As the 2026 World Cup nears the end of the group stage, a parallel competition is beginning to take on more and more prominence: the fight for the scoring championship. Between classifications, eliminations and position calculations, several of the biggest names in world football began to separate themselves from the rest with figures that are already marking this edition of the tournament.

Lionel Messi appears at the top. The captain of Argentina has accumulated five goals in just two games and alone leads a classification that brings together both established figures and forwards seeking to establish themselves among the names of the championship.

The Argentine's advantage, however, still does not offer room for tranquility.

Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland appear very close, both with four goals and with enough margin to compete for first place in the following days. The French striker maintains his usual productivity with France, while the Norwegian attacker continues to maintain the offensive prominence of his team.

The difference between the first places and the rest of the candidates is still small, which keeps the dispute open.

One step further down are Deniz Undav, from Germany, and Jonathan David, from Canada, who have three goals each and remain in the conversation at the start of the tournament.

Cristiano joins and unexpected names appear

One of the most striking movements of the day came from Portugal. Cristiano Ronaldo officially entered the fight for goals after scoring a double in his team's victory against Uzbekistan. The striker opened the scoring and appeared again later to complete his personal tally.

With those two also appear names distributed between different selections: Kai Havertz, Matheus Cunha, Vinícius Júnior, Cyle Larin, Mikel Oyarzabal, Folarin Balogun, Harry Kane, Ayase Ueda, Daichi Kamada, Ismael Saibari, Elijah Just, Brian Brobbey, Cody Gakpo, Crysencio Summerville, Ismaïla Sarr, Yasin Ayari, Johan Manzambi y Maxi Araújo.

Mexico also has a presence on the list. Julián Quiñones, Raúl Jiménez and Luis Romo each recorded a score at the start of the contest.

The current race for the Golden Boot also connects with another historical discussion.

Messi not only leads the current tournament: he also already occupies first place among the top scorers in the history of the World Cups with 18 goals in 28 games. Behind them are Miroslav Klose with 16 goals in 24 games and Mbappé, who has also reached 16 World Cup goals in just 17 games.

Further behind are Ronaldo Nazário with 15, Gerd Müller with 14, Just Fontaine with 13 and Pelé with 12.

With still several games ahead and a format that offers more opportunities, the fight for the scoring championship and historical records remains completely open.