Messi, Mbappé and Haaland chase Fontaine’s 13 at an expanded World Cup | OneFootball

Just Fontaine’s 13 goals at the 1958 World Cup once looked untouchable. Expansion and a blistering start from today’s elite suggest the summit could, perhaps, be approached.

L'Équipe notes that Lionel Messi has five in two matches, Kylian Mbappé four and Erling Haaland four, hinting at a pursuit. Fontaine set his mark in six games in Sweden, seldom threatened.

Only three players have ever reached 10 at a finals, Sandor Kocsis with 11 in 1954, Fontaine 13 in 1958, and Gerd Müller 10 in 1970. Since, Ronaldo and Mbappé have managed 8, in 2002 and 2022 respectively.

The World Cup has grown from 24 teams in 1982 to 32 in 1998, and 48 this summer. The 2026 winners will play eight matches, compared with six in 1958 and 1970, and mismatches are likelier.

Mechanics alone do not explain Messi. His feat is not an average of three per World Cup, but enduring six editions, winning the fifth, and igniting a sixth with five in two.

The five leading World Cup scorers have all been world champions, sharpening the question of whether striker or team drives. A looser group phase may play a part, a case that holds only if the goals slow from last 16.

Club football has swelled tallies through stronger refereeing protection and talent concentrating at the richest clubs. Internationally, glory once meant more than goals, Kopa was best player in 1958 while Fontaine scored 13, and today the top scorer is often seen as the standout.

Source: L'Équipe