts in the same round, dropping the best and worst and averaging the remaining three, so it is a better measure of consistency.

Does a time recorded at home count as a record?

No. Only results from official WCA competitions count, with scrambles generated by its program, a judge, an approved timer and a Delegate overseeing the event.

What is the record for a Rubik's Cube solving robot?

0.103 seconds, by the robot of a team of students at Purdue University (USA), in April 2025. It is a Guinness record; the WCA does not recognize solves by machines.

What was the first Rubik's Cube world record?

22.95 seconds, by Minh Thai (USA), at the first World Championship, held in Budapest on June 5, 1982. The WCA recognizes it retroactively.

Records are broken by specialists with years of practice, but they all started with a regular cube and a simple method. If you want to get started or improve your times, our Rubik's cubes and speedcubing section has everything from the 2x2 to the big cubes and the puzzles for the other official events.

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• Rubik's Cube: complete guide
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• Types of Rubik's cubes
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