Only 5 World Cups had top scorers with more goals than Messi in 2026

The Argentine is only behind five names in the individual artillery of the same World Cup. Just Fontaine (France) scored 13 in 1958, Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) scored 11 in 1954, Gerd Müller scored 10 in 1970, and Ademir de Menezes (Brazil) and Eusébio (Portugal) scored 9 times in 1950 and 1966, respectively.

All the names above Messi achieved their marks in the last century. With eight goals, Ronaldo (Brazil, in 2002) and Mbappé (France, in 2022), were the scorers with the most goals in the same edition in the 21st century and were equaled by Messi in 2026.

Messi can expand his brand. The Argentine returns to the field next Saturday, at 10pm (Brasília time), when Argentina faces Switzerland in the quarter-finals of the World Cup. He has scored at least one goal per game since the round of 16 of the last edition of the World Cup.

But he's not the only one keeping an eye on the feat. Mbappé, Haaland and Harry Kane are among the top scorers in the current World Cup and are still alive in the competition. The first two have scored seven goals in this World Cup, while the Englishman has six.

GREATEST GUNNERS IN THE SAME CUP EDITION

Just Fontaine (1958): 13 goalsSándor Kocsis (1954): 11 goalsGerd Müller (1970): 10 goalsAdemir de Menezes (1950): 9 goalsEusébio (1966): 9 goalsMessi (2026): 8 goalsGuillermo Stábile (1930): 8 goalsRonaldo (2002): 8 goalsMbappé (2022): 8 goals

2026 WORLD CUP GUNNERS

Messi: 8 goalsMbappé: 7 goalsHaaland: 7 goalsHarry Kane: 6 goals

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