World Cup 2026: Kylian Mbappé chasing history with a unique distinction?

14.07.26 FT World Cup

France

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Spain

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With 8 goals and 3 assists to his name, Kylian Mbappé is leaving the competition in his wake at the World Cup. The Real Madrid striker dreams of bringing the title home to France while also defending the Golden Boot he won in 2022.

The French international (104 caps, 64 goals) could make World Cup history by becoming the first player ever to win the Golden Boot twice. Indeed, no top scorer has ever managed to repeat the feat in a subsequent edition.

The former Monaco star is set to play his seventh match of the tournament tonight against Spain. He is guaranteed to play one more game regardless of the result in this semi-final. If France wins, he will play in the final against either Argentina or England. If not, he will face the loser in the third-place playoff.

It’s also worth noting that if Mbappé scores five goals in the remaining two matches, he will equal the single-tournament goal record set by his compatriot, Just Fontaine (13 goals).

The list of Golden Boot winners, edition by edition:

1930 (Uruguay): Guillermo Stábile (Argentina) – 8 goals

1934 (Italy): Oldřich Nejedlý (Czechoslovakia) – 5 goals

1938 (France): Leônidas (Brazil) – 7 goals

1950 (Brazil): Ademir (Brazil) – 8 goals

1954 (Switzerland): Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) – 11 goals

1958 (Sweden): Just Fontaine (France) – 13 goals

1962 (Chile): Florian Albert (Hungary), Garrincha (Brazil), Valentin Ivanov (USSR), Dražan Jerković (Yugoslavia), Leonel Sánchez (Chile), and Vavá (Brazil) – 4 goals

1966 (England): Eusébio (Portugal) – 9 goals

1970 (Mexico): Gerd Müller (West Germany) – 10 goals

1974 (West Germany): Grzegorz Lato (Poland) – 7 goals

1978 (Argentina): Mario Kempes (Argentina) – 6 goals

1982 (Spain): Paolo Rossi (Italy) – 6 goals

1986 (Mexico): Gary Lineker (England) – 6 goals

1990 (Italy): Salvatore Schillaci (Italy) – 6 goals

1994 (USA): Oleg Salenko (Russia) and Hristo Stoitchkov (Bulgaria) – 6 goals

1998 (France): Davor Šuker (Croatia) – 6 goals

2002 (South Korea/Japan): Ronaldo (Brazil) – 8 goals

2006 (Germany): Miroslav Klose (Germany) – 5 goals

2010 (South Africa): Thomas Müller (Germany) – 5 goals

2014 (Brazil): James Rodríguez (Colombia) – 6 goals

2018 (Russia): Harry Kane (England) – 6 goals

2022 (Qatar): Kylian Mbappé (France) – 8 goals

Imed Ben Amara |

Editorar, fr

Imed Ben Amara - bilingual sports writer and web editor with experience in football content creation. Since 2021, he has contributed to Foot Africa, providing news coverage and analysis.

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