Messi, World Cup's all-time top scorer, leads with 5 goals

Mbappe, Haaland, Vinicius close behind in golden boot chase

Official ball credited as goals pour in at historic rate

Lionel Messi [Getty Images]
Lionel Messi [Getty Images]

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America now past its midpoint, the race for the golden boot is heating up among the tournament's biggest stars. Lionel Messi of Argentina has surged to the front, seemingly unbothered by his age, while Kylian Mbappe of France and Erling Haaland of Norway are pressing hard in pursuit. Messi's long-standing rival Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal has also roared back into contention with a brace.

According to FIFA, Messi leads all scorers at the tournament as of Thursday with five goals. He started Argentina's match against Austria at Dallas Stadium in Texas on June 23 and scored twice.

The brace against Austria gave Messi his 17th and 18th World Cup career goals in quick succession, surpassing the previous all-time record of 16 goals held by Germany's Miroslav Klose.

With Argentina widely regarded as the tournament's strongest title contender, Messi is expected to have no shortage of scoring opportunities going forward, giving him a structural advantage in the golden boot race.

The challengers are not far behind. France's Mbappe, who aspires to be the next great of the game, also scored twice on June 23 in France's Group I second-round match against Iraq — his second consecutive brace after doing the same against Senegal on June 17. France, too, is considered a leading title contender, and Mbappe sits second on the scoring charts.

Haaland, widely regarded as one of the most lethal strikers in the world, is level with Mbappe in second place on four goals. He scored twice in 15 minutes in the second half against Senegal. Brazil's Vinicius Jr. also joined the golden boot conversation Thursday, netting a brace against Scotland to bring his tally to three goals.

Messi's long-standing rival Ronaldo has also found his scoring touch. Ronaldo scored twice in Portugal's Group K second-round match against Uzbekistan on Wednesday, becoming the first player in history to score at six consecutive World Cups, dating back to the 2006 tournament in Germany.

Ronaldo had gone scoreless against the Democratic Republic of Congo, considered one of the weaker sides in the tournament. Wednesday's performance, however, was seen as a complete comeback. In a post-match interview, Ronaldo said: "That's always been my career, and nothing is going to change."

Lamine Yamal of Spain — dubbed the next Messi and one of the tournament's brightest young talents — recently scored his first World Cup goal.

The single-tournament scoring record at a World Cup belongs to France's Just Fontaine, who scored 13 goals in six matches at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. With teams now playing up to eight matches if they reach the final, the current scoring pace suggests that record could fall before the tournament ends.

Goals have been flowing at an unprecedented rate since the group stage. The 48 matches played through Wednesday produced 141 goals, already surpassing the 136 scored across the entire group stage of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Own goals have also been unusually frequent. Eight have been recorded in 40 matches, and the current pace suggests the all-time record for own goals at a single World Cup could be broken.

Much of the goal glut has been attributed to the tournament's official match ball, the Trionda, which travels faster than previous balls due to reduced air resistance. The expanded field of participating nations — many making their World Cup debut — has also been cited as a contributing factor.


hyuk@heraldcorp.com