Soccer
FIFA 2026 World Cup Golden Boot tracker: Top scorer

The race for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot is heating up, with several candidates emerging to become the top goalscorer at this summer’s tournament.

Note: FIFA uses the following tiebreakers to determine the Golden Boot winner: 

  1. Most assists 
  2. Fewest minutes played

2026 World Cup Golden Boot leaders

  1. Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 5 goals, 0 assists, 187 minutes
  2. Kylian Mbappé (France) – 4 goals, 0 assists, 199 minutes
  3. Erling Haaland (Norway) –  4 goals, 0 assists, 207 minutes
  4. Deniz Undav (Germany) – 3 goals, 2 assists, 69 minutes
  5. Jonathan David (Canada) – 3 goals, 0 assists, 170 minutes

World Cup: Past Golden Boot winners

Here are the previous winners of the World Cup Golden Boot, which has been awarded since the 1982 edition of the tournament:

  • 2022: Kylian Mbappé (France – 8 goals)
  • 2018: Harry Kane (England – 6 goals)
  • 2014: James Rodríguez (Colombia – 6 goals)
  • 2010: Thomas Müller (Germany – 5 goals)
  • 2006: Miroslav Klose (Germany – 5 goals)
  • 2002: Ronaldo (Brazil – 8 goals)
  • 1998: Davor Šuker (Croatia – 6 goals)
  • 1994: Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria), Oleg Salenko (Russia) – 6 goals
  • 1990: Salvatore Schillaci (Italy – 6 goals)
  • 1986: Gary Lineker (England – 6 goals)
  • 1982: Paolo Rossi (Italy – 6 goals)

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