After the final whistle blew at MetLife Stadium for the final match between Argentina and Spain, it was a familiar face from France who took home the Golden Boot award as the 2026 World Cup’s leading scorer: Kylian Mbappe.
The Real Madrid star took home his second straight Golden Boot award after leading the goal-scoring efforts at both the 2022 and 2026 tournaments. His most recent effort in the third-place match against England saw the Frenchman put two goals in the net, along with an assist, to top the charts.
It is rather early to look ahead, but it’s not too early to start thinking about whether Mbappe will again win the award at the 2030 World Cup. Les Bleus’ star has established himself as one of the best scorers in the world, and each World Cup he’s played in has featured a plethora of goal contributions for his country.
Here’s how the French star won the Golden Boot award despite not appearing in the World Cup final.
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Who won World Cup Golden Boot?
After the final whistle blew in MetLife Stadium’s final match between Argentina and Spain, it was Mbappe who took home the Golden Boot honors as the tournament’s leading scorer. He became the first player ever to win two Golden Boot awards, along with the first back-to-back winner.
Kylian Mbappé has become the first player in history to win TWO World Cup Golden Boots 🏆🇫🇷🔥 pic.twitter.com/ESw91MOqdb
— Prime Video Sport UK (@primevideosport) July 19, 2026
The French forward, despite being absent from the final after France was eliminated by Spain 2-0 in the semifinal, added two goals and an assist to his already stellar tournament tally. The 2026 Golden Boot was Mbappe’s second consecutive award, after he took the honour at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar despite losing in the final.
Mbappe has firmly established himself as one of the most talented World Cup players of all time after frequently swapping places atop the tournament’s all-time scoring list, with 22 goals across just three campaigns.
Kylian Mbappe vs. Lionel Messi World Cup stats
Despite Messi jumping out to a quick lead in the Golden Boot race thanks to an opening group-stage match hat trick against Algeria, it was Mbappe who prevailed, thanks to a double-digit amount of goals, along with four assists.
Here’s how the two stars compared at this year’s World Cup:
| Kylian Mbappe | Lionel Messi | |
| Matches | 8 | 8 |
| Minutes | 698 | 740 |
| Goals | 10 | 8 |
| Assists | 4 | 4 |
World Cup Golden Boot winners
| Year | Host | Top Scorer | Country | Goals |
| 1930 | Uruguay | Guillermo Stabile | Argentina | 8 |
| 1934 | Italy | Oldrich Nejedly | Czechoslovakia | 5 |
| 1938 | France | Leonidas | Brazil | 7 |
| 1950 | Brazil | Ademir | Brazil | 8 |
| 1954 | Switzerland | Sandor Kocsis | Hungary | 11 |
| 1958 | Sweden | Just Fontaine | France | 13 |
| 1962 | Chile | Florian Albert | Hungary | 4 |
| Garrincha | Brazil | |||
| Vava | Brazil | |||
| Valentin Ivanov | Soviet Union | |||
| Drazan Jerkovic | Yugoslavia | |||
| Leonel Sanchez | Chile | |||
| 1966 | England | Eusebio | Portugal | 9 |
| 1970 | Mexico | Gerd Muller | Germany | 10 |
| 1974 | West Germany | Grzegorz Lato | Poland | 7 |
| 1978 | Argentina | Mario Kempes | Argentina | 6 |
| 1982 | Spain | Paolo Rossi | Italy | 6 |
| 1986 | Mexico | Gary Lineker | England | 6 |
| 1990 | Italy | Salvatore Schillaci | Italy | 6 |
| 1994 | USA | Oleg Salenko | Russia | 6 |
| Hristo Stoichkov | Bulgaria | |||
| 1998 | France | Davor Suker | Croatia | 6 |
| 2002 | South Korea/Japan | Ronaldo | Brazil | 8 |
| 2006 | Germany | Miroslav Klose | Germany | 5 |
| 2010 | South Africa | Thomas Muller | Germany | 5 |
| 2014 | Brazil | James Rodriguez | Colombia | 6 |
| 2018 | Russia | Harry Kane | England | 6 |
| 2022 | Qatar | Kylian Mbappe | France | 8 |
| 2026 | U.S./Mexico/Canada | Kylian Mbappe | France | 10 |
* Also won World Cup title that year