Picture : Barcola, Mbappe (most goals 10), Olise (most assists 7) and Dembele – the France power !
The scoring record raised massively
The 2026 World Cup was extraordinary in many respects, not least for the dramatic way the tournament’s all-time top-scorer record was shattered.
Before the tournament began, the record stood at what now seems a quite modest 16 goals (held by Miroslav Klose). First, Lionel Messi raised the bar to 21, and then Kylian Mbappé—in France’s final match—pushed the tally to 22.
Thus, the record was raised by a full six goals in a single tournament. Nothing of the sort had ever happened in any previous edition; the greatest single-tournament advance had previously been just two goals (excluding, of course, the inaugural 1930 tournament, which set the initial record at eight goals).
The table lists the players who were the first to reach each step from 1 to 22. It is evident that Messi achieved the biggest leap in World Cup history, being the first to clear five of these rungs. In doing so, he surpassed his compatriot Guillermo Stábile, who had advanced the record four times.
As for Mbappé, who snatched the top record from Messi at the age of just 27, he became the fourth Frenchman on the list. France is represented by the highest number of players on it. However, the four Frenchmen have collectively set five records, whereas the two Argentines—Stábile and Messi—have set nine in total.
| Goal № | Player | Country | Date | Game |
| 1 | Lucien Laurent | France | 13/07/1930 | Mexico 4-1 |
| 2 | André Maschinot | France | 13/07/1930 | Mexico 4-1 |
| 3 | Ivan Bek | Yugoslavia | 17/07/1930 | Bolivia 4-0 |
| 4 | Bert Patenaude | USA | 17/07/1930 | Paraguay 3-0 |
| 5 | Guillermo Stábile | Argentina | 22/07/1930 | Chile 3-1 |
| 6 | Guillermo Stábile | Argentina | 26/07/1930 | United States 6-1 |
| 7 | Guillermo Stábile | Argentina | 26/07/1930 | United States 6-1 |
| 8 | Guillermo Stábile | Argentina | 30/07/1930 | Uruguay 2-4 |
| 9 | Ademir | Brazil | 13/07/1950 | Spain 6-1 |
| 10 | Sándor Kocsis | Hungary | 30/06/1954 | Uruguay 4-2 |
| 11 | Sándor Kocsis | Hungary | 30/06/1954 | Uruguay 4-2 |
| 12 | Just Fontaine | France | 28/06/1958 | Germany 6-3 |
| 13 | Just Fontaine | France | 28/06/1958 | Germany 6-3 |
| 14 | Gerd Müller | Germany | 07/07/1974 | Netherlands 2-1 |
| 15 | Ronaldo | Brazil | 27/06/2006 | Ghana 3-0 |
| 16 | Miroslav Klose | Germany | 08/07/2014 | Brazil 7-1 |
| 17 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 22/06/2026 | Austria 2-0 |
| 18 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 22/06/2026 | Austria 2-0 |
| 19 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 28/06/2026 | Jordan 3-1 |
| 20 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 03/07/2026 | Cabo Verde 3-2 |
| 21 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 07/07/2026 | Egypt 3-2 |
| 22 | Kylian Mbappé | France | 18/07/2026 | England 6-4 |