2026 World Cup race: Kylian Mbappe pulls two goals clear of Lionel Messi ahead of World Cup final | Football news
Kylian Mbappe now leads the race for the golden boot with 10 goals – two clear of Lionel Messi who plays in Sunday’s World Cup final.
Mbappe’s two goals when France defeated England 6-4 in the third-place play-off put him in a good position to win the title and he is now the top scorer in the history of the World Cup with 22 goals.
Messi – who has eight goals – will need to score twice against Spain on Sunday to overtake Mbappe as both players currently have four assists, which will be used to score if they are equal.
The suspended Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham scored seven, while Harry Kane scored six.
These stars hit the mark in the race to be the best scorers in the tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Messi returned from his penalty miss against Egypt to help Argentina complete their historic comeback, scoring three goals in the last 13 minutes to advance to the quarter-finals, but failed to add to their tally in the win over Switzerland.
Mbappe had a shockingly similar performance against Morocco in the first leg of the last eight, losing as he went the same way as Messi before giving France the lead after an hour.
Then it was Bellingham’s turn to step up and relieve after scoring two goals against Mexico in the previous round.
How is the race for the Golden Boot…
Can more records fall?
Miroslav Klose started the tournament leading the all-time World Cup goalscoring chart with 16 goals, but both Messi and Mbappe have surpassed the former German striker.
Haaland became Norway’s top scorer at the World Cup after just two games, while Kane overtook Gary Lineker as England’s World Cup top scorer.
The Golden Boot contenders were eyeing Just Fontaine’s 1958 record of 13 goals in one competition.
Only three players in World Cup history – Fontaine, Germany’s Gerd Muller in 1970 and Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis in 1954 – have scored two goals in one tournament.
What other records were broken?
Most World Cup tournaments played: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo (six each)
The first player to score in six World Cups: Cristiano Ronaldo
The oldest player to score the most goals in a game: Cristiano Ronaldo
The smallest country to appear in the World Cup: Curacao
Lots of red cards in the opening game: Mexico vs South Africa (three)
The most attended World Cup
World Cup with the most points
