![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/top-scorers.png\")
<\/p>\nEditor\u2019s note: This article has been updated to reflect Spain\u2019s 1-0 win over Argentina in the World Cup final<\/p>\n
At last, it is official. Following Argentina\u2019s extra-time defeat to Spain in the 2026 World Cup final, France\u2019s Kylian Mbappe has won the Golden Boot.<\/p>\n
It is the second time that the 27-year-old has won the award, having also finished as the top scorer at the 2022 edition in Qatar. In total, Mbappe has now racked up 22 World Cup goals across his career, one more than Lionel Messi in the all-time standings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It was a dramatic race, with five players \u2014 Mbappe, Messi, Norway\u2019s Erling Haaland, England\u2019s Jude Bellingham and team-mate Harry Kane \u2014 all in contention throughout. The eventual winner Mbappe did not lead the way until his final game, scoring twice in a 6-4 defeat to England in the third-place play-off on Saturday to take him above Messi for the first time.<\/p>\n
He also became the first player to score 10 in one edition of the tournament since Gerd Muller of West Germany in 1970. Just Fontaine holds the record for most goals in one World Cup, scoring 13 times in the 1958 edition.<\/p>\n
Here is how Mbappe did it\u2026<\/p>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/golden_boot_goal_trajectory-3.png\")
<\/p>\n
How did he score his goals?<\/p>\n
Mbappe\u2019s historic run hinged on lethal finishing and lightning-quick runs in behind.<\/p>\n
As we can see from his shot map below, he struck twice from outside of the penalty area, but was also dangerous when he could dart into the penalty area from the left-hand side.<\/p>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/kylian_mbappe_2026_all_shots.png\")
<\/p>\n
The Real Madrid forward enjoyed the freedom afforded to him by manager Didier Deschamps. He has linked up especially well with Michael Olise, who provided five assists for him throughout the competition.<\/p>\n
Mbappe\u2019s second goal against Sweden summed up their razor-sharp connection, latching on to the end of a clever reverse pass and finishing confidently into the far corner.<\/p>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Mbappe.gif\")
<\/p>\n
After five goals in his opening two games, Messi\u2019s goalscoring output plateaued, but his influence on the Argentina team did not wane. With two assists against England in the semi-final, his creative magic carried Lionel Scaloni\u2019s side to the final.<\/p>\n
The 39-year-old struggled to get involved throughout a scrappy final against Spain, as Argentina failed to have a shot at goal until the 118th minute. It was a disappointing end to one of the legendary World Cup careers.<\/p>\n
How did Mbappe break clear?<\/p>\n
Mbappe scored two second-half goals against England in the third-place play-off. He sidefooted into the far corner after being slipped through by Olise, before hammering home his second after a neat one-two.<\/p>\n
Prior Golden Boot winners Eusebio (1966), Salvatore Schillaci (1990), Davor Suker (1998) and Thomas Muller (2010) have all topped up their tallies by scoring in this match.<\/p>\n
And they have often been goal-fests, with two or more scored on every occasion since Poland\u2019s 1-0 win against Brazil in 1974. Fontaine scored four times in France\u2019s 6-3 defeat of West Germany in 1958 to set the still-standing record for most goals by an individual at one World Cup.<\/p>\n
How have Golden Boot winners performed the next season?<\/p>\n
A pattern that becomes clear looking at the track records of Golden Boot winners at the World Cup is that most score more league goals in the domestic club season leading up to the tournament involved than in the one after it.<\/p>\n
Kane (2018), Muller (2010), Klose (2006), Suker (1998), Schillaci (1990), Gary Lineker (1986), Mario Kempes (1978) and Muller (1970) all followed this pattern. This makes sense, as players continue impressive club form into a World Cup, but over the following year, the physical demands of a long summer with their national team catch up with them.<\/p>\n
The table below shows the scoring records of 10 of the most recent Golden Boot recipients in the following league campaign, with Mbappe (2022) excluded as the Qatar tournament was played at mid-season in the European winter rather than during the traditional summer window, as is 1994, when the award was shared between Hristo Stoichkov of Bulgaria and Russia\u2019s Oleg Salenko (six each).<\/p>\n
Golden Boot winners the following season<\/p>\n
PlayerClubGoalsGamesYear<\/p>\n
Harry Kane<\/p>\n
Tottenham Hotspur<\/p>\n
17<\/p>\n
28<\/p>\n
2018-19<\/p>\n
James Rodriguez<\/p>\n
Real Madrid<\/p>\n
13<\/p>\n
29<\/p>\n
2014-15<\/p>\n
Thomas Muller<\/p>\n
Bayern Munich<\/p>\n
12<\/p>\n
34<\/p>\n
2010-11<\/p>\n
Miroslav Klose<\/p>\n
Werder Bremen<\/p>\n
13<\/p>\n
31<\/p>\n
2006-07<\/p>\n
Ronaldo<\/p>\n
Real Madrid<\/p>\n
23<\/p>\n
31<\/p>\n
2002-03<\/p>\n
Davor Suker <\/p>\n
Real Madrid<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
19<\/p>\n
1998-99<\/p>\n
Salvatore Schillaci<\/p>\n
Juventus<\/p>\n
5<\/p>\n
29<\/p>\n
1990-91<\/p>\n
Gary Lineker<\/p>\n
Barcelona<\/p>\n
20<\/p>\n
41<\/p>\n
1986-87<\/p>\n
Paolo Rossi<\/p>\n
Juventus<\/p>\n
7<\/p>\n
23<\/p>\n
1982-83<\/p>\n
Mario Kempes<\/p>\n
Valencia<\/p>\n
12<\/p>\n
30<\/p>\n
1978-79<\/p>\n
Some anomalies to this are James Rodriguez of Colombia (2014) and Brazil\u2019s Ronaldo (2002), who both went on to have career years with Real Madrid on the back of their Golden Boot successes \u2014 Rodriguez scoring 13 goals in 29 La Liga games and Ronaldo 23 in 31.<\/p>\n
Also, Rodriguez and Lineker earned big moves on the back of their high-scoring World Cups, Rodriguez from Monaco to Madrid and Lineker from Everton in his native England to Barcelona.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt (the Golden Boot) changed my life. I was doing well in the English league, but then you are suddenly on the world stage. Within two weeks after the World Cup, I\u2019m in Barcelona. That\u2019s what it does, a few tap-ins,\u201d Lineker has said on his podcast The Rest Is Football.<\/p>\n
Winning this Golden Boot only secures Mbappe\u2019s legacy as one of the greatest goalscorers of all time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s note: This article has been updated to reflect Spain\u2019s 1-0 win over Argentina in the World Cup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[14414,57315,16325,32772,7465,33264,57317,104242,9,11,10,18520,400,2208],"class_list":["post-300425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-argentina","tag-bundesliga","tag-england","tag-fifa-mens-world-cup","tag-france","tag-international-football","tag-la-liga","tag-ligue-1","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-premier-league","tag-soccer","tag-spain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}