Mbappé wins Golden Boot with 10 goals as veteran Messi finishes second at 2026 FIFA World Cup

Main Points

• Mbappé wins the Golden Boot with 10 World Cup goals
• Messi finishes second after scoring eight goals
• Haaland scores seven goals in his World Cup debut

France forward Kylian Mbappé finished as the top scorer at the 2026 FIFA World Cup with 10 goals, becoming the first player since Hungary's Sándor Kocsis in 1954 to reach double figures in a single men's World Cup tournament.

Mbappé's scoring exploits earned him the tournament's Golden Boot despite France falling short of the title. The 27-year-old continued one of the greatest World Cup goalscoring careers in history, adding to the eight goals he scored in 2022, when he also won the Golden Boot after a hat-trick in the final against Argentina.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi, playing in what is expected to be his final World Cup at the age of 39, finished second with eight goals. The 2022 Golden Ball winner once again played a decisive role for Argentina, helping the defending champions reach the 2026 final before losing to Spain.

Norway's Erling Haaland marked his long-awaited FIFA World Cup debut by scoring seven goals to finish joint third alongside England midfielder Jude Bellingham. Haaland had missed the 2018 and 2022 tournaments after Norway failed to qualify but immediately established himself among the competition's most prolific forwards.

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England captain Harry Kane and France winger Ousmane Dembélé each finished with six goals. Kane added another strong World Cup campaign after sharing the Golden Boot in 2018 with six goals and scoring twice in Qatar four years later.

Spain's Mikel Oyarzabal, whose goals helped guide the eventual champions to their second FIFA Men's World Cup title, finished seventh with five goals.

Three players shared eighth place on four goals. Senegal forward Ismaïla Sarr became his country's leading scorer at the tournament, while Mexico striker Julián Quiñones delivered one of the nation's strongest World Cup scoring performances in recent decades. Brazil winger Vinícius Júnior also finished on four goals despite Brazil's elimination before the final.

The tournament highlighted a blend of established stars and emerging talent. Messi, Kane and Mbappé continued to deliver on football's biggest stage, while younger players such as Haaland, Bellingham and Vinícius confirmed their status among the game's leading attackers.

According to FIFA statistics, the Golden Boot is awarded to the player with the most goals scored during the tournament. If players finish level on goals, assists and then minutes played are used as tie-breakers.

Mbappé's 10-goal haul stands among the greatest single-tournament scoring performances in FIFA World Cup history, placing him alongside legendary names such as Just Fontaine, Sándor Kocsis, Gerd Müller and Ronaldo Nazário in the competition's record books.