Kylian Mbappe currently leads the Golden Boot race with 10 goals. That’s two goals past Lionel Messi heading into Sunday’s World Cup final.
Mbappe put himself in a position to lift the title with two goals in France’s 6-4 third-place play-off loss to England, and he has now become the clear goalscorer in World Cup history with 22 goals.
Messi, with eight goals, needs two against Spain on Sunday to surpass Mbappe, and both players currently have four assists which would serve as tiebreakers in the event of a draw.
Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham, who were eliminated, scored seven points and Harry Kane had six.
Superstars set a blistering pace in the United States, Canada and Mexico as they competed to become the tournament’s top scorer.
Messi counterattacked after missing a penalty kick against Egypt and helped Argentina’s historic comeback, scoring three goals in the final 13 minutes to advance to the quarterfinals, but failed to score against Switzerland.
Mbappe produced an eerily similar display in the first of his last eight games against Morocco, coming off the spot after going in the same direction as Messi before giving France the lead an hour later.
Then, after scoring twice against Mexico in the previous round, it was Bellingham’s turn to stand up and secure a victory.
How does the Golden Boot competition work?
Could more records be broken?
Miroslav Klose started the tournament leading the all-time World Cup goalscoring chart with 16 goals, but both Messi and Mbappe were ahead of the former Germany striker.
Haaland became Norway’s leading World Cup scorer after just two games, while Kane overtook Gary Lineker to become England’s top scorer at the World Cup.
Golden boot contenders are targeting Just Fontaine’s 1958 record of 13 goals in a single tournament.
In World Cup history, only three players have reached double figures in a single tournament: Fontaine, Germany’s Gerd Müller in 1970 and Hungary’s Sandor Kossis in 1954.
What other records have been broken?
Most appearances in World Cup tournaments: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo (6 each)
First player to score in six World Cups: Cristiano Ronaldo
Oldest player to score multiple goals in one match: Cristiano Ronaldo
Smallest countries participating in the World Cup: Curacao
Most red cards in opening match: Mexico vs South Africa (3)
Most attended World Cup
Most goals scored in World Cup
