How Messi Surpassed Mbappé for Golden Boot Lead Despite No Goals Against England

Lionel Messi has overtaken Kylian Mbappe in the race for the World Cup Golden Boot despite failing to find the net in Argentina’s dramatic semi-final win over England.

Argentina came from a goal down to beat England 2-1 at Atlanta, with Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez scoring late on after Anthony Gordon’s opener in the 55th minute.

La Albiceleste are looking to become the first side to win the World Cup back-to-back since Brazil in 1962, with the South American champions facing European kings Spain in Sunday’s final in New Jersey.

Messi will captain Argentina in a third World Cup final at the age of 39 and he is well-placed to win his first ever Golden Boot in the tournament.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has bagged eight goals in his sixth World Cup campaign – one more than he managed in 2022 triumph.

He has now the record goalscorer in World Cup history with 21 and is currently leading the race ahead of Mbappe even though the two ex Paris Saint-Germain players are level.

When both players on the same amount of goals scored, the first tiebreaker FIFA go to is assists and Messi also leads that metric.

If they are still level after that, the player with the fewer minutes will be given the Golden Boot.

Though he was largely quiet against England, the Inter Miami star set up both goals to move to four assists – one ahead of Mbappe’s tally of three.

Who are the contenders for the Golden Boot?
Lionel Messi (8 goals + 4 assists)
Kylian Mbappe (8 goals + 3 assists)
Jude Bellingham (6 goals +1 assists)
Harry Kane (6 goals + 1 assists)
Ousmane Dembele (5 goals + 2 assists)
How is the Golden Boot decided?
The award will be handed to the player who scores the most goals in the final competition.
If two or more players score the same number of goals, the number of assists (as determined by the members of the FIFA Technical Study Group) shall be decisive.
If two or more players are still equal after taking into account the number of assists, the total minutes played in the tournament will be taken into account, with the player playing fewer minutes ranked first.
Kylian Mbappe has lifeline in Golden Boot race with Lionel Messi

The Golden Boot race is not yet concluded as even though France were knocked out of the competition, they have one more game remaining.

Les Bleus take on England in Saturday’s third place play-off in Miami, a fixture which will still count towards the Golden Boot even though it has been described as meaningless.

Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane could well be rested for the clash as Thomas Tuchel gives minutes to players who have barely featured but both have struck six times and are still within reach of being the tournament top scorer.

Back in 1958, Just Fontaine scored four goals in the third place play-off against West Germany to end up on 13 – the most goals in a single World Cup.

Fast forward 40 years and former Arsenal striker Davor Suker scored the winner for Croatia against Netherlands and that moved him ahead of all the other contenders.

Similarly in 2010, Thomas Muller, David Villa, Wesley Sneijder and Diego Forlan all finished level on five goals.

Muller and Forlan both netted in the third place play-off and because the German had more assists, he claimed the Golden Boot.

Last time out, Mbappe secured the Golden Boot thanks to a final hat-trick in the pulsating 3-3 draw with Argentina – who won on penalties.

Messi struck twice to finally become a world champion and his stunning performances were recognised with the Golden Ball – of which he is the first player to ever win it twice.

France’s Ousmane Dembele and Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal could still realistically win the Golden Boot having struck five times in the tournament.