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Kylian Mbappé climbed to a shared lead in the scoring table of the this Thursday, by scoring the first goal in France's 2-0 victory over Morocco in the quarterfinals held at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.
With that goal, the Real Madrid forward reached eight goals in the tournament, the same total as Lionel Messi.
The French attacker opened the scoring in the 60th minute, although he had previously missed a penalty against goalkeeper Yassine Bounou that would have given him the lead outright. Ousmane Dembélé sealed the match with the second goal to put France into the semifinals, in a match that was briefly suspended due to bad weather when the French team was already leading 1-0.
Behind the duo at the top, Erling Haaland (Norway) lurks with seven goals and Harry Kane (England) with six, in what is shaping up to be one of the most competitive races for the Golden Shoe in the history of the tournament.
Beyond the individual award, the tie between both stars carries a significant historical weight: Mbappé reached 20 goals in World Cups in only his third tournament, just one behind the 21 held by Messi over six editions. The Rosario native is the all-time leading male scorer in World Cup history, a record he set in this very edition by surpassing the 16 goals of Miroslav Klose.
Messi's World Cup journey began in Germany 2006, where he did not score any goals; he scored four in Brazil 2014, one in Russia 2018, and seven in Qatar 2022—a tournament he won with Argentina—and he has already netted eight in the current edition. Mbappé, on the other hand, debuted with four goals in Russia 2018, scored eight in Qatar 2022, and has already added another eight in 2026, establishing himself as one of the top scorers in the competition in just three appearances.
The race for the Golden Boot at the 2026 World Cup also features an important tiebreaker: in the event of a tie in goals, FIFA applies the criteria of assists, where Mbappé holds an advantage with two compared to none for the Argentine captain.
Top scorers of the 2026 World Cup:
- 8 goals: Lionel Messi (Argentina) and Kylian Mbappé (France)
- 7 goals: Erling Haaland (Norway)
- 6 goals: Harry Kane (England)
- 5 goals: Ousmane Dembélé (France)
- 4 goals: Jude Bellingham (England), Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain), Vinícius Júnior (Brazil), and Ismaïla Sarr (Senegal)
With France already in the semifinals, Mbappé will have at least one more match to try to snatch both the Golden Boot and the all-time record from Messi. However, Argentina has yet to play its quarterfinal: the Albiceleste will face Switzerland on Saturday, July 11, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, which means that the Argentine captain could also continue to increase his tally.
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