Messi, Mbappé and Haaland are turning the World Cup Golden Boot race into must-watch theater

A full 44 of the 104 matches at this World Cup have now been played but, in many ways, we're only just getting started. The eventual finalists have played only two, or potentially even just one, of their eight matches to date, with games set to come thick and fast once the knockout stages commence.

That said, many of the world's biggest stars have already made their mark on this tournament, especially those who specialize at scoring goals. Thus, as a side show, the Golden Boot race could be well worth tracking — because we could be on course for a record-breaking winning tally featuring some of the biggest names in the sport.

The World Cup Golden Boot race is becoming a heavyweight fight

Whatever happens this summer, it will always be an historic tournament for Lionel Messi. In Argentina's opener, he bagged a first-ever World Cup hat trick against Algeria in Kansas City that saw him equal Mirosłav Klose's all-time record of 16 World Cup goals — a mark that Messi surpassed by scoring both goals in a 2-0 victory over Austria in Arlington on Monday afternoon. The 38-year-old also missed an early penalty at Jerry World, so it could have been back-to-back hat tricks.

However, it is far from a foregone conclusion that Messi will depart America with a Golden Boot as part of his luggage, nor even the all-time record that he has just earned. That's because Kylian Mbappé netted twice as France beat Senegal last week before bagging another two against Iraq in Philadelphia, pulling the 27-year-old back into a tie with Messi atop the all-time list with 16 World Cup goals.

Elsewhere, a certain Erling Braut Håland is the other man on four goals for the tournament, an impressive start to his first-ever World Cup campaign. He netted twice during victories over both Iraq and then Senegal. Mbappé and Håland will now face each other in Foxborough in the final game of Group I play on Friday. Norway and France are already through to the knockout stages, but both are still battling for top spot, so those in attendance at Gillette Stadium could be treated to a goal-fest.

Current World Cup Golden Boot standings

Meanwhile, two more players are nipping at Messi, Mbappé and Håland's heels at three goals apiece, namely Canada's Jonathan David (following his hat trick against Qatar) as well as Germany's Deniz Undav. Harry Kane, Vinícius Júnior, Kai Havertz, Mikel Oyarzabal and Folarin Balogun of the USMNT are among the other world-class attackers still very much in the hunt, all with two goals thus far.

Note: Only six of 18 players on two goals were included; statistics correct at the time of publication.

History suggests the Golden Boot race is only beginning

Of course, this is the first World Cup to ever feature 48 teams, meaning the quartet of semifinalists will play eight matches — one than ever before. The expanded field also ostensibly means weaker opposition for these heavyweights to face.

Without wanting to be discourteous, we saw this play out when Mbappé took on Iraq, and it could also be the case when Messi and Argentina meet debutants Jordan in Texas on Saturday. Could we see a record-breaking tally required to win the Golden Boot, at least in modern World Cup history?

Highest-scoring Golden Boot winners in World Cup history

Oddly, only three World Cup Golden Boot winners have ever picked up the award alongside the trophy: Argentina's Mario Kempes in 1978, Paolo Rossi of Italy four years later and O Fenômeno Ronaldo of Brazil in 2002. Guillermo Stábile (1930), Ademir (1950), Sándor Kocsis (1954) and Mbappé four years ago have all been top scorers representing the beaten finalists, while the vast majority of the rest have been eliminated in the semifinals.

Just Fontaine's tally of 13 goals in six appearances at the 1958 World Cup will surely never be beaten on a per-game basis, with a hat trick against Paraguay, braces against Yugoslavia and Northern Ireland and four when France beat West Germany 6-3 in the third-place match in Göteborg. Amazingly, only five men have scored more World Cup goals overall than Fontaine, despite the fact that he only featured at one edition.

Since Gerd Müller's haul of 10 goals at Mexico 1970, including hat tricks against Bulgaria and Peru, no player has managed to go beyond eight goals at a single tournament. Brazilian Ronaldo in 2002 and Mbappé two decades later have reached this mark, but it seems likely that Messi, or indeed someone else, will match or even go beyond that glass celling of eight goals this summer.

Messi, Mbappé and Haaland: Chasing more than just this Golden Boot

Of course, it is not just at this tournament that Messi, Mbappé and Håland are superstars on the international scene. Each are their nations' all-time leading scorer, with Håland having shattered Jørgen Juve's record that had stood since 1934 while Mbappé overtook Olivier Giroud in France's first match of this tournament. So, which of the trio has the best goal-scoring ratio?

These players all have pretty good goal-scoring records, don't they? Messi has now surpassed 200 caps, just the third man to achieve the mark after Cristiano Ronaldo and Bader Al-Mutawa, while Luka Modrić will follow him when Croatia take on Panama on Tuesday. However, Messi does actually have the worst minutes-per-goal of the trio, compensating for that with 64 assists.

Mbappé's double against Iraq takes his tally to 60 goals in 100 les Bleus appearances, as well as 40 assists, which is satisfying for fans of round numbers. Håland though, after just 52 Norway caps, has a ridiculous 59 goals, including 16 in eight qualifiers for this tournament. This includes six hat tricks and counting, plus bagging five when a hapless Moldova were demolished 11-1 in Oslo last year.

Ronaldo holds the world record for the most international goals scored by a man (143), 21 ahead of Messi, a gap he is unlikely to make up. However, Mbappé at 27 years old and the 25-year-old Håland will surely have that record in their sights in the coming years. Mbappé and Håland are currently 41st and 44th on the all-time scoring list but, in the next few weeks, both will be looking to overtake the tallies of Zlatan Ibrahimović, Ronaldo, Didier Drogba and other legends.

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