NewsBeat
World Cup 2026 top scorers: Ousmane Dembele emerges as new contender to Lionel Messi in Golden Boot race
Messi leads the way with five goals, after following up his hat-trick against Algeria with both goals Argentina’s 2-0 win over Austria.
His first of the game broke the all-time finals goal record as Messi surpassed Miroslav Klose’s tally of 16. The Argentine went on to score his 18th tournament goal in stoppage time.
Ronaldo had come under intense scrutiny for his slow start to the tournament but any doubts have since been removed with a brace in Portugal’s 5-0 win over Uzbekistan.
Brazil’s Vinicius Junior moved up to four goals with a double against Scotland, and also another ruled out by VAR. Dembele’s hat-trick in France’s means a quartet of football’s leading stars are all hunting down Messi.
World Cup 2026 Golden Boot standings
|
Position |
Player |
Nation |
Goals |
Assists |
|
1 |
Lionel Messi |
Argentina |
5 |
0 |
|
=2 |
Kylian Mbappe |
France |
4 |
2 |
|
=2 |
Ousmane Dembele |
France |
4 |
1 |
|
=2 |
Vinicius Junior |
Brazil |
4 |
1 |
|
=2 |
Erling Haaland |
Norway |
4 |
0 |
|
=6 |
Deniz Undav |
Germany |
3 |
2 |
|
=6 |
Johan Manzambi |
Switzerland |
3 |
1 |
|
=6 |
Ismaila Sarr |
Senegal |
3 |
1 |
|
=6 |
Brian Brobbey |
Netherlands |
3 |
0 |
|
=6 |
Matheus Cunha |
Brazil |
3 |
0 |
|
=6 |
Jonathan David |
Canada |
3 |
0 |
|
=6 |
Ismael Saibari |
Morocco |
3 |
0 |
Table correct as of June 26, 2026.
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