The 2026 World Cup will be remembered as an edition where the stars came out to play.Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and more have lit up North America enchanting fans both new and old, while setting up one of the most exciting Golden Boot races in the tournament’s 96-year history.With two more opportunities for the leading contenders to add to their totals, a potentially record-breaking contest will go down to the wire.What Is the Golden Boot Award?Harry Kane won the Boot in 2018. | Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)The World Cup Golden Boot goes to the tournament's top goal scorer. Unlike the media-voted Golden Ball, this one is purely a numbers game: most goals wins. In modern editions, assists has served as the tiebreaker if scorers are level. Historic recipients include Just Fontaine, whose 13 goals at the 1958 tournament for France remain a single-edition record, along with icons Gerd Müller, Ronaldo, Miroslav Klose, and Mbappé—the 2022 winner with eight goals. No player has ever won the Boot twice, while Messi is yet to claim the award.Every FIFA World Cup Golden Boot Winner in HistoryYearGolden Boot WinnerGoals1930Guillermo Stábile (Argentina)81934Oldřich Nejedlý (Czechoslovakia)51938Leônidas (Brazil)71950Ademir (Brazil)91954Sándor Kocsis (Hungary)111958Just Fontaine (France)131962Flórián Albert (Hungary)Valentin Ivanov (Soviet Union)Garrincha (Brazil)Vavá (Brazil)Dražan Jerković (Yugoslavia)Leonel Sánchez (Chile)41966Eusébio (Portugal)91970Gerd Müller (West Germany)101974Grzegorz Lato (Poland)71978Mario Kempes (Argentina)61982Paolo Rossi (Italy)61986Gary Lineker (England)61990Salvatore Schillaci (Italy)61994Oleg Salenko (Russia)Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)61998Davor Šuker (Croatia)62002Ronaldo (Brazil)82006Miroslav Klose (Germany)52010Thomas Müller (Germany)52014James Rodríguez (Colombia)62018Harry Kane (England)62022Kylian Mbappé8The Top Contenders to Win the Golden Boot—RankedOn only five previous occasions has a player required more than eight goals to take home the Golden Boot trophy, and never before have there been two or more players with that total. With Messi and Mbappé already tied on eight, with two games to play, this is one of the highest-scoring scoring races in tournament history.Here’s a rundown of the top contenders still in the mix to be handed the prize upon the tournament’s conclusion on July 19.Note: Erling Haaland’s seven goals rank him third currently, but as Norway has been eliminated and he will not play any more games, there is no chance he will surpass the leaders to claim the trophy.6. Mikel OyarzabalMikel Oyarzabal is a very long shot for the trophy now. | Harry How/Getty ImagesGoals: 4Assists: 1Four in six games is a respectable total for Spain’s primary threat, but Mikel Oyarzabal has not enjoyed the volume of some of his top competitors.Overall, Spain has scored just 11 goals all World Cup, the lowest of any of the semifinalists, and Oyarzabal has actually only scored in two of his country’s six games—bagging braces against both Saudi Arabia and Austria.A couple of (very) big displays in the next two games could still shoot him up the rankings, but it’s difficult to envisage Oyarzabal hoisting the Golden Boot aloft at this point.5. Ousmane DembéléOusmane Dembélé would rank higher in most other years | Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated Goals: 5Assists: 2The current Ballon d’Or holder already has enough goals to have won the award on four previous occasions, but this 2026 edition of the World Cup is anything but normal.Three of Ousmane Dembélé’s five strikes came in the Group I clash with a second-string Norway, and he has largely played second fiddle to Kylian Mbappé this summer. Still, he can’t be discounted.4. Harry KaneHarry Kane is England’s all-time top scorer at the World Cup. | Eddie Keogh/The FA/Getty ImagesGoals: 6Assists: 1Only the second Englishman ever to win a World Cup Golden Boot (after Gary Lineker), Harry Kane is hoping to become the first player of any nationality to win the award twice.The quarterfinal win over Norway was only the second time that the Bayern Munich front man has blanked at this tournament, but it has left him trailing the frontrunners with only two more opportunities to add to his tally.3. Jude BellinghamJude Bellingham has scored back-to-back braces. | Erick W. Rasco/ Sports IllustratedGoals: 6Assists: 1With his match-winning double against Norway, Bellingham became the first player to score twice in consecutive World Cup knockout matches since Diego Maradona in 1986. Some company.Despite having the same goals and assists as Kane, England’s No.10 leads his teammate in the rankings by virtue of having played fewer minutes.2. Lionel MessiA reminder that Lionel Messi is 39. | Erick W. Rasco/ Sports IllustratedGoals: 8Assists: 2Anyone who thought Messi’s 2022 World Cup displays were impossible to top has been proven very wrong, as the 39-year-old continues to defy age in a way that will surely be piquing the interest of several Silicon Valley billionaires.This summer, Messi has also become both the all-time leading World Cup goalscorer (21) and assist maker (10).1. Kylian MbappéKylian Mbappé is Mr World Cup. | Erick W. Rasco/Sports IllustratedGoals: 8Assists: 3Right behind Messi in the all-time charts is Mbappé (20) and it’s hard not to imagine the Frenchman claiming top spot at some point, either this summer or further down the road.Mbappé has been irresistible in North America, scoring at least once in every match he’s played—bar the Norway game when he bagged two assists to give him the edge over Messi in the standings.READ THE LATEST WORLD CUP NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FCAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow