Kylian Mbappé's strike against Morocco took him back to the first place in the race for the Golden Boot, on level with Messi. They both have eight goals scored at this World Cup. The two men chasing, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane, meet in Saturday's quarter-final knowing the loser's tally freezes on the spot.
Mbappé's first chance to reach Messi in the race for the Golden Boot was in the 28th minute against Morocco when he took a penalty. But the african goalkeeper saved the shot.
The French captain managed to score in the second half. It was his eighth goal at this World Cup, just like Messi. He chased for another goal, but an ankle injury took him off the pitch in the 77th minute.
He is tied on goals with the Argentine captain, but the official Golden Boot standings currently list him first on the assists tiebreaker. He will keep this lead at least until Saturday, when Norway will meet England.
With seven goals at this World Cup, Haaland is the third-highest scorer, and Kane, who has scored six goals, is in fourth place. Whoever goes out between them will most likely lose the chance to win the Golden Boot.
Haaland has 62 goals in 54 games for Norway and has carried them to a first quarter-final in their history at this World Cup. Kane's six took his career World Cup tally to 14, level with Gerd Müller in the all-time top five. England's captain already won a Golden Boot in Russia in 2018, the year before Haaland had played his first senior international match.
The chasing pack thins fast. Ousmane Dembélé's five for France — making Les Bleus the first team since Brazil in 2002 with two players on five or more at a single World Cup — leaves him needing an improbable late surge. Realistically, this is a four-man race, and by Sunday, it may be three.
The fixtures favour the leaders. Messi faces Switzerland in Kansas City with a semi-final beyond it; Mbappé's France await Spain or Belgium in Dallas on 14 July. The Haaland-Kane survivor gets a semi-final against one of those two script-writers. Three more rounds, two goals separating four men, and a tiebreak system — goals, then assists, then fewest minutes — that could decide the whole thing by a substitution. The Golden Boot has rarely been this crowded this late.
