Messi Leads World Cup Golden Boot Race After Hat Trick
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- Lionel Messi scored a World Cup hat trick against Algeria — his first ever in the competition — to lead the Golden Boot race at 3 goals through one game, with group matches against Austria and Jordan still ahead.
- Kylian Mbappé netted twice in France's opener against Senegal and previously won the Golden Boot in 2022, finishing one goal ahead of Messi, while playing in a France attack that also features Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué, and Michael Olise.
- Erling Haaland scored twice in Norway's 4-1 win over Iraq and finished as Premier League top scorer with 27 goals, though he conceded Kane and Mbappé outscored him last season.
- Harry Kane struck twice against Croatia to reach 69 goals in 59 matches for club and country since August, and equaled Gary Lineker's England record of 10 career World Cup goals.
- Folarin Balogun scored twice across the USMNT's first two games as co-hosts, but is unlikely to match the games and goals totals of the favorites, per the article.
- Messi has never won a World Cup Golden Boot, and at 38 — turning 39 on Wednesday — faces questions about whether he can outlast Kane and Mbappé, who had better goals-per-minute ratios than him last season.
- The expanded 48-team tournament format will likely raise the goal threshold needed to win the Golden Boot from the historical 5-8 goals range, according to the article.
Why it matters: The Golden Boot is one of football's most prestigious individual awards, and this race carries generational weight: Messi, at 38 in what is presumed to be his final World Cup, is chasing the Golden Boot he has never won, against reigning champion Mbappé, Premier League top scorer Haaland, and Ballon d'Or contender Kane. The expanded 48-team format raises the scoring bar, meaning the winner will likely need more goals than in any previous tournament — making Messi's fast start through one game all the more significant.
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