Football Daily | The World Cup stage is set for a Golden Boot shootout for the ages

RACE FOR THE PRIZE In 10 of the past 12 World Cups, six goals has been the standard to bag yourself the Golden Boot. Usually a goal per game will suffice. In fact, on two occasions (in 2006 and 2010) a mere five strikes has been enough. Yet a quick glance at the current 2026 Geopolitics World Cup Golden Boot standings after most teams have played two games sees Lionel Messi top of the tree with five goals already from his two outings, having broken Miroslav Klose’s all-time tournament scoring record in the process. The Argentinian’s latest two goals came in a 2-0 victory over Austria in which neither Argentina nor Messi did anything of note other than score – aside from the great man shanking an early penalty miles wide, which is becoming quite the common occurrence for Messi. Think how many World Cup goals he would have if he could beat a goalkeeper from 12 yards (answer: 21, three more than he has). Lurking just behind are the pretenders to Messi’s golden throne, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé, who between them are tearing up Group I with four goals apiece. Both the Norwegian and French frontmen have been donated at least one goal by careless Iraqi and Senegalese defenders so far, but have looked razor-sharp up top and will soon meet in a tasty decider to see who tops the group. Both, you suspect, will have designs on ensuring Messi does not hold the World Cup scoring record for long, with Mbappé already level with Klose, two behind the Argentinian. …