World Cup 2026 Top Scorers: Players with Most Goals in Race for Golden Boot

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Jordan follows a wide range of sports, but his passions lie in professional wrestling, football, F1, and middle and long-distance running. Sign in to your GiveMeSport account The 2026 World Cup is well underway. And whilst there are a select group of nations that are expected to challenge for the biggest prize on offer, the tournament's hungriest strikers will also have one eye on the prestigious Golden Boot.

The award is given to the tournament's top scorer at the end of every World Cup tournament. Previous winners of the award include Gerd Müller, Ronaldo, Eusebio, and current England captain Harry Kane. France's Kylian Mbappe will be hoping to retain his crown and guide France to a third consecutive final.

But with most teams only just embarking upon their second match of the tournament, there are still plenty of chances to usurp the World Cup's early goalscoring pacesetters. Here are the top goalscorers at the 2026 World Cup.

Lionel Messi made history in his first appearance of the tournament, bagging his first ever World Cup hat-trick in Argentina's 3-0 win over Algeria. The Argentinian star is appearing in his sixth World Cup, and with those three goals, he went level with Germany's Miroslav Klose as the World Cup's all-time leading scorer.

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane are all expected to finish among the top goalscorers in this summer's tournament.

Jonathan David was the MVP of Canada's memorable 6-0 win over Qatar, netting a hat-trick. David, who is also Canada's all-time leading goalscorer, took full advantage of Qatar's poor discipline, having seen two players sent off in the space of 20 minutes.

There are more than a few familiar names staking their claim for the World Cup Golden Boot in 2026. And their chance of success will no doubt be affected by how far their respective countries can go in the tournament.

England's Harry Kane showed his appetite for big matches, striking twice against the 2018 finalists Croatia to open his account. England's all-time leading goalscorer knows what it takes to clinch the Golden Boot, having done so at the 2018 World Cup.

Kylian Mbappe also made a similarly impressive impact in France's first game. The Real Madrid attacker notched his 13th and 14th World Cup goals, earning his own slice of history. His goals took him past Olivier Giroud as France's all-time leading goalscorer. On 14 World Cup goals, he is now only behind Ronaldo and joint leading scorers Lionel Messi and Miroslav Klose.

Erling Haaland made his World Cup debut a memorable one. The Man City striker was at the double in their 4-1 win over Iraq. And whilst Norway are not one of the tournament's favourites, Haaland's prolific record still makes him one to watch in the Golden Boot race.

Canada's Cyle Larin has built on an impressive Southampton loan spell with a goal in each of Canada's group stage matches. And Elijah Just linked up well with Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood to deliver a brace in their 2-2 draw with Iran. Both of the Motherwell winger's goals were assisted by the veteran Wood.

When it comes to Swedish attackers, the names that spring to mind are Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres. But top scoring in their 5-1 rout over Tunisia was another Premier League star: Brighton's Yasin Ayari. The Seagulls midfielder netted twice from distance to announce himself on the biggest stage.

Former Arsenal attacker Folarin Balogun was the American hero, helping the US team to an opening game win over Paraguay. And joining him on two goals is a current Arsenal attacker: Kai Havertz. The German star contributed two goals to Germany's statement victory over World Cup debutants Curaçao.

Super sub Johan Manzambi made himself the toast of Switzerland in their 4-1 win over Bosnia & Herzegovina. The 20-year-old midfielder came on to open the scoring with a stunning 74th minute volley before adding his second of the game in added time.

The Golden Boot is awarded to the World Cup's top goalscorer, with assists now used as a tiebreaker if necessary.

The tournament no longer allows joint winners. If two or more players both have the same number of goals and assists, the total minutes played will become the new tiebreaker. The player who has played the fewest minutes will secure the Golden Boot.

GIVEMESPORT looks at the top 10 World Cup goalscorers in history, featuring Mbappe, Messi and Ronaldo.