2026 оны дэлхийн аваргын мэргэн буучдын өрсөлдөөн ширүүсэж байна

“Sometimes in football, you have to score goals.”

We are well into the 2026 World Cup but Thierry Henry’s words from 2008 ring truer than they ever have.

While the overall trophy is the key focus for all 48 teams, the Golden Boot award for the most prolific goalscorer is up for grabs too.

The winner of that award can be unpredictable, as the trophy hasn’t fallen to a player in the tournament’s winning side since 2002, when Ronaldo scored eight for Brazil on their way to a record-breaking fifth World Cup.

No one has bested Just Fontaine’s record-breaking tally in 1958, when the France forward netted 13 times despite the nation losing in their semi-final. But with 16 more teams and 40 more matches than the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the stage is set for more goals than ever.

What happens if multiple players finish on the same goal tally?

Since 1992, the ranking if goals are tied has been decided by the most assists.

This happened in 2010 when Spain’s David Villa, Uruguay’s Diego Forlan and the Netherlands’ Wesley Sneijder all had the same number of goals as Thomas Muller (5). The Germany legend won the award, however, as he had provided three assists, which was more than the one managed by the other contenders.

In 2006, a further tiebreak was introduced if assists are the same too, giving the honor to the player who scored their goals in the fewest minutes.

So, how does the race look?

This article will be updated throughout the World Cup

=1. Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 8 goals

Messi thought he had scored early on in Argentina’s World Cup opener against Algeria, only for the goal to be chalked off after he was found to be offside. There was no offside question, though, when he whipped one in from 20 yards out later in the first half.

In the second period, Messi scored his second after Luca Zidane in the Algeria goal spilt a low-range shot from Alexis Mac Allister straight to the Argentina captain, leaving him with an easy finish.

To seal his hat-trick, Messi characteristically bent the ball from the edge of the box as though he was passing to a teammate behind the goal, with Zidane nowhere near.

His fourth came after he had already missed a penalty in Argentina’s second game against Austria, with the Inter Miami man finishing first time from Facundo Medina. That goal saw him take an outright lead as the men’s World Cup all-time top goalscorer. Messi added his fifth in two games late on against Austria, finishing from close range after his own shot had been blocked.

And despite not starting in Argentina’s final group game against Jordan, Messi added to his World Cup tally with an 80th-minute free kick. His seventh goal then came in Argentina’s round-of-32 win over Cape Verde.

=1. Kylian Mbappe (France) – 8 goals

France is perhaps the favorite to win the World Cup and Mbappe helped get their campaign off to a strong start, netting twice in their 3-1 win over Senegal.

Mbappe became France’s all-time leading scorer with his double against Senegal. (Charly Triballeau / AFP via Getty Images)

After missing a big chance earlier in the second half, Mbappe opened the scoring in the 66th minute from close range after being slipped in by Michael Olise. He extended France’s lead in added time with a powerful strike from distance.

Mbappe then opened the scoring once more in France’s game against Iraq, firing in from range. Following a lengthy weather delay in Philadelphia, he doubled France’s lead in the second half.

He kept up his form as the tournament reached the knockout stages, scoring twice against Sweden in the round of 32 with two fine strikes, once against Paraguay from the penalty spot and netting again against Morocco in the quarter-final.

3. Erling Haaland (Norway) – 7 goals

Haaland marked his first World Cup game by scoring two goals as Norway beat Iraq 4-1.

Haaland hit his signature celebration after his first-ever goal at a World Cup. (Justin Setterfield / Getty Images)

His first goal was a characteristic finish from inside the six-yard box, as he slid in to meet David Moller Wolfe’s low cross from the left. For his second, the Manchester City striker closed down the Iraq goalkeeper and forced the ball into the net.

Haaland’s third goal came against Senegal in Norway’s second outing of the tournament as he calmly swept home in the second half. A second of the match — and fourth of the tournament — soon followed thanks to a clever volleyed finish.

His fifth was hugely decisive as the winner in the round-of-32 meeting against Ivory Coast, finishing from close range in the closing stages of a 2-1 win.

Haaland’s sixth and seventh goals came as Norway stunned Brazil in their last-16 tie, with his second in the match a surprise goal

4. Harry Kane (England) – 6 goals

Bayern Munich striker Kane scored twice as England beat Croatia 4-2 in their opening World Cup match.

Kane now has more men’s World Cup goals for England than anyone else (Paul Ellis / AFP via Getty Images)

He, like his England team-mates, struggled against Ghana in the 0-0 draw, but then scored his country’s second goal in their final group-stage game against Panama.

Kane was his country’s hero in the round of 32, scoring twice in the second half in the game against DR Congo. He then scored a penalty in England’s last-32 game against Mexico.

5. Ousmane Dembele (France) – 5 goals

Before France’s second game of the World Cup, Dembele had never scored in 19 major tournament appearances. He then scored four goals in a row for France, netting their third in the 3-0 win over Iraq before hitting a first-half hat-trick against Norway.

The PSG forward added his fifth of the tournament in France’s quarter-final against Morocco.

=6. Vinicius Junior (Brazil) – 4 goals*

Vinicius Jr spared Brazil’s blushes in its World Cup opener against Morocco, equalising with an emphatic whipped finish after the African side had taken a surprise lead.

Brazil were in higher spirits when he scored his second goal of the tournament, having been dominant against Haiti and already taken the lead through two Matheus Cunha goals.

Vinicius Jr and Cunha both scored for Brazil against Haiti. (Reuters / Dylan Martinez Tpx Images of the day)

Vinicius Jr scored his third in as many games when he was the beneficiary of a defensive mistake from Scotland’s Scott McKenna, finishing easily past Angus Gunn to open the scoring in Brazil’s final group-stage match, with his fourth a simple back-post header from a teasing Bruno Guimaraes cross.

=6. Ismaila Sarr (Senegal) – 4 goals*

Sarr, the Crystal Palace winger, scored twice in Senegal’s second Group I game against Norway.

The first, an unorthodox but very effective clipped finish while falling to the floor, was followed by a well-taken second in a 3-2 defeat. He added his third of the tournament in Senegal’s final group-stage game against Iraq before scoring a fourth against Belgium in the round of 32.

=6. Julian Quinones (Mexico) – 4 goals*

Mexico winger Quinones scored the first goal at the World Cup, grabbing the opener as his side beat South Africa 2-0. He then netted in Mexico’s 3-0 win over Czech Republic, before once again scoring the opener in Mexico’s last-32 game against Ecuador. Quinones added to his tally in the last-32 game against England.

Perhaps his World Cup goals should not be a surprise — Quinones top-scored in the Saudi Pro League with 33 goals in 31 games.

=6. Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain) – 4 goals

Spain and Oyarzabal put their disappointing opening group-stage draw with Cape Verde behind them in their second match, winning 4-0 against Saudi Arabia with the Real Sociedad forward scoring twice.

Oyarzabal then scored his second double of the tournament in Spain’s 3-0 round-of-32 win over Austria.

=6. Jude Bellingham (England) – 4 goals

England midfielder Bellingham scored in each of England’s group-stage wins; the 4-2 against Croatia and the 2-0 against Panama.

He then netted twice in England’s last-32 game against Mexico.

=10. 11 players (3 goals)

• Jonathan David (Canada)*
• Yoane Wissa (DR Congo)*
• Deniz Undav (Germany)*
• Johan Manzambi (Switzerland)
• Ismael Saibari (Morocco)
• Matheus Cunha (Brazil)*
• Brian Brobbey (Netherlands)*
• Elijah Just (New Zealand)*
• Cody Gakpo (Netherlands)*
• Folarin Balogun (U.S.)*
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)*
• Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)

*on a team knocked out of the competition

Previous men’s Golden Boot winners

The award came into play as the ‘Golden Shoe’ in 1982, though the top scorer has been unofficially recognised since the 1930s.

In 2022, Mbappe became only the second man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final, but unlike Geoff Hurst for England in 1966, he was not part of the winning team. The France striker’s eight goals tied him with Brazil’s Ronaldo in 2002 for the most at a single World Cup.

Four years earlier, Kane collected the award with six goals as his England side reached the semi-finals, where they lost to Croatia.

Mbappe scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final in 2022 (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Here are the players who scored the most goals at each World Cup.

• 1930: Guillermo Stabile (Argentina) — 8 goals
• 1934: Oldrich Nejedly (Czechoslovakia) — 5 goals
• 1938: Leonidas (Brazil) — 7 goals
• 1950: Ademir (Brazil) — 8 goals
• 1954: Sandor Kocsis (Hungary) — 11 goals
• 1958: Just Fontaine (France) — 13 goals
• 1962: Florian Albert (Hungary), Valentin Ivanov (Soviet Union), Garrincha (Brazil), Vava (Brazil), Drazan Jerkovic (Yugoslavia), Leonel Sanchez (Chile) — 4 goals
• 1966: Eusebio (Portugal) — 9 goals
• 1970: Gerd Muller (West Germany) — 10 goals
• 1974: Grzegorz Lato (Poland) — 7 goals
• 1978: Mario Kempes (Argentina) — 6 goals
• 1982: Paolo Rossi (Italy) — 6 goals
• 1986: Gary Lineker (England) – 6 goals
• 1990: Salvatore Schillaci (Italy) — 6 goals
• 1994: Oleg Salenko (Russia), Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria) — 6 goals
• 1998: Davor Suker (Croatia) — 6 goals
• 2002: Ronaldo (Brazil) — 8 goals
• 2006: Miroslav Klose (Germany) — 5 goals
• 2010: Thomas Muller (Germany) — 5 goals
• 2014: James Rodriguez (Colombia) — 6 goals
• 2018: Harry Kane (England) — 6 goals
• 2022: Kylian Mbappe (France) — 8 goals