2026 WORLD CUP: The Great Race Between Messi, Mbappe, Kane, Haaland Is On
- In North America for the World Cup, Harry Kane prepares for England's opening match against Croatia in Dallas, eyeing both the team trophy and the Golden Boot.
- Kane seeks redemption after England's quarter-final exit in Qatar four years ago, motivated by the 2018 semi-final defeat by Croatia, whom they face again in Dallas.
- Coming off a career-best season, Kane scored 61 goals for Bayern Munich, outstripping his expected Bundesliga goals by 6.42 according to Understat.
- Lionel Messi recently equaled Miroslav Klose's record of 16 World Cup goals, establishing a formidable benchmark for strikers competing for the Golden Boot.
- Should Kane win both the World Cup and Golden Boot, he could be honored in Paris at year's end, capping a potential career-defining tournament.
14 Articles
14 Articles
First World Cup Goalscorer Statistics Argentina captain Lionel Messi led the 2026 World Cup scoring race alone, scoring the tournament's first hat-trick. Seven other players scored twice in the first round. RBC-Ukraine reports the current state of the World Cup scoring race, citing the tournament's official website. Read also: Jordan, Panama, Brazil, or Spain? Who will reach the 2026 World Cup playoffs in third place? Start Performance The main …
The first date of the 2026 World Cup group phase ends on Wednesday night and some of the figures in their selections had outstanding performances marking triplet, such as Lionel Messi's case with Argentina, and doublets, in the cases of Kylian Mbappé (France), Erling Haaland (Norway), Harry Kane (England), Folarin Balogun (United States) and Yasin Ayari (Sweden).
Messi's hat-trick, Mbappé's two goals and new questions about Brazil, Croatia and the expensive World Cup spectacle.
The Independent
The Independent (US)Harry Kane gets set to chase Messi, Mbappe and the World Cup’s Golden Boot
Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland all scored multiple goals in their opening World Cup games – and England’s captain was watching
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