Who is leading the race for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Boot award?
Mbappe finishes on 10 World Cup goals with a brace against England, ahead of eight scored by Messi, who plays on Sunday.
France may have finished the World Cup in fourth position, but their captain Kylian Mbappe has ended his run at the current tournament on top of the goalscoring charts – unless Lionel Messi overtakes him again in Argentina’s final against Spain.
Messi and Mbappe have been neck and neck in the race for the Golden Boot Award at the FIFA World Cup 2026, and the French forward took the lead over his Argentinian counterpart with a brace in his team’s 6-4 defeat to England in the bronze-medal match in Miami on Saturday.
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The 27-year-old now holds the all-time goal-scoring record in the history of the World Cup with 22 goals in three tournaments.
Meanwhile, Messi has 21 goals in a record six appearances as he leads his team’s title defence in Sunday’s final against the reigning European champions.
When the World Cup’s knockout stage began, Messi became the first to reach seven goals when Argentina beat Cape Verde, and Mbappe matched him a day later as France beat Paraguay.
England’s star of the tournament, Jude Bellingham, found his scoring form in the knockouts and finished the tournament ahead of his captain Harry Kane with seven goals, including a hat-trick against France. Kane scored six goals.
Norway’s hugely popular forward Erling Haaland also finished with seven goals in his first World Cup.
Here’s everything you need to know about FIFA’s Golden Boot award:
What’s the FIFA Golden Boot award and how is it decided?
FIFA’s Golden Boot is awarded to the player with the most goals at the end of the tournament.
France’s Mbappe is the current holder after scoring eight goals in Qatar at the 2022 World Cup.
If two players are tied on the same number of goals at the end of the tournament, then the player with the most assists will win the award.
If those tiebreakers cannot split two players, then the Golden Boot is handed to the player who achieved their goals and assists in the least number of minutes.
Which players are the top goal scorers at World Cup 2026?
- Kylian Mbappe (France) – 10 goals, 3 assists
- Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 8 goals, 4 assists
- Jude Bellingham (England) – 7 goals, 1 assist
- Erling Haaland (Norway) – 7 goals, 0 assists
- Ousmane Dembele (France) – 6 goals, 2 assists
- Harry Kane (England) – 6 goals, 1 assist
- Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain) – 5 goals, 1 assist
How many Golden Boot awards have current World Cup players won?
Mbappe, Kane and James Rodriguez are all looking to bag the top goal-scorer prize for a second time.
England’s Kane won the award in 2018 in Russia, while Colombia’s Rodriguez was the top scorer in 2014 in Brazil.
No player has ever won the award more than once.
Which player has scored the most goals in a single World Cup?
French forward Just Fontaine holds the record after scoring an incredible 13 goals at the 1958 tournament in Sweden.
Sandor Kocsis scored 11 at the 1954 tournament in Switzerland, while West Germany’s Gerd Muller bagged 10 at the World Cup 1970 in Mexico.
Who has scored the most goals in FIFA World Cup history?
- Kylian Mbappe (France) – 22
- Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 21
- Miroslav Klose (Germany) – 16
- Ronaldo (Brazil) – 15
- Harry Kane (England) and Gerd Muller (West Germany) – 14
