For all the countless individual awards Lionel Messi has collected across his seasoned career, the World Cup Golden Boot, given to the the tournament’s top goal-scorer, still evades him. It looked like the 2026 World Cup would finally be the one, but Messi now faces an uphill battle to win the award.
Messi has been simply remarkable during the 2026 World Cup. At 39 years old, in his record-sixth World Cup, he is the main reason why Argentina reached back-to-back finals, contributing eight goals and four assists so far—already career highs in a single World Cup.
From his opening game hat-trick against Algeria to the pair of assists in the semifinal against England, Messi has been unstoppable.
Entering the final two games of the tournament, Messi sat atop a star-studded Golden Boot race. Unfortunately for him, the craziness that was the Bronze Final between England and France shrank Messi’s odds of finally winning.
Messi Needs Miracle to Steal 2026 World Cup Golden Boot
Messi and Kylian Mbappé were tied at eight goals each atop the Golden Boot race after 102 of 104 World Cup games, with the Argentine edging the Frenchman due to having one more assist—the first tiebreaker.
In a wild Bronze Final that saw England defeat France 6–4, Mbappé padded his stats, scoring a brace and collecting an assist to not only take a two-goal lead in the Golden Boot race with 10 strikes, but also overtake Messi as the all-time top goalscorer in World Cup history with 22.
Now, Messi needs to score a hat-trick against Spain in the World Cup final to get to 11 goals and outright win the Golden Boot race. Replicating Mbappé’s performance with a brace and an assist would also suffice, given the pair would finish tied on goals but Messi would have one more assist.
If Messi scores a brace but doesn’t register an assist, then the pair would finish tied on 10 goals and four assists. In this scenario, Mbappé would almost certainly win the Golden Boot award because he’ll likely hold the second tiebreaker: fewest minutes played in the tournament.
Mbappé finished his 2026 World Cup campaign with 769 minutes played, per FIFA’s player stats. Messi, who’s been involved in two matches that went into extra time, enters the final on 712 minutes. If Messi plays the entirety of the title decider, he’ll overtake Mbappé’s total tally of minutes.
Messi only bagging a brace might not suffice to win the Golden Boot and deny Mbappé from becoming the first-ever to win the award multiple times—he beat Messi by one goal in Qatar 2022; however, it would be enough to overtake Mbappé as the all-time leading World Cup goalscorer with 23 goals, ensuring he keeps that record for at least four years.
Furthermore, it seems like a guarantee that Messi will win his third-career World Cup Golden Ball award, recognized as the best player of the tournament.
2026 World Cup Golden Boot Race Entering Final
|
Rank |
Player |
Goals |
Assists |
Minutes Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1. |
Kylian Mbappé |
10 |
4 |
769 |
|
2. |
Lionel Messi |
8 |
4 |
712 |
|
3. |
Jude Bellingham |
7 |
1 |
698 |
|
4. |
Erling Haaland |
7 |
0 |
537 |
|
5. |
Ousmane Dembélé |
6 |
2 |
648 |
|
6. |
Harry Kane |
6 |
1 |
732 |
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