Lionel Messi continues to cement his unique legacy with a record 21 goals in World Cup history, making him the tournament’s all-time top scorer. At the current tournament in the United States, he is competing with France’s Kylian Mbappé, who has 8 goals, and England’s Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, each with 6 goals. Erling Haaland, with 7 goals, cannot increase his tally further as he is not playing in the final or third-place match.
If Messi, who currently matches Mbappé’s 8 goals in this edition, claims the Golden Boot, he will become the sixth Barcelona player to achieve this honor. Before him, the title was won by Sándor Kocsis (11 goals in 1954), Gary Lineker (6 goals in 1986), Hristo Stoichkov (6 goals in 1994), Brazilian Ronaldo (8 goals in 2002), and David Villa (5 goals in 2010). Kocsis holds the record for most goals scored in a single World Cup tournament with 11, Ronaldo scored 8, and both Stoichkov and Lineker netted 6, while Villa had 5.
Messi also holds the record among these players for penalty goals, having converted 4 penalties, all at the 2022 World Cup. For comparison, Stoichkov and Lineker converted 2 each, Ronaldo and Villa converted one each, while Kocsis never scored from the penalty spot.
Kocsis is one of the only three players to secure the Golden Boot with 10 or more goals, alongside Just Fontaine (13 in 1958) and Gerd Müller (10 in 1970).
These achievements highlight Messi’s status as not only an extraordinary footballer but also one of the most prolific World Cup scorers in the history of the tournament.
