The 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico promises to be a truly thrilling showcase of international football.
Sports bettors will undoubtedly be in their element, with reputable online sportsbooks offering thousands of different markets before and during the tournament.
The Golden Boot market is traditionally one of the most popular as it gives punters longer-term betting involvement in the FIFA showpiece.
According to the sports betting firm Spreadex, France striker Kylian Mbappe is the bookies’ favourite to be top goalscorer this summer. He topped the charts at the last tournament in Qatar.
Read on as we look at the previous winners of the Golden Boot, before assessing some of this summer’s major contenders for the prestigious prize.
World Cup: Previous Golden Boot winners
- Uruguay 1930 – Guillermo Stabile – Argentina – 8 goals
- Italy 1934 – Oldrich Nejedly – Czechoslovakia – 5 goals
- France 1938 – Leonidas – Brazil – 7 goals
- Brazil 1950 – Ademir – Brazil – 8 goals
- Switzerland 1954 – Sandor Kocsis – Hungary – 11 goals
- Sweden 1958 – Just Fontaine – France – 13 goals
- Chile 1962 – Multiple players – 4 goals each
- England 1966 – Eusebio – Portugal – 9 goals
- Mexico 1970 – Gerd Muller – West Germany – 10 goals
- West Germany 1974 – Grzegorz Lato – Poland – 7 goals
- Argentina 1978 – Mario Kempes – Argentina – 6 goals
- Spain 1982 – Paolo Rossi – Italy – 6 goals
- Mexico 1986 – Gary Lineker – England – 6 goals
- Italy 1990 – Salvatore Schillaci – Italy – 6 goals
- United States 1994 – Oleg Salenko – Russia & Hristo Stoichkov – Bulgaria – 6 goals
- France 1998 – Davor Suker – Croatia – 6 goals
- Korea/Japan 2002 – Ronaldo – Brazil – 8 goals
- Germany 2006 – Miroslav Klose – Germany – 5 goals
- South Africa 2010 – Thomas Muller – Germany – 5 goals
- Brazil 2014 – James Rodriguez – Colombia – 6 goals
- Russia 2018 – Harry Kane – England – 6 goals
- Qatar 2022 – Kylian Mbappe – France – 8 goals
Related: FIFA Introduces New World Cup Red Card Rules To Fight Racism
World Cup 2026: Golden Boot Contenders
Kylian Mbappe – France
While Mbappe was the star of the show for France at Qatar 2022, his goalscoring exploits were ultimately not enough to lead them to the title.
He entered the final tied with Argentina star Lionel Messi, then scored a hat trick to finish the tournament with eight goals – the highest total since the 2002 World Cup.
However, Messi had the last laugh as Argentina lifted the trophy for the third time following a thrilling penalty shoot-out.
Mbappe is expected to have another productive summer with Les Bleus, but faces plenty of competition for the top goalscorer award.
Harry Kane – England
Harry Kane’s Golden Boot success at Russia 2018 helped England reach the semi-finals. However, he failed to score against Croatia and the Three Lions were eliminated.
Kane scored six goals, including a hat-trick against Panama in the group stage. His tally including three goals from the penalty spot, the most by any player at a single World Cup.
The Bayern Munich striker will be crucial to England’s hopes of winning the tournament this summer, but they will probably come up short again.
Top teams such as Spain, France and Argentina have the ability to exploit England’s lack of creativity in central midfield and issues in their back four.
Lionel Messi – Argentina
Given what he had achieved in football, Lionel Messi’s record at the World Cup was surprisingly underwhelming heading into the 2022 tournament.
Messi had scored just six goals in 19 appearances for Argentina, but set the record straight with a series of superb performances in Qatar.
He scored seven goals in seven games and was only pipped to the Golden Boot award after Mbappe scored a hat-trick for France in the final.
Messi will once again be the focal point of Argentina’s attacking play in North America and it would be no surprise if he finished amongst the World Cup’s top goalscorers.
Erling Braut Haaland – Norway
Manchester City star Erling Braut Haaland will play at his first major tournament this summer, after leading Norway to the World Cup.
Haaland scored 16 goals in eight qualification matches. He has bagged 55 goals in 49 international appearances, making him the country’s all-time top scorer.
Norway’s first two group games are against Iraq and Senegal, which gives the 25-year-old an excellent chance of taking an early lead in the Golden Boot race.
Although their third fixture is against France, Haaland could be the value bet to claim the top goalscorer award if Norway secure a favourable route in the knockout stage.
