Mbappé and Kane could rewrite history by trying for a second top scorer title in the 2026 World Cup

The decisive stages of the 2026 World Cup hold the possibility of an unprecedented feat in football. Kylian Mbappé and Harry Kane remain in contention for the Golden Boot and aim to become the first athletes to lead the artillery in two different editions of the tournament.

The achievement represents a monumental challenge. Since the first World Cup, in 1930, no player has achieved the feat of being the top scorer in two different championships. Great stars like Gerd Müller, Ronaldo and Klose marked the season, but none of them repeated the feat of being at the top of the top scorers list in different editions.

Mbappé, who was the top scorer in the 2022 Qatar Cup with eight goals, arrives with strong credentials. He shares the top scorer table in 2026 with Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland, each with seven goals, while Kane follows closely, adding six and remaining fully in the race. Criteria such as assists and, if necessary, minutes played will be used to break ties.

How Mbappé secured France’s classification and advanced in artillery

The French striker started the competition with the chance to reach an unprecedented record. Harry Kane, in turn, is looking to replicate his 2018 performance, when he finished the Russian Cup as top scorer, with six goals, ahead of names like Antoine Griezmann, Romelu Lukaku, Cristiano Ronaldo and Denis Cheryshev.

The trajectory of the World Cup demonstrates the extreme rarity of such a repetition. In 22 editions played, the Golden Boot was awarded to different talents from different nations, but never to the same player twice. Names such as Leônidas, Ademir, Eusébio, Paolo Rossi, Gary Lineker, James Rodríguez and Mbappé himself are among the winners, always with a distinct top scorer in each tournament.

Leadership in the race for the 2026 World Cup artillery

• Kylian Mbappé (France) — 7 goals
• Erling Haaland (Norway) — 7 goals
• Lionel Messi (Argentina) — 7 goals
• Harry Kane (England) — 6 goals

With the French and England teams guaranteed in the quarter-finals, Mbappé and Kane will have new chances to score goals and, who knows, break a taboo that has persisted for almost a century of World Cups. At the same time, Messi and Haaland continue to compete, creating one of the fiercest individual fights of the last World Cup.

History of the top scorers in each edition of the World Cup

• 1930 – Guillermo Stabile, Argentina (8 goals)
• 1934 – Oldrich Nejedly, Czechia (5 goals)
• 1938 – Leônidas, Brazil (7 goals)
• 1950 – Ademir Menezes, Brazil (8 goals)
• 1954 – Sandor Kocsis, Hungary (11 goals)
• 1958 – Just Fontaine, France (13 goals)
• 1962 – Flórián Albert, Hungary; Valentin Ivanov, Soviet Union; Garrincha and Vavá, Brazil; Drazan Jerkovic, Yugoslavia and Leonel Sánchez. Chile (4 goals)
• 1966 – Eusébio, Portugal (9 goals)
• 1970 – Gerd Müller, Germany (10 goals)
• 1974 – Grzegorz Lato, Poland (7 goals)
• 1978 – Mario Kempes, Argentina (6 goals)
• 1982 – Paolo Rossi, Italy (6 goals)
• 1986 – Gary Lineker, England (6 goals)
• 1990 – Salvatore Schillaci, Italy (6 goals)
• 1994 – Oleg Salenko, Russia, and Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgaria (6 goals)
• 1998 – Davor Suker, Croatia (6 goals)
• 2002 – Ronaldo, Brazil (8 goals)
• 2006 – Miroslav Klose, Germany (5 goals)
• 2010 – Thomas Müller, Germany (5 goals)
• 2014 – James Rodriguez, Colombia (6 goals)
• 2018 – Harry Kane, England (6 goals)
• 2022 – Kyllian Mbappé, France (8 goals)