Lionel Messi has moved to the front of the race for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot after scoring three goals in the opening phase of the tournament, putting the Argentina captain level with Canada’s Jonathan David and Germany’s Deniz Undav.
While lifting the World Cup trophy remains the ultimate dream, the Golden Boot continues to rank among football’s most coveted individual awards. With the tournament unfolding across the United States, Canada and Mexico, the battle to finish as the competition’s leading scorer is already beginning to take shape.
Messi’s early form has underlined his enduring influence on the world stage, but he is far from alone. David has carried the hopes of co-host Canada with a string of impressive displays, while Undav’s sharp finishing has strengthened Germany’s attacking threat.
A large group of contenders sit just one goal behind the leading trio.
Among the players on two goals are France’s Kylian Mbappe, England captain Harry Kane, Norway striker Erling Haaland, Germany’s Kai Havertz, Brazil duo Vinicius Jr and Matheus Cunha, Canada’s Cyle Larin, and Netherlands forwards Cody Gakpo and Brian Brobbey.
Sweden’s Anthony Elanga and Yasin Ayari, Japan pair Daichi Kamada and Ayase Ueda, Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal, Uruguay’s Maxi Araujo, Morocco’s Ismael Saibari, Switzerland’s Johan Manzambi, New Zealand’s Elijah Just and United States striker Folarin Balogun have also made strong starts.
Further down the standings, a long list of players have opened their accounts with one goal, including Mohamed Salah of Egypt, England’s Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford, Spain sensation Lamine Yamal, Portugal midfielder Joao Neves, Colombia’s Luis Diaz and Mexico forward Raul Jimenez.
History suggests the Golden Boot is often won by a player whose team advances deep into the knockout rounds, placing added importance on maintaining both form and momentum as the tournament progresses.
With several of football’s biggest stars already among the goals and emerging talents making their mark, the race for the Golden Boot promises to be one of the defining stories of the 2026 World Cup.
Current Golden Boot leaders:
3 goals
Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Jonathan David (Canada)
Deniz Undav (Germany)
2 goals
Folarin Balogun (USA), Yasin Ayari (Sweden), Anthony Elanga (Sweden), Kai Havertz (Germany), Elijah Just (New Zealand), Kylian Mbappe (France), Erling Haaland (Norway), Harry Kane (England), Johan Manzambi (Switzerland), Ismael Saibari (Morocco), Cyle Larin (Canada), Crysencio Summerville (Netherlands), Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), Brian Brobbey (Netherlands), Daichi Kamada (Japan), Ayase Ueda (Japan), Vinicius Jr (Brazil), Matheus Cunha (Brazil), Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain) and Maxi Araujo (Uruguay).
