World Cup’s Golden Boot race heats up for Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland

SINGAPORE – The North American summer is scorching hot, and what is even hotter is the race for the coveted Golden Boot at the FIFA World Cup.

The second round of group games is barely over, and already many of the world’s best attackers are proving they are worth every penny and adulation by scoring goals by the bucketloads.

The latest Group I and Group J matches on June 22 are a case in point.

The legendary Lionel Messi was up first at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, scoring twice in the 2-0 win over Austria despite missing an early penalty.

Turning 39 on June 24, he has accounted for all five of Argentina’s goals at this World Cup as he takes an early lead at the top of the scorers’ chart, surging ahead in the all-time list with 18 goals from six editions.

Not to be outdone, 27-year-old Kylian Mbappe also put aside a 115-minute rain delay to notch a brace on his 100th appearance for France in their 3-0 win over Iraq to improve to four goals at this World Cup and 16 in just three editions.

It was then Erling Haaland’s turn to get in on the double act with his match-winning performance in Norway’s 3-2 victory over Senegal. In his first World Cup, the 25-year-old has not wasted any time to get to four goals in just two games.

The trio’s reward is their teams’ qualification into the last 32.

It was also the first time since 1954 that three players had scored four or more after two matches in a World Cup. And Harry Kane, already on two goals, could join the party when his England side take on Ghana on June 23 (June 24, Singapore time).

In the history of the tournament, the 1954 World Cup stands out as it was the first time a Golden Boot winner entered double figures as Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis poached 11 goals in six games.

Incredibly, he was overtaken by Just Fontaine four years later and the Frenchman still holds the record for the most goals scored at a single World Cup with 13. Germany’s Gerd Muller, with 10 goals in 1970, completes the trinity who have netted 10 or more in a single edition.

While it is still early days, the record could fall if the big guns keep up their scoring form.

The simplest reason for this would be the number of games players could potentially play, which has increased to eight, with the expanded 48-team field.

Other factors – despite the World Cup coming at the end of a draining season – are the players’ desire to chase records, and their teammates’ willingness to funnel scoring chances to them.

The World Cup Golden Boot is the only major individual accolade missing from Messi’s trophy cabinet, while Mbappe and Kane, top scorers in 2022 and 2018 respectively, want to be the first player to win the award twice. With Norway not a regular in these tournaments, Haaland will also want to seize the opportunity on his debut.

Even experts could not pick a clear favourite.

Former Scotland striker Ally McCoist told ITV: “In terms of natural footballing ability, Messi is out in front, with Mbappe probably in second. But in front of goal Haaland is as good as it gets.

“It is impossible to compare these players. Kane is a better all-round footballer than Haaland as well, but in terms of putting the ball in the back of the net, Haaland is probably the best out there.”

Amid the stiff competition, there remains mutual respect.

Mbappe said: “Leo always scores. He always has and always will.

“If I start watching him, I’ll feel like I have to do even more, so no, I don’t watch what he’s doing. I’m only thinking about helping my team – by helping the team, I score goals and get closer to that kind of level.”

One notch below this elite band are two players – Deniz Undav (Germany) and Jonathan David (Canada) – on three goals and 15 others with two.

Undav and seven others – Cyle Larin (Canada), Ismael Saibari (Morocco), Vinicius Jr (Brazil), Crysensio Summerville (Netherlands), Daichi Kamada (Japan), Maxi Araujo (Uruguay) and Daniel Munoz (Colombia) have scored in back-to-back games.

At the other end, there are the big names who have disappointed so far, such as Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku who is yet to open his accounts and at risk of having an anonymous outing.

But Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo showed all it takes is one good game to get back into the reckoning as his double in the 5-0 win over Uzbekistan means he is the first player to score in six World Cups.