France’s Mbappé Becomes First Back-to-Back Golden Boot Winner

The striker’s win continues a tradition where Golden Boot winners don’t win the World Cup championship.

France's Kylian Mbappe (10) walks off the pttch after the World Cup third-place playoff soccer match between France and England in Miami Gardens, Fla., on July 18, 2026. Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo

France’s Kylian Mbappé won his second consecutive World Cup Golden Boot award for 2026, becoming the first soccer player to retain his title as the tournament’s top goal scorer back to back.

The striker ended the World Cup with 10 goals, the last two of which he earned during the third-place playoff match against England in Miami on July 18. He went into the match tied with Argentina’s Lionel Messi with eight, but in second place due to Messi having more assists.

Messi, however, would go on to be completely shut down in his final match against Spain, capping his goal count for the tournament.

Mbappé only needed eight goals to win his first World Cup Golden Boot in 2022. Four years later, he surpassed it and ended the tournament with 22 all-time World Cup match goals, surpassing Messi’s all-time goal count of 21.

However, Mbappé did not break the record for most goals scored in a single World Cup. That record remains with his fellow countryman Just Fontaine, who scored 13 goals in 1958. Ten goals earned Mbappé a tie with Germany’s Gerd Müller, who scored 10 goals for West Germany in 1970. Standing between them and Fontaine is Sándor Kocsis, who scored 11 goals for Hungary in 1954.

Mbappé’s individual scoring victory continues what appears to be an ongoing unofficial tradition at the FIFA World Cup in which the Golden Boot finds itself in the hands of a player whose team failed to win the championship.

France lost to Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar when Mbappé won his first Golden Boot. Four years before that, England’s Harry Kane was named the top goal scorer with 6 goals while France was declared World Cup champions. The 2014 World Cup in Brazil saw Colombia’s James Rodriguez take home the Golden Boot after scoring six goals while Germany was named champion. Four years before that, the 2010 World Cup in South Africa saw Germany’s Thomas Müller earn the Golden Boot while Spain won its first-ever World Cup championship.

The last time a Golden Boot recipient was on the World Cup championship team was in 2002 when Brazil’s Ronaldo—not Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo—led his team to victory by scoring eight goals. The last time before that was in 1982 when Paolo Rossi scored six goals to help Italy become World Cup champions.

Meanwhile, Messi remains without a Golden Boot, despite scoring 21 goals in 33 World Cup match appearances over the course of his career. Concluding this last tournament at 39 years old, it’s unclear whether or not he will return with the Selección in four years to take yet another shot at the trophy.

Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled Just Fontaine’s last name in one instance. The Epoch Times regrets the error.