Who’ll win the Golden Boot at the 2026 FIFA World Cup? The race is on for who’ll score the most goals at the tournament, and it is set to be one of the tournament’s most closely watched storylines.
Several of the world’s top forwards will be aiming to finish as the competition’s leading goalscorer. Lionel Messi – now the top all-time goalscorer in FIFA men’s World Cup history – led the race through the group stages. After Messi jumped past Kylian Mbappé following his goal against Cape Verde, Mbappé matched him after his penalty in the second half of France’s round of 16 matchup against Paraguay.
Messi retook the Golden Boot lead with an equalizer when Argentina needed it most, to tie it 2-2 against Egypt in the late stages of the round of 16 before Argentina completed the comeback to move onto the quarterfinals. Mbappé caught back up with Messi in the second half against Morocco in their quarterfinal game when he found the net in the 60th minute.
This marks the first time three players netted seven or more goals in a single World Cup.
Check out our list of all the 2026 World Cup group-stage goals, ranked!
Favorites To Win The Golden Boot
Kylian Mbappé: +110 (bet $10 to win $21 total)
Lionel Messi: +145 (bet $10 to win $24.50 total)
Harry Kane: +1100 (bet $10 to win $120 total)
Jude Bellingham: +1300 (bet $10 to win $140 total)
Ousmane Dembélé: +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Mikel Oyarzabal: +12500 (bet $10 to win $1,260 total)
8 Goals
- Lionel Messi (Argentina)
- Kylian Mbappé (France)
6 Goals
- Jude Bellingham (England)
- Harry Kane (England)
- Ousmane Dembélé (France)
4 Goals
- Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain)
2 Goals
- Lautaro Martinez (Argentina)
- Mostafa Zico (Argentina)
- Bradley Barcola (France)
Last 5 Golden Boot Winners
- 2022 (Qatar): Kylian Mbappé (France) – 8 goals
- 2018 (Russia): Harry Kane (England) – 6 goals
- 2014 (Brazil): James Rodríguez (Colombia) – 6 goals
- 2010 (South Africa): Thomas Müller (Germany) – 5 goals
- 2006 (Germany): Miroslav Klose (Germany) – 5 goals
Lionel Messi Scores Goal vs Austria, Becoming Men’s All-time FIFA World Cup™ Goalscoring Leader
