World Cup 2026 Golden Boot race: Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane in epic battle to be top goalscorer

Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland have kept up the pace in what is shaping up to be one of the most hotly-contested World Cup Golden Boot battles in memory.

The superstars are delivering on the biggest stage of them all and are setting a blistering pace in the race to be the 2026 tournament's top goalscorer.

It is the first World Cup since since 1954 - and only the second tournament in history - where three players have scored four or more times after two matches, and Harry Kane could join them with two goals for England against Ghana on Tuesday evening.

Miroslav Klose started the tournament out in front on the all-time World Cup goalscoring chart with 16 goals.

Two games in and Messi is now two ahead with 18, while Mbappe has pulled level with the Germany striker, whose international career spanned the World Cups from 2002 to 2014.

Haaland is now Norway's leading goalscorer at World Cups after just two games, while one more Kane goal would see him go past Gary Lineker as England's top World Cup scorer.

All four players will be targeting Just Fontaine's 1958 record of 13 goals in a single tournament.

Only three players in World Cup history - Fontaine, Germany's Gerd Muller in 1970 and Hungary's Sandor Kocsis in 1954 - have ever hit double figures at a single tournament.

At the current rate of scoring at this tournament, three or more players could do it this summer!

The big question is: will anyone else gatecrash the Golden Boot party?