Argentina superstar Lionel Messi has achieved virtually everything there is to achieve in professional football. However, one individual honour has always eluded him – the Golden Boot, awarded to the top scorer at a single FIFA World Cup.
Now, at the 2026 World Cup, the legendary No.10 is on the verge of finally adding that prize to his glittering collection.
Messi has fired Argentina into a second consecutive World Cup final, where they will face Spain on Sunday, and heads into the showpiece leading the Golden Boot race.
The 39-year-old has scored eight goals in seven appearances this summer, putting him level with France’s Kylian Mbappe at the top of the scoring charts.
World Cup odds: Messi now favourite to win the Golden Boot as Mbappe and Kane chase
However, with the pair tied on goals, assists become the deciding factor. Messi has registered four assists compared to Mbappe’s three, meaning the Argentine is currently in pole position to claim the award should they finish level on goals.
With that in mind, Sky Bet has shortened Messi to a 4/9 favourite to win the Golden Boot, which would be the first of his illustrious career.
Meanwhile, Mbappe has drifted to 6/4 second favourite. The France forward still has one final opportunity to overtake Messi in Saturday’s third-place play-off against England, while also chasing history by becoming the first player ever to win the World Cup Golden Boot on two separate occasions.
The only other players featured in Sky Bet’s Golden Boot market are England duo Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, who are priced at 66/1 and 150/1 respectively.
Both players have six goals to their name heading into Saturday’s third-place play-off against France, but their hopes of claiming the Golden Boot appear slim.
They would almost certainly need both Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe to finish without adding to their tallies, while also producing a remarkable haul of their own – most likely a hat-trick.
For those expecting such a dramatic twist, Kane is priced at 30/1 to score a hat-trick, while Bellingham is an eye-catching 125/1 to achieve the same feat.
Barring an extraordinary turn of events, the race for the Golden Boot looks set to be decided between Messi and Mbappe, with both superstars just one match away from potentially finishing the tournament as its leading scorer.
- All odds are correct at the time of publication
