World Cup 2026 Golden Boot race: Kylian Mbappe beats Lionel Messi to become top goalscorer
Kylian Mbappe pulled two goals clear of Lionel Messi in the World Cup Golden Boot race after his double in the third-place play-off against England; Messi was unable to respond as Argentina lost to Spain in Sunday's World Cup final
Monday 20 July 2026 07:31, UK
Kylian Mbappe won the 2026 World Cup Golden Boot with 10 goals, finishing two clear of Lionel Messi.
The Argentina great was unable to respond to Mbappe's two goals in France's 6-4 defeat to England in the third-place play-off on Saturday, drawing a blank as Spain won Sunday's World Cup final 1-0.
Mbappe becomes the first player to win the World Cup Golden Boot twice, having also claimed the prize at Qatar 2022.
Mbappe is also the World Cup's all-time top scorer with 22.
Messi ended the tournament with eight goals. Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham scored seven, while Harry Kane scored six.
How the race for the Golden Boot ended...
How the record tumbled
Miroslav Klose started the tournament out in front on the all-time World Cup goalscoring chart with 16 goals, but both Messi and Mbappe overtook the ex-Germany striker .
Haaland became Norway's leading goalscorer at World Cups after just two games. Kane went past Gary Lineker as England's top World Cup scorer, while Bellingham's total of seven was the most by an England player at a single World Cup.
Golden Boot contenders have been targeting Just Fontaine's 1958 record of 13 goals in a single tournament.
Mbappe became only the fourth player in World Cup history after Fontaine, Germany's Gerd Muller in 1970 and Hungary's Sandor Kocsis in 1954 to hit double figures at a single tournament.
What other records have been broken?
Most World Cup tournaments played: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo (six each)
First player to score in six World Cups: Cristiano Ronaldo
Oldest player to score multiple goals in a game: Cristiano Ronaldo
Smallest nation to appear at a World Cup: Curacao
Most red cards in an opening match: Mexico vs South Africa (three)
Most-attended World Cup
Highest-scoring World Cup
