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The Golden Boot race has been a thrill so far in the 2026 World Cup.
Led by superstars Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, the award, given to the tournament’s top goal scorer, is still up for grabs this year.
Messi, Mbappe and Norway's Erling Haaland all have seven goals as of July 6. England’s Harry Kane is close behind with six scored.
Mbappe leads the race thanks to an assists tiebreaker, but Messi has one game in hand since his Argentina side has yet to play its round of 16 match.
Notably, should either Messi or Kane win the race, they’ll become the oldest to ever win the Golden Boot. Messi is 39, while Kane is 32.
No one has ever won the Golden Boot past the age of 30 — the oldest to do so was 30-year-old Davor Suker of Croatia, whose six goals gave him the Golden Boot for the 1998 World Cup.
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However, Messi and Kane still must beat Mbappe and Haaland, both of whom are more in-line with traditional Golden Boot winning ages. Mbappe is 27, while Haaland is 25.
The top scorers so far at the 2026 World Cup already have a couple of Golden Boots to their names, too.
Kane won the 2018 crown with six goals. Mbappe won in 2022 with eight.
No player has won the Golden Boot twice.
There’s also another twist to this year’s race: The all-time single World Cup goal scoring record.
This year’s leaders are within reasonable shouting distance of Just Fontaine’s 13 goals, which he scored in the 1958 World Cup over the course of six games.
However, they’ll need to keep — or improve — their scoring pace.
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Through July 6, Messi is averaging 1.75 goals per game. Should Argentina play in the final or third-place game, and Messi plays in all eight games, he’ll score 14 goals at that pace.
Mbappe is averaging 1.40 goals per game, a rate that would reach around 11 goals if he plays all eight. And Haaland is averaging the same rate as Messi, but because he skipped Norway’s final group game, he’ll only reach 12 goals if his rate continues.
So even with the expanded World Cup that gives the opportunity for one extra game, and with the superstars lighting up the back of the net, Fontaine’s mark will be hard to beat.
And this is all assuming these players make it all the way to the final games.
Haaland’s Norway and Kane’s England face off in the quarterfinals July 11, guaranteeing one of the tournament's top scorers will be out before the semifinals.
And Mbappe’s French team will be facing a tough Morocco team July 9 — a loss there would send Mbappe packing with only six games played.
Plus, a potential Argentina quarterfinal date against either Colombia or Switzerland. A loss in either round could eliminate Messi’s shot at winning the Golden Boot.
One thing’s for sure, though, in a World Cup full of twists and turns, there’ll surely be one or two more in the Golden Boot race.
Methodology note: Historical Golden Boot data from the Fjelstul World Cup Database. 2026 data from FIFA match reports and Stats Perform.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: World Cup Golden Boot race in 2 charts: Can Messi, Mbappe or Haaland break a 68-year-old record?
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