World Cup 2026 top scorers: Lionel Messi leads Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland in Golden Boot race | OneFootball

Argentina captain has put down a marker as Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane look to respond

Lionel Messi leads the way in the World Cup 2026 Golden Boot race after scoring the first hat-trick of this summer’s expanded tournament.

Messi, despite leading Argentina to World Cup glory in 2022, is yet to claim the top scorer award in five previous attempts, narrowly losing out to Kylian Mbappe in Qatar.

However, the 38-year-old has made a fine start this time as he netted all three goals in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Algeria on Tuesday, drawing level with Miroslav Klose in the all-time World Cup top scorer list in the process.

That said, even at this early stage, the Golden Boot race is already heating up as Mbappe scored twice in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal and Erling Haaland did the same on his World Cup debut as Norway beat Iraq.

Arsenal’s Kai Havertz and Brighton’s Yasin Ayari also netted braces in their respective nation’s opening World Cup games, as did Eliah Just and former Gunners striker Folarin Balogun as he made history for the United States.

Kylian Mbappe won the World Cup 2022 Golden Boot with eight goals

AFP via Getty Images

Vinicius Junior, Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyokeres, Jamal Musiala, Bradley Barcola and Amad Diallo are just some of the forwards on one goal, though will be keen to move up the standings as the tournament continues.

The remaining contenders such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Antoine Semenyo and Harry Kane will have their chance to respond on Wednesday, but ahead of Portugal, Ghana and England kicking off their campaigns, 62 goals have been scored at 2026 World Cup, five of which have been own goals.

World Cup 2026 Golden Boot standings