Kylian Mbappe has taken control of the 2026 World Cup Golden Boot race, but Lionel Messi still has one final opportunity to deny the France captain a historic second award.
Mbappe scored twice in France’s extraordinary 6-4 defeat to England in the third-place play-off, taking his tournament tally to 10 goals and moving two clear of Messi before Argentina’s final against Spain.
The equation is now clear. Messi must score at least twice in the World Cup final to draw level with Mbappe and claim the Golden Boot through his superior number of assists. Anything less would leave the French forward as the tournament’s leading scorer.
Mbappe on course for historic second Golden Boot
No player has ever won the World Cup Golden Boot twice, but Mbappe is now within touching distance of becoming the first.
The 27-year-old also became the first player this century to reach double figures at a single men’s World Cup. The previous player to score at least 10 in one tournament was West Germany’s Gerd Muller, who achieved the feat in 1970.
Mbappe’s total underlines the scale of his achievement. Before the 2026 edition, only eight players had scored eight or more goals at a single World Cup: Muller, Just Fontaine, Sandor Kocsis, Ademir, Eusebio, Guillermo Stabile, Ronaldo and Mbappe himself.
His latest double means he has now joined an even more exclusive group while strengthening his claim to be regarded as one of the competition’s greatest-ever forwards.
Messi given one last chance in the final
Messi enters Sunday’s final with eight goals and the knowledge that another decisive performance could deliver both the World Cup and the Golden Boot.
Two goals would be enough to draw level with Mbappe, with the Argentine’s assist tally then placing him ahead in the individual standings.
AdvertisementIt would represent another remarkable achievement for a player still performing at the highest level at the age of 39. Messi’s influence on Argentina’s run to the final has extended well beyond goals. His creativity has remained central to Lionel Scaloni’s side, and that contribution could now prove decisive in the event of a tie.
All-time scoring record also in sight
The battle between Mbappe and Messi extends beyond this tournament. Mbappe’s two goals against England took him to 22 World Cup goals overall, moving him one ahead of Messi in the competition’s all-time scoring standings.
The Frenchman therefore finishes the tournament as the leading World Cup scorer in history for the time being, although Messi can reclaim or share that position in the final.
With both players still producing at such an extraordinary level, the 2026 tournament has added another chapter to a rivalry that has come to define the modern World Cup era.
Bellingham finishes record-breaking campaign
The Golden Boot race has not only belonged to Mbappe and Messi. Jude Bellingham’s goal against France lifted him to seven for the tournament, the highest total ever recorded by an England player at a single World Cup.
That strike moved him into third place in the standings, ahead of Erling Haaland on assists. Harry Kane and Ousmane Dembele sit one goal further back on six, completing a leaderboard dominated by some of the tournament’s biggest names.
Whatever happens in the final, the 2026 World Cup will be remembered as a tournament in which the leading stars delivered.
For Mbappe, the Golden Boot is now his to lose. For Messi, one final performance could still change everything.