Atlanta [US], July 2 (ANI): England captain Harry Kane set the race for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Boot on fire after scoring a brilliant late brace against Congo DR, drawing level with Erling Haaland, while closing in on Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe at the top of the most goals list.
A late-stage Harry Kane masterclass, with goals in the 75th and 86th minutes, sank DR Congo 2-1, who dominated a large chunk of the match after Brian Cipenka’s opener in the seventh minute.
With the FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Boot race intensified, here’s a closer look at how the current standings read at the moment.
Kylian Mbappe
Mbappe leads the Golden Boot race with six goals in four matches, along with two assists. He started with a brace as France defeated Senegal 3-1 in their World Cup 2026 opener.
He then led France to a dominant 3-0 win over Iraq in their second FIFA World Cup 2026 match, scoring twice again to continue his prolific run in the tournament.
Mbappe failed to score in his side’s clash against Norway but scored another brace in his team’s 3-0 win over Sweden in the Round of 32 match. With the brace against Sweden, Mbappe reached six goals in the 2026 tournament. Notably, with these six goals, Mbappe’s overall World Cup tally reached 18, putting him in outright second place among all-time scorers, sitting closely behind Lionel Messi, who has 19 goals to his name.
Lionel Messi
The Argentine legend opened his World Cup 2026 campaign with a bang as he scored a hat-trick against Algeria to power his team to a 3-0 win. At 38 years and 357 days on the day of the match, Messi also became the oldest player in men’s World Cup history to register both a brace and a hat-trick. In the process, he surpassed Ronaldo to become the oldest player to score a World Cup hat-trick, overtaking Ronaldo’s record set at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, where he famously netted a hat-trick against Spain at the age of 33, according to Fox Sports.
Messi, in his 200th appearance for Argentina, scored three different types of goals. Messi’s first came from a powerful long-range strike in the 17th minute after a quick free-kick from Argentina’s Rodrigo De Paul. His second was a close-range finish after a rebound fell kindly in the box following an effort from Mac Allister. He completed his hat-trick in the 76th minute with a composed curling finish after initiating the move himself with a mazy run.
Messi continued his fine form, scoring a brace in Argentina’s 2-0 win over Austria before also finding the net in their final group-stage match against Jordan, which Argentina won 3-1. With six goals to his name, he is currently the joint-highest scorer but trails Mbappe in assists, having none in the tournament. If he scores in the Round of 32 against Cape Verde, he will move ahead of Mbappe to lead the Golden Boot race.
With his goal against Jordan, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner also moved to 19 career World Cup goals, the most by anyone in the tournament’s history.
Erling Haaland
Norwegian star Erling Haaland began his FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign with a brace in Norway’s 4-1 win over Iraq, followed by another two goals in a 3-1 victory against Senegal. Although he did not score in the group-stage clash against France, he found the net once in Norway’s 2-1 Round of 32 win over Ivory Coast. With five goals to his name in this World Cup, Haaland, currently at third in the Golden Boot race, will aim to get more as Norway prepare to take on Brazil in their Round of 16 clash.
Harry Kane
The England captain also scored a brace in his first match of the World Cup as he helped England defeat Croatia 4-2. He didn’t score in the second group-stage match as England and Ghana settled for a goalless draw but scored a goal in England’s 2-0 win over Panama in the team’s last group stage match. TThe England captain’s standout performance of the tournament came against Congo DR, where his side trailed 0-1 at half-time. Kane then struck a late brace to turn the game around and secure a 2-1 victory, sending England into the Round of 16. With this, his goal tally at the FIFA World Cup 2026 now stands at five, placing him joint-third alongside Haaland.
Ousmane Dembele
Another France player on the list, Ousmane Dembele is fourth among the tournament’s top scorers with four goals and two assists to his name. He opened his account in France’s 3-0 win over Iraq. He then scored a sensational hat-trick against Norway to take his tally to four goals.
Vinicius Junior
Brazil star Vinicius Junior also has four goals in the tournament but trails Dembele as he has only one assist. He is currently fifth on the list.
As the FIFA World Cup 2026 progresses into the Round of 16 stage, the Golden Boot race remains wide open with several of football’s biggest stars in contention. While Mbappe and Messi currently lead the charts, Haaland, Kane, Dembele, and Vinicius Junior are all within striking distance, setting up an intense battle for the tournament’s top scorer award in the matches ahead. (ANI)
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