Brazil's Matheus Cunha scored a brace to join the race for the Golden Boot which is led at the moment by Argentina's Lionel Messi and Canada's Jonathan David. They both have three goals to their name at the moment.
FIFA World Cup Golden Boot: Canada's David equals Messi's 3; Brazil's Cunha hits 2
A total of 11 players were closing in with two goals, including France great Kylian Mbappe and England captain Harry Kane. Nearly 60 have scored at least one
Canadian Jonathan David scored a historic hat-trick against Qatar in the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026 on Thursday (June 18) to join Argentina legend Lionel Messi at the top of the goal scorers' list in the race for the coveted Golden Boot. It was the co-hosts' first-ever win at the topmost platform of the game as they hammered Qatar 6-0 in a Group B fixture in Vancouver. The win put Canada at the top of the points table in the group, leading Switzerland by virtue of a better goal difference.
Meanwhile, the list of those scoring at least two goals grew longer to include 11 players on Friday (June 19) after Brazil thrashed Haiti 3-0 and Morocco tamed Scotland 1-0. Brazilian Matheus Cunha and Vinicius Junior reached the tally of two goals in two matches while Morocco's Ismael Saibari became his team's only scorer in both games till now. Cunha scored his brace against Haiti, who were eliminated from the tournament with the defeat.
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Jonathan David levels Messi albeit taking extra game
The 26-year-old David's feat in his second game of the tournament came just days after Messi became the oldest player at 38 to register a hat-trick in the World Cup, which came against Algeria in Kansas City, Missouri. Messi, who led his side to the crown in 2022, is appearing in his sixth World Cup and is the joint top scorer with a tally of 16, along with Germany's Miroslav Klose.
Race for Golden Boot in FIFA World Cup 2026: As on June 19, 2026
♦ Lionel Messi (Argentina) 3 goals in 1 match
♦ Jonathan David (Canada) 3 goals in 2 matches
♦ Harry Kane (England) 2 goals in 1 match
♦ Erling Haaland (Norway) 2 goals in 1 match
♦ Kylian Mbappe (France) 2 goals in 1 match
♦ Folarin Balogun (US) 2 goals in 1 match
♦ Yasin Ayari (Sweden) 2 goals in 1 match
♦ Elijah Just (New Zealand) 2 goals in 1 match
♦ Kai Havertz (Germany) 2 goals in 1 match
♦ Johan Manzambi (Switzerland) 2 goals in 1 match
♦ Cyle Larin (Canada) 2 goals in 2 matches
♦ Matheus Cunha (Brazil) 2 goals in 2 matches
♦ Vinicius Junior (Brazil) 2 goals in 2 matches
♦ Ismael Saibari (Morocco) 2 goals in 2 matches
Two goals: Eleven players so far
Eleven players have scored two goals so far, including Kylian Mbappe (France), Harry Kane (England), Kai Havertz (Germany), Erling Haaland (Norway), Elijah Just (New Zealand), Yasin Ayari (Sweden), Johan Manzambi (Switzerland), Folarin Balogun (United States), Cyle Larin (Canada), Matheus Cunha (Brazil), Vinicius Junior (Brazil) and Ismael Saibari (Morocco). Larin, Cunha, Vinicius and Saibari have scored their goals in two matches, while the rest have scored in one.
One goal: 59 names so far
Fifty-nine players have scored one goal so far in the tournament. They are:
Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe (Australia)
Marko Arnautović and Romano Schmid (Austria)
Jovo Lukić and Ermin Mahmić (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Livano Comenencia (Curacao)
Nathan Saliba (Canada)
Teboho Mokoena (South Africa)
Ladislav Krejčí and Michal Sadílek (Czechia)
Emam Ashour (Egypt)
Bradley Barcola (France)
Nathaniel Brown, Jamal Musiala, Felix Nmecha, Nico Schlotterbeck and Deniz Undav (Germany)
Mohammad Mohebi and Ramin Rezaeian (Iran)
Aymen Hussein (Iraq)
Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford (England)
Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast)
Daichi Kamada and Keito Nakamura (Japan)
Ali Olwan (Jordan)
Raúl Jiménez, Julián Quiñones and Luis Romo (Mexico)
Ismael Saibari (Morocco)
Virgil van Dijk and Crysencio Summerville (Netherlands)
Leo Østigård (Norway)
Maurício and Matías Galarza (Paraguay)
Abdulelah Al-Amri (Saudi Arabia)
John McGinn (Scotland)
Ibrahim Mbaye (Senegal)
Hwang In-beom and Oh Hyeon-gyu (South Korea)
Viktor Gyökeres, Alexander Isak and Mattias Svanberg (Sweden)
Breel Embolo, Rubén Vargas and Granit Xhaka (Switzerland)
Omar Rekik (Tunisia)
Giovanni Reyna and Alex Freeman (US)
Maximiliano Araújo (Uruguay)
Abbosbek Fayzullaev (Uzbekistan)
Yoane Wissa (DR Congo)
Jaminton Campaz, Luis Díaz and Daniel Muñoz (Colombia)
Martin Baturina and Petar Musa (Croatia)
João Neves (Portugal)
Past records: Just Fontaine slammed 13 in one edition
Twenty-eight players in all bagged the honours of scoring the most goals in a single edition of the World Cup. The name ‘Golden Boot’ first came into use in 1982. It was first called the Golden Shoe Award and got its current name in 2010. However, top scorers of every tournament are retroactively recognised as winners of the crown.
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Here are the names of the top scorers of all World Cups since its inception in 1930:
1930, Uruguay: Guillermo Stabile (Argentina) Goals scored (GS): 8
1934, Italy: Oldrich Nejedly (formerly Czechoslovakia) GS: 5
1938, France: Leonidas (Brazil) GS: 7
1950, Brazil: Ademir (Brazil) GS: 9
1954, Switzerland: Sandor Kocsis (Hungary) GS: 11
1958, Sweden: Just Fontaine (France) GS: 13
1962, Chile: Florian Albert (Hungary), Valentin Ivanov (Soviet Union), Garrincha (Brazil), Vava (Brazil), Drazan Jerkovic (Yugoslavia) and Leonel Sanchez (Chile) GS: 4
1966, England: Eusebio (Portugal) GS: 9
1970, Mexico: Gerd Muller (Germany) GS: 10
1974, West Germany: Grzegorz Lato (Poland) GS: 7
1978, Argentina: Mario Kempes (Argentina) GS: 6
1982, Spain: Paolo Rossi (Italy) GS: 6
1986, Mexico: Gary Lineker (England) GS: 6
1990, Italy: Salvatore Schillaci (Italy) GS: 6
1994, USA: Oleg Salenko (Russia) Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria) GS: 6 each
1998, France: Davor Suker (Croatia) GS: 6
2002, South Korea/Japan: Ronaldo (Brazil) GS: 8
2006, Germany: Miroslav Klose (Germany) GS: 5
2010, South Africa: Thomas Muller (Germany) GS: 5
2014, Brazil: James Rodríguez (Colombia) GS: 6
2018, Russia: Harry Kane (England) GS: 6
2022, Qatar: Kylian Mbappe (France) GS: 8