World Cup 2026 Golden Boot race: Kylian Mbappe pulls two goals clear of Lionel Messi ahead of World Cup final

Kylian Mbappe now leads the way in the Golden Boot race with 10 goals - two clear of Lionel Messi who plays in Sunday's World Cup final.

Mbappe's two goals in France's 6-4 defeat to England in the third-place play-off game puts him in a commanding position to land the honour and he is now the outright record goalscorer in World Cup history with 22 goals.

Messi - on eight goals - will need to score twice against Spain on Sunday to potentially surpass Mbappe with both players currently also on four assists which is used as the tiebreaker in the event of a draw.

Knocked-out Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham scored seven, while Harry Kane scored six.

The superstars set a blistering pace in the race to be the tournament's top goalscorer in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Messi bounced back after missing his penalty against Egypt to help Argentina complete their historic comeback, scoring three goals in the final 13 minutes to progress into the quarter-finals, but failed to add to his tally in the win over Switzerland.

Mbappe had an eerily similar showing against Morocco in the first of the last-eight encounters, missing from the spot as he went the same direction as Messi before giving France the lead after the hour mark.

Then it was the turn of Bellingham to stand up and deliver after scoring twice against Mexico in the previous round.

Miroslav Klose started the tournament out in front on the all-time World Cup goalscoring chart with 16 goals, but both Messi and Mbappe have overtaken the ex-Germany striker.

Haaland became Norway's leading goalscorer at World Cups after just two games, while Kane went past Gary Lineker as England's top World Cup scorer.

Golden Boot contenders have been targeting Just Fontaine's 1958 record of 13 goals in a single tournament.

Only three players in World Cup history - Fontaine, Germany's Gerd Muller in 1970 and Hungary's Sandor Kocsis in 1954 - have ever hit double figures at a single tournament.

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)