en.malanginspirasi.com – The race for the 2026 World Cup Golden Boot has set up a dream finale, with the ultimate winner to be decided in the tournament’s very last match.
Following France’s spectacular 6-4 loss to England in the third-place play-off, Kylian Mbappé netted a brace to pull two goals ahead of Lionel Messi. However, the Argentine maestro still has one final opportunity to strike back.
The stakes could not be higher for the final clash between Argentina and Spain.
If the 39-year-old Messi manages to score twice in the final, he will secure the Golden Boot by virtue of the assist tiebreaker.
Anything less than a Messi brace will see the 27-year-old Mbappé make history as the first player to ever win the prestigious award twice.
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Beyond the Golden Boot, the duo is also locked in a historic battle to become the World Cup’s all-time top scorer. Mbappé currently leads that legendary race with 22 goals, sitting just a single strike ahead of Messi.
Mbappé’s double against England brought his tournament tally to 10 goals, making it the highest individual output in a single World Cup this century.
To find the last time a player hit double digits at a men’s World Cup, you have to look back to West Germany’s Gerd Müller in 1970.
In fact, prior to this tournament, only eight players in football history had ever scored eight or more goals in a single edition: Müller, Just Fontaine, Sándor Kocsis, Ademir, Eusébio, Guillermo Stábile, Ronaldo, and Mbappé.
This World Cup has truly belonged to football’s elite.
England’s talisman Jude Bellingham also etched his name into the history books during the third-place play-off.
His goal against France pushed his tournament total to seven, breaking the record for the most goals scored by an Englishman at a single World Cup.
Bellingham currently sits third in the Golden Boot standings ahead of Erling Haaland via the assist tiebreaker, while Three Lions captain Harry Kane and France’s Ousmane Dembélé remain just one goal further back.
