The greatest Golden Boot race ever?

The battle for the Golden Boot among three superstars (from left) — Lionel Messi (Argentina), Kylian Mbappe (France) and Erling Haaland (Norway) — is rapidly becoming the defining story of the 2026 World Cup.

PETALING JAYA: Somebody set fire to the World Cup script: Lionel Messi made history, Kylian Mbappe made it nervous and Erling Haaland made it violent. All in the same night.

This was supposed to be the group stage. Instead, it felt like the climax of a football epic. One legend extending his reign. One superstar hunting him down. One goal machine kicking down the door and demanding a seat at the table.

Here are five things from the night the World Cup’s biggest stars turned the spotlight entirely on themselves.

1. Football’s new mountaintop

History in motion: Lionel Messi’s double against Austria made him the World Cup’s all-time leading goalscorer. (EPA Images pic)

For years, Miroslav Klose’s World Cup scoring record sat on the shelf like a priceless museum piece. Nobody seriously expected it to move.

Then along came Messi.

The funny thing about Messi’s record-breaking night was that it nearly began with failure. He missed a penalty after eight minutes. For a few moments, football remembered he was human.

Then football remembered he was Messi.

His first goal arrived with the inevitability of sunrise. The second arrived in stoppage time. By then the record belonged to him.

Eighteen World Cup goals. The most in history.

The numbers are absurd. Twelve of those goals have come after turning 35. Most players spend that age discussing retirement plans but Messi appears to spend it collecting records.

The remarkable part is not the scoring. It is the ease.

There is no sprinting contest. No physical domination. He simply solves football. Others play the game while Messi seems to read the answers before the exam starts.

Ten years ago he retired from international football after another painful final defeat. Today he owns the greatest goalscoring record the World Cup has ever seen.

Some careers come full circle. Messi’s appears to have become a spiral, somehow climbing higher every year.

2. The hunter behind Messi

The chase is on: Kylian Mbappe moved within touching distance of Messi’s new record with another devastating display. (EPA Images pic)

The fun with breaking records in modern football is that Mbappe usually appears five minutes later.

Messi’s historic double gave him 18 World Cup goals. Mbappe answered with two of his own.

The gap is now two and that should terrify everyone.

At 27, Mbappe already has 16 World Cup goals in just 16 matches.

Normal players score goals. Mbappe accumulates them at a rate that feels administratively incorrect.

His first against Iraq was vintage Mbappe. One glimpse of space. One flash of acceleration. One finish into the corner. Thank you very much.

His second required less artistry but perhaps revealed more about him. A goalkeeper’s mistake. A loose ball. Mbappe there before anybody else. Predators rarely care how the meal arrives.

What makes this fascinating is the contrast between the two men: Messi is football’s master chess player. Mbappe is football’s Formula One car.

One wins with intelligence. The other wins with speed that appears to violate several laws of nature.

And now they are sharing the same tournament, the same spotlight and perhaps the same destination.

3. The rampaging Viking

Force of nature: Erling Haaland’s double kept Norway’s dream alive and placed him firmly in the Golden Boot race. (EPA Images pic)

Haaland simply kept doing what he does — turning football matches into personal hunting expeditions.

Watching Haaland is like watching a battering ram discover it can also dance.

Norway’s 3-2 victory over Senegal secured a place in the knockout rounds and delivered another reminder that Haaland has arrived at this World Cup in frightening condition.

His first goal was clinical. His second was ruthless. Haaland’s overall performance felt like watching somebody trying to settle an old score with the football itself.

He now has four goals in two matches. Only Messi has more. The scary part is that everything looks sustainable. There is no dependence on penalties and no reliance on wonder strikes.

His movement is sharp. His timing is impeccable. His physicality remains overwhelming.

Defenders know exactly what is coming. Then it happens anyway.

There was a lovely statistic hiding beneath the headlines. Haaland has become just the sixth player to score multiple goals in each of his first two World Cup appearances.

Elite company. Yet statistics almost undersell him.

The Viking adventure continues. And suddenly Norway look capable of taking this journey much further than anyone expected.

4. A Golden Boot with three footprints

The Golden Boot race usually develops slowly. Not this one. Messi has five while Mbappe and Haaland have four each.

The three biggest names in world football have decided subtlety is overrated.

What makes this race fascinating is that each represents a different version of greatness.

Messi is the genius. Mbappe is the phenomenon. Haaland is the machine.

You could build three separate football philosophies around them.

One bends games through imagination, one destroys games through speed, one overwhelms games through force.

And all three appear to have arrived in America in peak condition.

The tournament needed stars and the supernovas have responded by treating the World Cup like their personal stage.

For neutral supporters, this is perfect. For defenders, it must feel like being trapped in a nightmare where every escape route leads directly into another nightmare.

We are not merely watching a Golden Boot race. We are watching football’s three most devastating finishers trying to leave the deepest imprint on the same tournament.

That does not happen often.

5. The main actors have arrived

The best World Cups always have a central storyline.

This one may already have found it: Messi breaking records, Mbappe chasing them, Haaland bulldozing through opponents, with Argentina, France and Norway advancing with growing confidence.

The group stage can often feel like a waiting room before the real drama begins.

Not this year. Every match now carries another layer of intrigue.

Will Messi extend the record? Can Mbappe catch him? Will Haaland simply score too many goals?

The questions keep multiplying. So do the goals. Perhaps that is the biggest takeaway from this extraordinary night.

The modern game spends so much time discussing systems, structures and tactical frameworks.

And suddenly football’s oldest truth comes roaring back to life. Great players do not follow the script.

They become it.