A Golden Boot race for the ages - but who will come out on top?

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A Golden Boot race for the ages - but who will come out on top?

Records have been falling from day one for the game's most feared forwards. Messi now leading the all-time World Cup list has taken a lot of the headlines, and rightly so. …

Records have been falling from day one for the game's most feared forwards. Messi now leading the all-time World Cup list has taken a lot of the headlines, and rightly so. But he isn't the only one who has been setting records this tournament. Mbappe now tops France's goalscoring charts, Haaland is Norway's leading World Cup scorer - after just two games - while Kane has equalled Gary Lineker's World Cup record for England. And all of them will have their sights set on France's Just Fontaine's 1958 record of 13 goals scored in one tournament. Only three players - Fontaine, Gerd Muller for Germany in 1970 and Hungary's Sandor Kocsis in 1954 - have ever hit double figures at a single World Cup. It would not be a surprise if that select list has grown by the end of this tournament. The new 48-team format certainly looks to have increased the potential for goals. With more lower-ranked teams, the world's best attackers have prospered. The World Cup winners will also have to play one more round than ever before - again increasing the chance for goals. Former France defender Gael Clichy told BBC Sport: "Kylian Mbappe is part of the generation which [has] that fearless factor. "I remember when I started you had to give respect to the older generation when you came in, and you were not trying to do a nutmeg to the old men. "This generation, they have respect, but differently. Don't talk about age, talk about performance." So, back to the small matter of the race for the Golden Boot. …

Original source: BBC News

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Hungary · Germany · England · Argentina · BBC Sport · World Cup · Kylian Mbappe