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The 2026 World Cup is experiencing one of the most fiercely contested races for the top scorer in its history: Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, and Erling Haaland are tied at the top of the with seven goals each, while Harry Kane is close behind in fourth place with six.
The main highlight of the day was the Norwegian, who scored twice in the 79th and 90th minutes to achieve the historic victory of Norway 2-1 over Brazil in the round of 16, held at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 5.
With that double, the Manchester City forward completed a scoring tally of seven goals in the tournament: two against Iraq, two against Senegal, one against Ivory Coast, and the two crucial ones against Brazil.
Norway advances to the quarter-finals for the first time since France 1998, 28 years ago, after eliminating the Brazilian national team.
Messi, for his part, has scored seven goals in just four matches played: a hat-trick against Algeria, a brace against Austria, and one goal in each of the matches against Jordan and Cape Verde in the Round of 32.
The Argentine captain has the advantage of having played one match fewer than Mbappé, which benefits him in the tiebreaker criterion for minutes played that FIFA applies in the event of a final tie.
Argentina faces Egypt this Tuesday in the round of 16 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, which will provide Messi with a new opportunity to increase his tally.
Mbappé is the only one of the three leaders who has played five matches. The Frenchman reached seven goals thanks to doubles against Senegal, Iraq, and Sweden, plus the penalty he converted against Paraguay in the round of 16 on July 4 in Philadelphia.
France advances to the quarter-finals, where they will face Morocco, and Mbappé also has two assists, a noteworthy detail because that is the first tiebreaker criterion set by FIFA in the event that the three contenders finish with equal goals.
Kane completes the podium of top scorers with six goals: two against Croatia, one against Panama, a brace against the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and one versus Mexico in the round of 16.
With four goals each, Ismaïla Sarr, Mikel Oyarzabal, Vinícius Júnior, and Ousmane Dembélé are featured.
Sarr and Vinícius will no longer be able to add more goals following the eliminations of Senegal and Brazil, while Oyarzabal, with Spain, and Dembélé, with France, remain in the competition and keep their chances alive to compete for the tournament's top scorer trophy.
According to the official scoring table of the 2026 World Cup, the three-way tie with seven goals and the quarter-finals yet to be played makes this edition one of the most uncertain in recent history: in Qatar 2022, Mbappé won the Golden Boot with eight goals, and in Russia 2018, Kane secured it with six.
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