Lionel Messi strengthened his grip on the FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Boot race after scoring for Argentina in their Round of 32 clash against Cape Verde at Miami Stadium on Friday. The Argentina captain broke the deadlock in the 29th minute with a composed finish, taking his tally to seven goals for the tournament. The strike moved Messi clear at the top of the Golden Boot standings, ahead of France captain Kylian Mbappé, who has six goals.
Norway’s Erling Haaland and England skipper Harry Kane are next on the list with five goals each, while France’s Ousmane Dembélé, Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior, Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal and Senegal’s Ismaïla Sarr remain among the chasing pack on four goals apiece.
Messi’s latest strike also saw him continue rewriting the FIFA World Cup record books. The 39-year-old became the first player in men’s football history to score 20 World Cup goals, extending the all-time record he had already taken from Germany great Miroslav Klose earlier in the tournament.
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The goal also made Messi the first player to score seven or more goals in two different men’s FIFA World Cup editions. After netting seven times during Argentina’s triumphant Qatar 2022 campaign, he has now matched that tally in the 2026 tournament despite the knockout stages only just beginning.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner also extended his remarkable scoring streak to eight consecutive World Cup appearances. The run dates back to Argentina’s Round of 16 victory at Qatar 2022 and has continued through every match he has featured in during the ongoing tournament.
Messi’s seventh goal of the campaign has come in four appearances. He opened the tournament with a hat-trick against Algeria before scoring twice against Austria to secure top spot in Group J. After coming off the bench to score a trademark free-kick against Jordan, he added another landmark goal against Cape Verde to move one step closer to winning the Golden Boot for the first time in his illustrious career.
If players finish level on goals, FIFA awards the Golden Boot using assists as the first tiebreaker, followed by the fewest minutes played if they are still tied.
Here’s a look at the top scorers so far at the FIFA World Cup 2026:
| Rank | Player | Country | Goals | Assists |
| 1 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 7 | 0 |
| 2 | Kylian Mbappe | France | 6 | 2 |
| 3 | Erling Haaland | Norway | 5 | 0 |
| 4 | Harry Kane | England | 5 | 0 |
| 5 | Ousmane Dembele | France | 4 | 2 |
| 6 | Mikel Oyarzabal | Spain | 4 | 1 |
| 7 | Vinicius Junior | Brazil | 4 | 1 |
| 8 | Ismail Sarr | Senegal | 4 | 1 |
| 9 | Deniz Undav | Germany | 3 | 2 |
| 10 | Johan Manzambi | Switzerland | 3 | 2 |
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