World Cup 2026 Golden Boot: Messi, Mbappe, Haaland and Kane in thrilling ra...

As the Football World Cup 2026 is nearing its closing stages, the race for the ultimate glory intensifies and the battle for the coveted Golden Boat is shaping into a thrilling race with some of the top players of the world in contention.

The top stars of the world continue to dominate the tournament, and none more so than the captain of France, Kylian Mbappe. He scored his first goal of the tournament against Senegal with an elegant brace and then scored against Iraq, and his third double against Sweden in the round of 32.

He then added another goal to his tally in France’s quarter final match against Morocco. This goal came after he had earlier missed scoring from a penalty. Apart from scoring goals by himself, he has also played an important role in many assists, which is critical in leaving his rivals behind.

Like Mbappe, the Argentine great, Lionel Messi is also in the race for the Golden Boot. He started the tournament with a bang, scoring a hat-trick against Algeria and followed it up with another brilliant performance and scored a double against Austria. It was the game where he broke the all-time World Cup scoring record.

Coming off the bench, Messi scored a brace against Jordan, before adding a few more goals to his kitty in the knock-out game against Cape Verde and Egypt, taking his overall tally of goals in the tournament to Egypt.

Norwegian star, Erling Haaland is also in the race against Mbappe and Messi. He has seven goals to his name, after he found the back of the net twice in a thrilling encounter against Brazil in the round of 16.

If the players are tied for goals, the number of assists will come into the picture in determining who ranks higher. If there is still a tie, it comes to minutes played and goals-per-minute ratio.

Here is the latest 2026 World Cup Golden Boot standings: