We are almost a week into the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and that means it is the perfect time to start looking at one of the big stories from this tournament every four years.
The chase for the Golden Boot.
The 2026 World Cup could see history, given the presence of Kylian Mbappe. In the history of this event, no player has ever won the Golden Boot twice. After winning the Golden Boot at the 2022 World Cup, Mbappe could become the first player to achieve that feat, if he were to win again this year.
Mbappe’s brace against Senegal got his campaign for a second Golden Boot off to a strong start, but Lionel Messi’s hat trick against Algeria put the Argentina legend atop the list after his opening match.
Here are the current standings in the chase for the Golden Boot. You will note that assists and minutes played are listed, as those are the two tiebreakers in determining the winner of the Golden Boot. In the case of ties, the player with the most assists is ranked ahead.
Should there still be a tie, the player with the fewest minutes played is ranked ahead.
Note: Table last updated on June 21 following Tunisia-Japan
| Player | Team | Goals | Assists | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deniz Undav | Germany | 3 | 2 | 69 |
| Lionel Messi | Argentina | 3 | 0 | 83 |
| Jonathan David | Canada | 3 | 0 | 165 |
| Crysencio Summerville | Netherlands | 2 | 1 | 123 |
| Ayase Ueda | Japan | 2 | 1 | 174 |
| Cody Gakpo | Netherlands | 2 | 1 | 182 |
| Vinicius Jr. | Brazil | 2 | 1 | 191 |
| Johan Manzambi | Switzerland | 2 | 0 | 59 |
| Brian Brobbey | Netherlands | 2 | 0 | 88 |
| Yasin Ayari | Sweden | 2 | 0 | 184 |
| Elijah Just | New Zealand | 2 | 0 | 101 |
| Harry Kane | England | 2 | 0 | 102 |
| Erling Haaland | Norway | 2 | 0 | 103 |
| Kylian Mbappé | France | 2 | 0 | 106 |
| Matheus Cunha | Brazil | 2 | 0 | 109 |
| Cyle Larin | Canada | 2 | 0 | 121 |
| Daichi Kamada | Japan | 2 | 0 | 176 |
| Folarin Balogun | United States | 2 | 0 | 180 |
| Ismael Saibari | Morocco | 2 | 0 | 181 |
| Kai Havertz | Germany | 2 | 0 | 192 |
| Alexander Isak | Sweden | 1 | 2 | 194 |
| Nathan-Dylan Saliba | Canada | 1 | 1 | 38 |
| Hwang Inbeom | South Korea | 1 | 1 | 87 |
| Luis Díaz | Colombia | 1 | 1 | 98 |
| Ramin Rezaeian | Iran | 1 | 1 | 101 |
| Ruben Vargas | Switzerland | 1 | 1 | 111 |
| Keito Nakamura | Japan | 1 | 1 | 181 |
| Nathaniel Brown | Germany | 1 | 1 | 182 |
| Felix Nmecha | Germany | 1 | 1 | 182 |
| Breel Embolo | Switzerland | 1 | 1 | 195 |
| Viktor Gyokeres | Sweden | 1 | 1 | 201 |
| Alex Freeman | United States | 1 | 1 | 209 |
| Ermin Mahmic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Mikel Svanberg | Sweden | 1 | 0 | 13 |
| Gio Reyna | United States | 1 | 0 | 20 |
| Bradley Barcola | France | 1 | 0 | 20 |
| Ibrahim Mbaye | Senegal | 1 | 0 | 20 |
| Marcus Rashford | England | 1 | 0 | 24 |
| Oh Hyeongyu | South Korea | 1 | 0 | 28 |
| Jaminton Campaz | Colombia | 1 | 0 | 29 |
| Leo Østigard | Norway | 1 | 0 | 30 |
| Anthony Elanga | Sweden | 1 | 0 | 47 |
| Mauricio | Paraguay | 1 | 0 | 53 |
| Marko Arnautovic | Austria | 1 | 0 | 58 |
| Petar Musa | Croatia | 1 | 0 | 71 |
| Emam Ashour | Egypt | 1 | 0 | 74 |
| Luis Romo | Mexico | 1 | 0 | 75 |
| Jovo Lukic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1 | 0 | 77 |
| Raul Jimenez | Mexico | 1 | 0 | 79 |
| Julian Quinones | Mexico | 1 | 0 | 82 |
| Abbosbek Fayzullaev | Uzbekistan | 1 | 0 | 82 |
| Maxi Araujo | Uruguay | 1 | 0 | 84 |
| Martin Baturina | Croatia | 1 | 0 | 84 |
| Jude Bellingham | England | 1 | 0 | 85 |
| Romano Schmid | Austria | 1 | 0 | 86 |
| Omar Rekik | Tunisia | 1 | 0 | 100 |
| Joāo Neves | Portugal | 1 | 0 | 101 |
| Yoane Wissa | DR Congo | 1 | 0 | 101 |
| Mohammad Mohebbi | Iran | 1 | 0 | 101 |
| Abdulelah Al-Amri | Saudi Arabia | 1 | 0 | 102 |
| Matías Galaraza | Paraguay | 1 | 0 | 102 |
| Aymen Hussein | Iraq | 1 | 0 | 103 |
| Michal Sadilek | Czechia | 1 | 0 | 104 |
| Daniel Muñoz | Colombia | 1 | 0 | 106 |
| Ali Olwan | Jordan | 1 | 0 | 107 |
| Caleb Yirenkyi | Ghana | 1 | 0 | 107 |
| Nestory Irankunda | Australia | 1 | 0 | 117 |
| Amad Diallo | Ivory Coast | 1 | 0 | 124 |
| Junya Ito | Japan | 1 | 0 | 130 |
| Jamal Musiala | Germany | 1 | 0 | 136 |
| Nico Schlotterbeck | Germany | 1 | 0 | 145 |
| Connor Metcalfe | Australia | 1 | 0 | 153 |
| John McGinn | Scotland | 1 | 0 | 180 |
| Livano Comenencia | Curaçao | 1 | 0 | 188 |
| Virgil van Dijk | Netherlands | 1 | 0 | 199 |
| Ladislav Krejci | Czechia | 1 | 0 | 201 |
| Teboho Mokoena | South Africa | 1 | 0 | 202 |
| Granit Xhaka | Switzerland | 1 | 0 | 204 |
| Franck Kessié | Ivory Coast | 1 | 0 | 207 |
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