World Cup 2026: Messi, Mbappe, Haaland and Kane in Golden Boot race for the ages – who will win?

Records have been falling since day one for the game’s most feared strikers.

Messi has grabbed a lot of headlines now leading the all-time World Cup list, and rightfully so.

But he is not the only one who is setting records in this race.

Mbappe is now France’s top goalscorer, Haaland is Norway’s World Cup leader – after two games – and Kane has equaled England’s Gary Lineker’s World Cup record.

And all eyes will be on France’s Just Fontaine’s record of 13 goals in one competition in 1958. 958.

Only three players – Fontaine, Germany’s Gerd Müller in 1970 and Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis in 1954 – have scored double figures in a single World Cup.

It wouldn’t be surprising if that shortlist grew by the end of this tournament.

The new 48-team format seems to have boosted the scoring potential. The world’s best strikers have prospered while there have been many low-ranking teams.

World Cup winners will also have to play one more round than ever before – again increasing their chances of scoring.

Former France defender Gael Clichy has told BBC Sport that Kylian Mbappe is part of his generation with a fearless reason.

“I remember when I was starting out, when you came in, you had to respect the older generation, and you weren’t trying to nutmeg the elders.

“This generation is respectable but different. Don’t talk about age, talk about performance.”

So back to the small matter of the Golden Boot race.

“It’s not something I’m thinking about right now,” Mbappe said. “Leo always scores. He always has and always will.”

“If I start watching him, I feel like I have to do more, so no, I don’t see what he’s doing. I’m only thinking about helping my team – helping the team, scoring goals and getting to this level.”

Norwegian boss Ståle Solbakken, perhaps unsurprisingly, pushed back on Haaland’s case.

“He’s a great striker – he’s not playing for France or Argentina, he’s scoring for Norway. He’s scored four goals now, two goals on the big stage.”

“It’s easy to win the Golden Boot when you’re playing for France and Argentina, but we’ll try to give Erling more games and help him in the next games. So he’s on fire and I’m really happy for him because he can score on the big stage.”

American striker Folarin Balogan has made a good start with two goals in the first two games of the tournament.

But he probably summed it up best when he joked: “I think it’s disturbing. Watching players like Messi, Mbappe, Haaland – they’re so inevitable. I think they’re scoring one goal a game, sometimes more.

“For me, it’s just trying to get to that level – and being inevitable.”