Lionel Messi Retakes Golden Boot Lead in FIFA World Cup 2026

Kathmandu. After Argentina took a dramatic 2-1 victory against England in the second semi-final of the FIFA World Cup 2026 on Thursday, Lionel Messi has returned to the top of the 'Golden Boot' race. Although he did not score a personal goal in the semi-final match, he created opportunities (assists) for two important goals.

Previously, Kylian Mbappé of France and Messi were tied with 8-8 goals each. However, according to FIFA's first tie-breaker rule, which prioritizes the player with more assists in case of a tie in goals, Messi has moved to first place with 4 assists, while Mbappé, with 3 assists, has fallen to second place.

Messi, who has already scored 8 goals in the current World Cup, has scored some excellent and historic goals in this tournament. In the group stage against Algeria, he completed his first historic hat-trick of his World Cup career. In another group stage match against Jordan, he scored from a long-distance direct free-kick.

Meanwhile, France's Kylian Mbappé failed to score in the semi-final match against Spain when his team was defeated 2-0. However, Mbappé still has one more opportunity to add to his goal tally in the third-place playoff match against England next Sunday at 2:45 AM Nepali time in Miami. Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham of England will also be on the field in the same match, who are currently tied in the Golden Boot race with 6-6 goals and 1-1 assists each. Erling Haaland of Norway, with 7 goals, has already been eliminated from this race after his team was knocked out in the quarter-finals.

Argentina's Lionel Messi will present his challenge in the World Cup final match against Spain next Sunday at the New York-New Jersey Stadium. The result of this decisive final match and the third-place playoff between France and England will determine this year's prestigious Golden Boot winner.