World Cup stories are usually written around teams. But some World Cups are defined by individual players — sometimes one, sometimes two or three. The 2026 World Cup is moving toward exactly that kind of remarkable story.
First, the names: Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are all scoring, all breaking records, and all chasing each other. It feels as though, on the pitch, they are not only competing against the opposing side but also in an invisible contest of their own.
In Dallas against Austria, Messi scored twice. He did not just win the match — he broke one of the most prestigious records in World Cup history. Moving past Miroslav Klose’s 16 goals, he reached 18. The extraordinary thing is that at this World Cup Argentina have scored five goals in all, and all five have come from Messi. That kind of dominance at the age of 38 is not the story of an ordinary footballer — it is the story of a legend. It is the story of a man who is winning even against time.
But following behind Messi like a shadow is another man: the France captain, Kylian Mbappe. In his centenary international match against Iraq, the French star scored twice, taking his tally across three World Cups to 16 — equalling Klose’s mark. In his previous two World Cups his tally was 12, and he played the final in both of them, winning in 2018 and finishing runner-up in 2022. This time? Only time will tell.
Klose played four World Cups to reach his record; Mbappe has done it in three, at an extraordinary pace, and he is still only 27. He likely has at least two more World Cups ahead of him. The French football analyst Julien Laurens said: ‘I think this World Cup could be Mbappe’s World Cup, because he is chasing a record that is now in Messi’s hands.’
That comment captures the whole reality. Messi is at the top; but hunting him is Mbappe.
Before the World Cup, the Golden Ball race was seen as a contest between Messi, Mbappe and Ronaldo, with Haaland’s name much further down the list of possibilities, almost as an afterthought. Perhaps the Norwegian striker did not appreciate being overlooked. In his first-ever World Cup, he has done what no other Norwegian has ever done: scoring two goals in each of his two matches, his tally for this tournament stands at four — level with Mbappe. In 52 matches for Norway, Haaland has 59 goals, a stunning ratio. And what he has done in his first two World Cup matches has no precedent in Norwegian football history.
The former Scotland striker Ally McCoist’s comment about Haaland is one worth framing: ‘In terms of natural talent, Messi is at the top. Mbappe is next. But when it comes to putting the ball in the net, no one is Haaland’s equal.’
So let us do the maths. Messi creates matches and makes records. Mbappe enters the fight to make those records his own. And Haaland is running to get a piece of the greatness of both of them. Their football is different, their roles on the pitch are different. But their destination is the same: the goal.
And it is the path to goal that the Golden Boot race now follows. After two matches, Messi has five goals. Mbappe has four. Haaland has four. For only the second time in World Cup history, three players have scored four or more goals after the first two rounds. The last time was 1954, when Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis went on to score 11 goals that tournament. Four years later, Just Fontaine scored 13 — still the record for goals in a single World Cup edition. Is even that record under threat now?
The former France defender Gael Clichy said: ‘The greatest strength of Mbappe’s generation is that they are not afraid. They do not show respect based on age; they show it based on performance.’ That is true not just of Mbappe — it is true of Haaland too. And the astonishing thing is that, at 38, Messi seems to play with exactly the same mindset. He is still hungry. In his second goal against Austria, the effort and determination he showed made it clear his appetite for goals is as fierce as ever, still chasing new records with the energy of youth, still changing the course of matches with the wisdom of experience.
The US forward Folarin Balogun joked of the three: ‘Watching Messi, Mbappe and Haaland is annoying. They just inevitably score!’ This World Cup is writing a new story around this trio with every match. Who will be the hero of the 2026 World Cup — Messi, Mbappe or Haaland? Who will lift the Golden Boot? There is still much to find out. But before that, the whole football world watched in admiration as these three fought for greatness.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report