Haaland’s double against Brazil takes him to seven goals, the same as Messi and Mbappe on the top of the chart.Erling Haaland has joined Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe on the leaderboard for the Golden Boot award at the FIFA World Cup 2026.For three days, French talisman Kylian Mbappe and Argentinian great Lionel Messi rubbed shoulders as the joint leaders – with seven goals apiece – in the race to be the tournament’s top goal scorer, but Haaland’s double in Norway’s round of 16 win against Brazil put him level with both on Sunday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Top 5 World Cup knockout shocks – Paraguay win hurts Germany againlist 2 of 4Islamic centre brings joy through World Cup watch partieslist 3 of 4Mexican fans keep Ecuador’s team awake before World Cup showdownlist 4 of 4Iran leaves World Cup with warm send-off from Mexican fansend of listWhen the World Cup’s knockout stage began, Messi became the first to reach seven goals when Argentina beat Cape Verde on Friday, and Mbappe matched him a day later as France beat Paraguay.England’s Harry Kane took his tally to six goals after scoring in England’s thrilling 3-2 win over Mexico late on Sunday.Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal and Mbappe’s teammate Ousmane Dembele are hot on their heels with four goals each.Here’s everything you need to know about FIFA’s Golden Boot award:Argentina’s Lionel Messi has scored six goals so far in North America [Tim Heitman/reuters]What’s the FIFA Golden Boot award and how is it decided?FIFA’s Golden Boot is awarded to the player with the most goals at the end of the tournament.France’s Mbappe is the current holder after scoring eight goals in Qatar at the 2022 World Cup.If two players are tied on the same number of goals at the end of the tournament, then the player with the most assists will win the award.If those tiebreakers cannot split two players, then the Golden Boot is handed to the player who achieved their goals and assists in the least number of minutes.Erling Haaland celebrates after the match as Norway qualify for the Round of 16 [Issei Kato/Reuters]Which players are the top goal scorers at World Cup 2026?