World Cup 2026 Golden Boot Race Heats Up: Mbappé Leads, Messi Chasing

New York.   ‘Now it’s your turn, Messi’.  

Football fans have speculated that Kylian Mbappé said this to Lionel Messi after France’s recent spectacular victory in the FIFA World Cup 2026.  

As the matches enter the knockout stage, the race to become the tournament’s top scorer is heating up. Argentina’s great player Messi and France’s superstar Mbappé are competing at the top of the table. They are being closely challenged by Norway’s Erling Haaland and Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior.

The FIFA ‘Golden Boot’ award is given to the player who scores the most goals at the end of the tournament. France’s Mbappé is the current winner of this award after scoring eight goals in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.  

If two players have the same number of goals at the end of the tournament, the player with the most ‘assists’ will win the award. If this also cannot separate the two players, the Golden Boot will be given to the player who scores and assists in the least amount of time on the field.

In the World Cup 2026, France’s Kylian Mbappé is ahead in the list of top scorers with 6 goals and 2 assists. Argentina’s Lionel Messi has 6 goals without any assists. Norway’s Erling Haaland also has 5 goals without assists. Similarly, France’s Ousmane Dembélé has 4 goals and 2 assists, while Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior has 4 goals and 1 assist.

Among the current World Cup players, Mbappé, Harry Kane, and James Rodríguez are vying to win the top scorer award for the second time. England’s Kane won the award in Russia in 2018, while Colombia’s Rodríguez was the top scorer in Brazil in 2014. So far, no player has won this award more than once.

Although Cristiano Ronaldo still has a chance to win the Golden Boot this year, he will have to start scoring quickly and more. The Portuguese veteran player has scored two goals in this tournament. Both goals came in the 5-0 victory over Uzbekistan in the group stage. Portugal aims to go far in the tournament, and the team expects their captain to increase his goal tally.

The record for the most goals in a single World Cup is held by French forward Just Fontaine. He scored 13 goals in the 1958 tournament in Sweden with an outstanding performance. Sándor Kocsis scored 11 goals in the 1954 tournament in Switzerland, while West Germany’s Gerd Müller scored 10 goals in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.

In the overall history of the FIFA World Cup, Argentina’s Lionel Messi is at the top with 19 goals among the top scorers. France’s Kylian Mbappé has scored 18 goals. Germany’s Miroslav Klose has 16 goals. Similarly, Brazil’s Ronaldo has 15 goals, and West Germany’s Gerd Müller has 14 goals.