The race for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot took a dramatic turn Tuesday, July 14, as Kylian Mbappe and France were eliminated from the tournament, falling 2-0 to Spain in the first semifinal in Arlington, Texas.
Mbappe, who entered the match tied atop the Golden Boot standings with Lionel Messi at eight goals apiece, was held scoreless by a disciplined Spanish defense. Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the first half, and Pedro Porro doubled the lead in the 58th minute to send Spain into its first World Cup final since 2010.
With France's run over, Mbappe's tournament will end after Saturday's third-place match on July 18 against the loser of Wednesday's Argentina-England semifinal - meaning he has at most one more game to add to his total.
That shift hands Messi a significant advantage. The Argentine superstar and his team take the field Wednesday, July 15, against England, with a spot in the World Cup Final on the line. Should Argentina advance, Messi would have two more matches to pull ahead of Mbappe outright, rather than relying on FIFA's tiebreaker rules, which currently still favor Mbappe on assists, three to Messi's one, if the two finish level.
England's Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham remain alive as well, sitting two goals back at six apiece, with a semifinal and potential final still ahead of them to close the gap.
Whatever the outcome, the tournament has already delivered a historic individual milestone: Messi's goal against Egypt in the round of 16 made him the all-time leading scorer in men's World Cup history, a record Mbappe was also chasing before Tuesday's defeat.
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