Haaland matches Messi, Mbappe in race for World Cup Golden Boot award

Tuesday, 7 July 2026 03:37 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Erling Haaland

Erling Haaland has joined Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe on the leaderboard for the Golden Boot award at the FIFA World Cup 2026.

For three days, French talisman Kylian Mbappe and Argentinian great Lionel Messi rubbed shoulders as the joint leaders – with seven goals apiece – in the race to be the tournament’s top goal scorer, but Haaland’s double in Norway’s round of 16 win against Brazil put him level with both on Sunday.

When the World Cup’s knockout stage began, Messi became the first to reach seven goals when Argentina beat Cape Verde on Friday, and Mbappe matched him a day later as France beat Paraguay.

England’s Harry Kane took his tally to six goals after scoring in England’s thrilling 3-2 win over Mexico late on Sunday.

Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal and Mbappe’s teammate Ousmane Dembele are hot on their heels with four goals each.