2026 World Cup Golden Boot Race Is Shaping Up to Be the Best in History

The world’s biggest names have all showed up in the early stages of this summer’s tournament.

Lionel Messi (left) and Kylian Mbappé (right) are just two of the big names shining this summer. | Roberto SCHMIDT/AFP/Shaun Botterill/FIFA/Getty Images

Every four years the World Cup comes along and the drama, the action and the memories allow most of the globe to turn into a prisoner of the moment. 

This, it feels like we’re always saying, was the best World Cup in recent memory.

2026 is no different. In the past few weeks alone, it has produced some incredible moments and some indelible images. From the opening scenes across the three host nations to the still hard to believe finish between Algeria and Austria in the final minutes of the last group stage game, this grandiose tournament has delivered—and then delivered again.

The arrival of the knockouts beckons even more of course, but it truly might be something even more historic beyond deciding which nation gets their hands on that elusive trophy on July 19. In fact, it’s no longer a whisper among soccer-loving friends but, based on what we’ve seen unfurl so far on the pitch, this year’s chase for the Golden Boot may be the greatest the World Cup has ever seen. 

That’s no hyperbole either.

One can start where one always does with these types of things, Lionel Messi. On Saturday night in Dallas, he became the first player to score in seven consecutive World Cup games and leads this year’s standings with a remarkable six goals across the three group stage games for Argentina.

That mark alone would make him either outright or joint top scorer at 12 previous World Cups. Even for someone whose proclivity in front of goal seems to shine on every big stage, you have to hand it to the 39-year-old that he still has shown no signs of slowing down just as he’s become the all-time record-holder at the event.

Even more notable for the seemingly millions who have spent this month walking around the United States in a blue and white No. 10 jersey, La Albiceleste’s path to another final—and all those extra opportunities for Messi to put more in the back of the net—might be the most favorable in the bracket.

Lionel Messi has been on fire so far this summer. | David Ramos/Getty Images

Argentina will open the round of 32 in the forward’s current home of Miami against Cabo Verde. Though Vozinha has been the breakout goalkeeper on social media and between the sticks the last few weeks, this is still the second-lowest team in the most recent FIFA rankings to make the knockouts.

Either Australia or Egypt, neither of which has put in a full 90 minutes of confidence-inspiring effort yet and have combined to score just one more goal than Messi alone, will be up next. That match will be indoors too, in Atlanta, which means fatigue from hot and humid conditions won’t be an issue.

Beyond that, Argentina won’t have to deal with a single team in the top 10 of the FIFA rankings before the semifinals and has to be favorably eyeing some of the defensive lapses that Brazil, Norway, Mexico and England have displayed should any of those sides make it that far. 

It’s not crazy to think, as a result, that Messi could assemble another long run deep into the tournament. As the talisman of a squad that does everything to get him the ball, and given that he’s been excellent so far in this World Cup, that should mean plenty more opportunities to score (and score some more).

Given the number of rounds he could play this year, it might even be worth filing Gerd Müller’s double-digit mark of 10 goals from Mexico in 1970 away in the back of your mind or start to believe that Just Fontaine’s record amount of 13 back in 1958 is looking a little tenuous.

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Still, it’s not just Messi potentially going for another record which makes this Golden Boot chase so exhilarating—it’s his competition.

Indeed, the biggest names in world football have not only made it to this year’s World Cup, they’ve shown out too. Kylian Mbappé features for what may be the best team in France and looks like Tiger Woods chasing down Jack Nicklaus for the way he’s stayed on Messi’s heels in a number of categories. He’s got four goals and should do well to match or exceed the eight he had in 2022. 

Then there’s his teammate, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, Ousmane Dembélé. After a bit of a slow start in the opener against Senegal, he got on the scoresheet against Iraq and promptly notched a hat trick in barely half an hour against Norway. If he carries over that form, he’s clearly capable of adding yet more hardware to a cabinet that is starting to overflow at this point.

Joining Mbappé and Dembélé with four goals in three games during this World Cup are only two of the other most terrifying forwards in the sport in Vinicius Junior and Erling Haaland. They may wind up playing each other on July 5 and whoever advances from that one, given this start, could also be a threat in the race. If nothing else, they surely will make their presence known.

Lingering just behind with three is the prolific Harry Kane. He has simply scored more goals than anyone dating back to the start of this season and is second only to Messi’s all-time mark with a remarkable 70 goals in 60 games with Bayern Munich and England in 2025–26. The Three Lions have a solid path for another deep tournament run and it would surprise no one if England meets Argentina in a semifinal with more than just a trip to New York on the line the following week.

England’s Harry Kane is enjoying a famous year. | Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Throw in any number of potential surprises like Germany’s Deniz Undav (3), Netherlands’ Brian Brobbey (3), Brazil’s Matheus Cunha (3), Canada’s Jonathan David (3) and Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal (2), and this has the potential to be a race to become top scorer that has both incredible quantity as much as it does quality. A certain Lamine Yamal may also wind up having an impact on it as well given what he’s shown in some brief cameos for La Roja.

It’s not hard to get caught up in the excitement of all of it, a Golden Boot chase that makes the times when Thomas Müller or Davor Šuker won the award look quite quaint. That’s not this year. 

This year is something special and wondrous to behold. It’s less the answer to a trivia question and more the stuff that you’ll be telling tales about for decades to come.

We often get caught up in the moment with each World Cup, but it doesn’t take much to see that something far more magical is transpiring this year as some of the greatest goal scorers the sport has ever seen are amping up the competition to unseen heights. No matter how it plays out in the end next month, simply calling it the greatest chase we’ve seen could be underselling it. 

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