Mbappé leads 2026 World Cup Golden Boot odds as Kane and Messi chase top scorer honours

Kylian Mbappé enters the 2026 FIFA World Cup as the favourite to claim the Golden Boot, the award given to the tournament’s top scorer, with Harry Kane and Lionel Messi among the leading contenders as the competition approaches.

Mbappé, who captains France, won the Golden Boot at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with eight goals — including a hat-trick in the final — and was central to France’s 2018 title triumph. He needs five goals at this tournament to surpass Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 career World Cup goals. His move to Real Madrid ahead of the 2024–25 season added further prominence to a career that already includes multiple Ligue 1 titles and several Player of the Year awards in France.

Kane sits second in the market. England’s all-time leading scorer with 78 international goals, he has appeared at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and three European Championships. At club level, he has claimed multiple Bundesliga scoring titles with Bayern Munich and previously won three Premier League Golden Boots during his time at Tottenham Hotspur, where he also became the club’s record scorer.

Messi, competing at what is likely his final World Cup, carries a remarkable set of records into the tournament. He is the oldest men’s player to score five goals at a single World Cup, the only player to score at a World Cup in his teens, twenties and thirties, and one of just four men to record 19 goal contributions at the tournament since 1966 — alongside Klose, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gerd Müller. One more would make him the first to reach 20.

Ronaldo is also in the market, as is a strong contingent of younger players. Erling Haaland, Lamine Yamal, Michael Olise and Vinicius Júnior all feature, reflecting the depth of attacking talent heading into a tournament that will be the largest in World Cup history.

The full top of the Golden Boot market, as of 10 June, is as follows: Mbappé (+600), Kane (+700), Mikel Oyarzabal (+1200), Haaland (+1600), Messi (+1800), Ronaldo (+2200), Julián Álvarez (+2500), Raphinha (+2700), Kai Havertz (+2700), Yamal (+2700), Olise (+2700), Vinicius Júnior (+3000), Lautaro Martínez (+3300), Igor Thiago (+3300), Romelu Lukaku (+4000), Cody Gakpo (+4000) and Ousmane Dembélé (+4000).