At every goal. French striker Kylian Mpbappé, 27, finished as the top scorer in the 2026 World Cup with 10 goals, and also ended up being the top scorer in the entire history of the World Cups with 22 goals.
For his part, the Argentine star Lionel Messi, with a powerful start breaking nets, passed blank in the quarterfinals, semifinals and final matches, although in the two instances preceding the appointment with Spain he was decisive with two assists that made Lionel Scaloni’s pupils advance.
The captain of Argentina said goodbye to the World Cup in North America subdued, but with 8 goals in the scoring classification, 2 less than those scored at the end by Mbappé, and 21 in the history of all the cups, one behind the Frenchman’s production.
The GOAT Messi, who ended his sixth participation in the World Cup, debuted in Germany 2006 scoring 1 goal, went blank in South Africa 2010, added 4 goals to his personal tally in Brazil 2014, scored 1 in Russia 2018 and 7 in Qatar 2022, the tournament that the “Albiceleste” won with him as leader and reference.
The Rosario star, who turned 39 on June 24, scored in the 2026 World Cup in the group stage against Algeria (3), Austria (2) and Jordan (1). In the sixteenths to Cape Verde (1) and in the eighths to Egypt (1). Afterwards he didn’t score anymore.
However, he became the first player to score in 7 consecutive World Cup matches and, for a long stretch of the tournament, he became the all-time top scorer of the FIFA event.
For his part, Kylian Mpbappé, who played in the World Cup for the third time, has had more sustained production. In Russia 2018, which marked his debut, he scored 4 goals, in Qatar 2022 he produced 8, and in 2026 he exceeded his limits with 10.
The Real Madrid star earned his haul of 10 goals with 2 goals against Senegal and 2 against Iraq in the group stage; 2 against Sweden in the round of 32, 1 from a penalty scored against Paraguay to settle the round of 16 fight, one against Morocco in the quarterfinals and 2 against England in the clash for third place.
After the 6-4 between England and France, and Spain’s 1-0 victory over Argentina at MetLife Stadium in New York/New Jersey, the 2026 World Cup came to an end with 308 goals in 104 games.
Dutch striker Cody Gakpo scored the hundredth goal of the tournament on June 20 during the second day of Group F, in which his country beat Sweden 5-1 at the NRG Stadium in Houston.
Ghanaian defender Derrick Luckassen scored goal number 200 on June 27 in the third and final round of the group stage that Croatia won 2-1 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
The number 300 was scored by forward Bukayo Saka against France on July 18 during the third-place match in Miami. The Arsenal player extended a lead to 0-3 in the 37th minute, although the match was won by England 4-6.
The twenty-third edition of the World Cup reached 297 scores after the semifinals, but England’s 6-4 victory over France added another ten.
The record of 308 goals celebrated far surpasses the previous record for goals in a World Cup set in Qatar 2022 with 172.
The average of close to three goals (2.9) per game reflects the offensive nature of this edition, but two no less factors also influence this result: the competition expanded from 32 to 48 teams and from 64 to 104 games.
World Cup 2026 scorer classification
– With 10: Kylian Mbappé (France)
– With 8: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
– With 7: Jude Bellingham (England) and Erling Haaland (Norway)
– With 6: Ousmane Dembélé (France) and Harry Kane (England)
– With 5: Mikel Oyarzabal (France) With 4: Vinicius Junior (Brazil), Julián Quiñones (Mexico) and Ismaila Sarr (Senegal).
Classification of historical World Cup scorers:
– With 22: Kylian Mbappé (France)
– With 21: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
– With 16: Miroslav Klose (Germany)
– With 15: Ronaldo Luiz Nazário de Lima (Brazil)
– With 14: Gerd Müller (Germany)
– With 13: Just Fontaine (France)
– With 13: Harry Kane (England)
