World Cup 2026 Golden Boot race: Messi, Mbappe, Haaland & Vinicius in epic battle to be top scorer

Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Vinicius Junior have kept up the pace in what is shaping up to be one of the most hotly contested World Cup Golden Boot battles in memory.

The superstars are delivering on the biggest stage of them all and are setting a blistering pace in the race to be the 2026 tournament's top goalscorer.

Messi heads the field with five goals from two games after his double against Austria secured Argentina a 2-0 victory.

Mbappe, Haaland and Vinicius Junior are just behind Messi with four goals after doubles of their own in respective wins for France, Norway and Brazil.

Not among them as yet, however, is Harry Kane, who took home the gong in 2018, after England's 0-0 stalemate with Ghana on Tuesday.

The Bayern striker had few chances in Boston, but should have scored late on when he uncharacteristically blazed over from close range when unmarked.

How the race for the Golden Boot stands...

Will anyone else join the party?

The big question is: will anyone else gatecrash the Golden Boot party?

Kane scored twice against Croatia before his Ghana blank and like Mbappe, the England captain, whose overall World Cup goal tally stands at 10, has the chance to become the first striker to win multiple Golden Boots.

Spain's Lamine Yamal [one goal] got his tournament up and running with a goal against Saudi Arabia, while Cristiano Ronaldo is off the mark with a double against Uzbekistan.

Mikel Oyarzabal was the scorer of the winning goal for Spain in the Euro 2024 final and the Real Sociedad forward has made a fast start with two goals in his country's thrashing of Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Deniz Undav was a rank outsider before the finals kicked off, but the Stuttgart forward already has three goals and could be a surprise contender if Germany go far. Netherland's Cody Gakpo [two] also has a good scoring record at major tournaments.

Matheus Cunha [Brazil], Ismael Saibari [Morocco] and Johan Manzambi [Switzerland] are also in the mix with three goals each.

Then there is the challenge from the host nations' forwards - could Canada's Jonathan David [three] and USA's Folarin Balogun [two] get enough games to fire themselves into contention?

Canada's hopes of a long run are perhaps dimmer than the other two host nations, but, following his hat-trick against Qatar, it would be unwise to dismiss David's prospects. With two goals in the United States' first two games, former Arsenal striker Balogun is the focal point for what could be an historic run for Mauricio Pochettino's co hosts.

The problem for the rest is Messi, Mbappe, Haaland and Vinicius Junior, and potentially Kane, show no signs of slowing down any time soon.

Who will win the Golden Boot? Have your say...

Could more records tumble?

Miroslav Klose started the tournament out in front on the all-time World Cup goalscoring chart with 16 goals.

Two games in and Messi is now two ahead with 18, while Mbappe has pulled level with the Germany striker, whose international career spanned the World Cups from 2002 to 2014.

Haaland is now Norway's leading goalscorer at World Cups after just two games, while one more Kane goal would see him go past Gary Lineker as England's top World Cup scorer.

Golden Boot contenders will be 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.

At the current rate of scoring at this tournament, three or more players could do it this summer!

What other records have been broken?

Most World Cup matches played: Lionel Messi (28) Most World Cup wins: Lionel Messi (18) 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)