The race for the Golden Boot at the FIFA World Cup 2026 gathered further pace on Tuesday as Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé both added to their tallies in the Round of 32. Haaland fired Norway to a 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast with an 86th-minute winner, while Mbappé gave France a 1-0 half-time lead over Sweden after finding the net in the 44th minute at the New York New Jersey Stadium.
Haaland’s strike took him to five goals for the tournament, leaving the Norway forward just one behind leader Lionel Messi. Mbappé, meanwhile, moved onto five goals after breaking the deadlock just before the interval. The France captain had earlier seen a goal ruled out for offside by VAR and also struck the post before finally beating the Swedish defence.
Making his World Cup debut, Haaland scored back-to-back braces in his first two World Cup appearances in the group stage before being rested for the dead-rubber against France with qualification already guaranteed.
The 25-year-old returned to the side for the knockouts and added another strike to his impressive tally with a late match-winning goal to keep Norway’s dream run alive.
However, it still was not enough to dislodge the Argentine maestro, who continues to lead the Golden Boot standings. Messi has reached six goals in three games so far in the tournament. The Argentina captain opened with a hat-trick against Algeria, followed it with a brace against Austria, and then came off the bench to curl home a trademark free-kick against Jordan. His form has also helped Argentina progress comfortably into the knockout stages.
France also have Ousmane Dembélé in contention. The winger has four goals after ending his World Cup scoring drought against Iraq before producing a first-half hat-trick against Norway.
Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior is also on four goals after scoring consecutive braces during the group stage, stepping up in Neymar’s absence and emerging as the Seleção’s primary attacking threat.
Just behind the leading pack are England captain Harry Kane, DR Congo forward Yoane Wissa, Canada striker Jonathan David and Brazil’s Matheus Cunha, who have all scored three goals and remain within striking distance with England and DR Congo yet to begin their knockout campaigns.
If players finish level on goals, FIFA awards the Golden Boot using assists as the first tiebreaker, followed by the fewest minutes played if they are still tied.
Here’s a look at the top scorers so far at the FIFA World Cup 2026:
| Rank | Player | Country | Goals |
| 1 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 6 |
| 2 | Erling Haaland | Norway | 5 |
| 3 | Kylian Mbappé | France | 5 |
| 4 | Ousmane Dembélé | France | 4 |
| 5 | Vinícius Júnior | Brazil | 4 |
| 6 | Harry Kane | England | 3 |
| 7 | Yoane Wissa | DR Congo | 3 |
| 8 | Jonathan David | Canada | 3 |
| 9 | Matheus Cunha | Brazil | 3 |
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