The race to win the Golden Boot at the 2026 World Cup has been one of epic proportions from the very beginning, with Lionel Messi scoring a hat trick in Argentina’s opening game, and Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane all netting twice as France, Norway and England opened with victories.

Other names briefly threatened to enter the conversation, although it now seems clear one of that quartet will take home the Golden Boot once the tournament concludes on July 19.

Before the start of the quarterfinals, all four had scored at least six goals, which would have been enough to win the award outright in 1934, 1962, 2006 and 2010, and enough to share it in 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2014 and 2018.

The World Cup’s prolific scorers

If it feels as though the World Cup’s top attackers are scoring at a relentless pace, that’s because they are. But how close are any of them to breaking the record for the most goals in a single tournament?

The simple answer is that they still have quite a way to go before the final whistle blows on the competition.

Only three players have reached double figures in a single men’s World Cup, although you have to go back several decades for the most recent example.

The players who set the standard

Gerd Müller of West Germany was the last to do it in 1970. The Bayern Munich legend, who later had a spell with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the North American Soccer League, found the net 10 times in six matches, although his country finished third.

Hungary icon Sándor Kocsis went one better in 1954, scoring 11 goals in only five appearances. His remarkable tally helped Hungary reach the final, although it fell just short against West Germany.

The main man, however, is one-tournament wonder Just Fontaine, who scored an astonishing 13 goals in six games for France at the 1958 World Cup, the only edition he ever played. The striker was forced to retire in 1962 because of a leg injury at just 28, but he remains the sixth-highest scorer in World Cup history despite appearing in only one tournament.

Can anyone catch Just Fontaine?

Thirteen is therefore the target for Messi, Mbappé, Haaland and Kane, who could each have as many as two more games to get there. They are already playing catch-up, however, with their toughest opponents still to come.

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