Harry Kane has joined the early list of illustrious names battling it out for the World Cup 2026 Golden Boot award.
The England captain scored twice in the first half on Wednesday as Thomas Tuchel’s side opened Group L with a statement 4-2 win over Croatia in Dallas.
Lionel Messi leads the early race after scoring the first hat-trick of this summer’s expanded tournament.
Messi, despite leading Argentina to World Cup glory in 2022, is yet to claim the World Cup’s prestigious top scorer prize in five previous attempts, narrowly losing out to Kylian Mbappe in Qatar four years ago.
However, the 38-year-old has made a fine start this time around as he netted all the goals in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Algeria on Tuesday, drawing level with Germany great Miroslav Klose for the most World Cup finals goals of all time.
That was after Mbappe had scored twice in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal and Erling Haaland did the same on his World Cup debut as Norway beat Iraq.
Germany’s Kai Havertz and Sweden’s Yasin Ayari also netted braces in respective big wins over Curacao and Tunisia, as did Elijah Just for New Zealand against Iran and Folarin Balogun in the United States’ demolition of Paraguay.
However, Cristiano Ronaldo was unable to get off the mark as Portugal were held to a shock draw by the DR Congo.
World Cup 2026 Golden Boot standings
Position |
Player |
Nation |
Goals |
Assists |
1 |
Lionel Messi |
Argentina |
3 |
0 |
=2 |
Kylian Mbappe |
France |
2 |
0 |
=2 |
Harry Kane |
England |
2 |
0 |
=2 |
Erling Haaland |
Norway |
2 |
0 |
=2 |
Kai Havertz |
Germany |
2 |
0 |
=2 |
Yasin Ayari |
Sweden |
2 |
0 |
=2 |
Elijah Just |
New Zealand |
2 |
0 |
=2 |
Folarin Balogun |
USA |
2 |
0 |
Table correct as of June 17, 2026
