Mbappe Raises Stakes for Messi in Golden Boot Race, Sets New All-Time Record

The French striker became the all-time World Cup leader in goals during Saturday’s third-place match against England.

Kylian Mbappé was hungry for goals in the Bronze Final. | Sarah Stier/FIFA/Getty Images

The King of the World Cup snatched back his crown.

In the utter goal frenzy that was the 2026 World Cup Bronze Final in Miami, French star striker Kylian Mbappé scored a brace and had an assist against England, reclaiming his place as the leader of the Golden Boot race with 10 total goals and four assists this summer as well as setting a new all-time World Cup goal-scoring record with 22 total, a feat the 27-year-old achieved across just three tournament appearances (2018, 2022, 2026).

Mbappé overtook Argentina legend Lionel Messi in both the Golden Boot race and the all-time goals record in Saturday’s affair. Messi sat atop the podium in both categories ahead of the third-place match, which ended in a dramatic 6–4 victory for England over France. Messi had eight goals and four assists, ahead of Mbappé on the first tie-breaker, which is assist count. Those eight had brought Messi to a record of 21 total World Cup goals.

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Who Will Win the Golden Boot Race?

Lionel Messi is tantalizingly close to the Golden Boot. | Zhizhao Wu/Getty Images

Messi will now need at least two goals and one assist, or a hat-trick, in Sunday’s World Cup final against Spain—a defense-minded team that has conceded just once all tournament—to again move past Mbappé for both his first-ever Golden Boot win. He needs at least two goals to reclaim the all-time World Cup goals record with 23 total.

Mbappé should take solace in how incredibly unlikely it is that this will happen, but then again, the 39-year-old soccer legend has done nothing but defy odds this summer. He also scored a brace in the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar against none other than Mbappé’s France, en route to victory in penalty kicks. Nevermind that Mbappé had a hat trick in that game.

Two goals alone will not suffice for Messi in the Golden Boot race. He will need the extra goal or assist because should both stars end on 10 goals and four assists, the second tie-breaker is fewer minutes played, which would likely go to Mbappé, who played 769 minutes this World Cup. Should Messi log a full 90 minutes as expected in the final, he will end with 802 total minutes.

No matter how it all shakes out, nothing can take away from the fact that Mbappé achieved the same amount of tournament goals as Messi in half the amount of tournament outings. Messi is competing in his record-sixth World Cup, twice as many summers as Mbappé needed to reach such unprecedented heights.

The French star will always be the King of the World Cup, no matter who ends up with the crown on his head after the weekend is up.

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