Kylian Mbappe's second Golden Boot award makes history at World Cup

France's Kylian Mbappe. REUTERS

Kylian Mbappe's second Golden Boot award makes history at World Cup

By Adam Gretz | Last updated Jul 19, 2026 8:22 PM ET

Kylian Mbappe and France may not have had the 2026 FIFA World Cup finish that they wanted (fourth place), but it was still an historic individual performance for the French star.

With his 10 goals, Mbappe took the Golden Boot award as the tournament's top goal-scorer, winning it for the second consecutive World Cup.

It is an unprecedented accomplishment.

Kylian Mbappe first player to ever win Golden Boot two times

With his Golden Boot win, which he secured with a pair of goals in the third-place game on Saturday, Mbappe became the first ever player to win it two times in the men's World Cup.

The fact he did it in consecutive World Cups makes it even more impressive of an accomplishment.

His 10 goals were the third-most ever in a single men's World Cup, trailing only the 13 scored by Just Fontaine (France in 1958) and 11 from Sandor Kocsis (Hungary in 1954).

A pair of Golden Boots for Kylian Mbappé.

The French star officially secures first place in the Great Golden Boot Race with 10 goals pic.twitter.com/hLJNhLEf8Z
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 19, 2026

His 10 goals also give him 22 career World Cup goals, putting him one goal ahead of Lionel Messi for the most World Cup goals ever.

Messi finished second in the Golden Boot race this year with eight goals. He had a chance in Sunday's championship game to at least match Mbappe, and regain his lead on the all-time World Cup list, but Argentina was not able to score any goals in a 1-0 championship game defeat against Spain.

Given that Mbappe is still only 27 years old and figures to be a key player for France for at least one more World Cup cycle, there is a very strong chance he extends that record at the 2030 World Cup.

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on X @AGretz

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