The Golden Boot is Mbappé's: the top scorers of the 2026 World Cup
Kylian Mbappé takes the 2026 World Cup Golden Boot with ten goals, even though France went out in the semi-finals: his brace in the third-place play-off was enough to edge Lionel Messi, who finished second on eight. Behind them come Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland on seven. In the assist charts, Michael Olise leads with seven. We review who scored and who created the goals at the tournament.
The race for the 2026 World Cup Golden Boot had an unusual ending: it was won by a player whose team did not even reach the final. Kylian Mbappé closed the tournament on ten goals and took the top-scorer award even though France fell to Spain in the semi-finals. The key was the third-place play-off, where the striker scored twice against England (4-6) to pull clear at the top.
The big loser was Lionel Messi. The Argentine captain arrived at the final as joint leader and finished second on eight goals: he did not score in the 1-0 defeat to Spain and missed the chance to crown his World Cup with the Golden Boot, though he was by far the most-awarded MVP of the tournament.
The scoring podium is completed by two Premier League regulars: Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland, both on seven. Behind them, on six, come Ousmane Dembélé and Harry Kane, while Mikel Oyarzabal was the champions' top scorer with five.
Beyond goals, the tournament also had an assist king: Michael Olise, with seven assists, saw off a chasing pack featuring Mbappé, Messi, Brahim Díaz and Bruno Guimarães, all on four. The France winger's talent was one of the main attacking arguments of a side that fell just short.
See the full ranking of scorers and assists, with every name and their nation, on our data pages.