France’s Kylian Mbappe has become the new leader in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Boot race after scoring his 8th goal of the tournament vs Morocco in quarterfinal on Thursday.
Updated: July 10, 2026, 12:48 PM IST
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FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Boot race after France vs Morocco quarterfinal. (Image: AI)
FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Boot: The FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Boot race leader has changed once again after the first quarterfinal match between France and Morocco in Boston on Thursday. France captain Kylian Mbappe notched up his 20th World Cup goal and also provided an assist to teammate Ousmane Dembele to storm to the top of ‘Golden Boot’ table.
Mbappe now has 8 goals and three assists in 563 minutes played in the FIFA World Cup 2026 to rise to the top. Argentina captain Lionel Messi has slid down to second place with 8 goals and 1 assist in 468 minutes of play.
The French striker has left Messi behind in the table due to FIFA’s tie-breaking rules to determine Golden Boot winners. If two or players are tied with same number of goals, then the first tie-breaker will be the number of assists. In this case, Mbappe clearly has more assists as compared to Messi – 3 to 1.
FIFA tie-breaker rules in Golden Boot race…
If two or more football players are tied with same number of goals then the leader will be…
- Most assists: The player with the higher number of assists (determined by FIFA’s Technical Study Group) wins.
- Fewest minutes played: If assists are also equal, the award goes to the player who scored their goals in the fewest minutes on the pitch.
Norway’s Erling Haaland is currently in 3rd place, only one goal behind Mbappe and Messi with 7 strikes in 416 minutes. England captain Harry Kane is currently in 4th with 6 goals and 1 assist in 489 minutes. Both Haaland and Kane can add to their goals tally and rise up in the Golden Boot race when they face off in the quarterfinal match at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Saturday.
Here is current FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Boot table…
| Rank | Player | County | Goals | Assists | Mins. Played |
| 1 | Kylian Mbappe | France | 8 | 3 | 563 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 8 | 1 | 468 |
| 3 | Erling Haaland | Norway | 7 | 0 | 416 |
| 4 | Harry Kane | England | 6 | 1 | 489 |
| 5 | Ousmane Dembele | France | 5 | 2 | 492 |
Mbappe continued his brilliant run in the ongoing FIFA World Cup, as he scored the opening goal for his side against Morocco in their FIFA World Cup 2026 quarter-final in Boston on Thursday before Ousmane Dembele doubled the lead to send France into the final four of the World Cup. Dembele is currently in 5th place with 5 goals and 2 assists – scoring his 5th vs Morocco on Thursday.
Mbappe took his tally to 20 World Cup goals across the 2018, 2022 and 2026 editions, just one behind Lionel Messi’s all-time tournament record of 21. Mbappe also became the first player in France’s history to be directly involved in 100 international goals, achieving the milestone with 64 goals and 36 assists for ‘Les Bleus’.
Last 5 winners of FIFA World Cup Golden Boot
| World Cup | Winner | Country | Goals |
| 2022 (Qatar) | Kylian Mbappé | France | 8 |
| 2018 (Russia) | Harry Kane | England | 6 |
| 2014 (Brazil) | James Rodríguez | Colombia | 6 |
| 2010 (South Africa) | Thomas Müller | Germany | 5 |
| 2006 (Germany) | Miroslav Klose | Germany | 5 |
France reaches their 3rd consecutive World Cup semifinal as they finally broke through in the 60th minute when Mbappe produced a brilliant finish from inside the box. The 2018 World Cup winners had gone goal-less in the first-half with Morocco.
