Messi or Mbappe: Who will break the most goals record in FIFA World Cup?
As the 2026 Football World Cup is ongoing, fans are keeping a watch on Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe to see who will finally break the most goals record in FIFA World Cup currently held by Miroslav Klose
[Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe (L) are the top footballers in race to set a new record of the most goals in FIFA World Cup.]
2026 FIFA World Cup: As the 2026 Football World Cup is ongoing, fans are keeping a watch on Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe to see who will finally break the most goals record in FIFA World Cup currently held by Miroslav Klose.
The legendary German footballer, Miroslav Klose, who retired after the 2014 FIFA World Cup which Germany won, is the all time highest goal-scorer in the FIFA World Cup with 16 goals in 24 appearances.
Klose famously celebrated many goals with a front-flip somersault that gave him the nickname "Salto-Klose". Klose is the only player to score in four consecutive World Cups and reached four straight semi-finals with Germany.
The 16-goals Klose scored while playing in the football world cup are 7 headers, 8 with his right foot, and 1 with his left foot.
Talking to the media ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Klose said that his record of the most goals in the FIFA World Cup is likely to be broken this tournament.
But by whom, Messi or Mbappe?
The next in the list of all time leading goal-scorers in the FIFA World Cup are Brazil’s Ronaldo (15 goals in 19 matches), Gerd Müller of West Germany (14 goals in 13 matches), Just Fontaine of France (13 goals in 6 matches) and Lionel Messi of Argentina (13 goals in 26 matches).
Ronaldo, Gerd Müller and Just Fontaine have all retired. Hence, the only footballer left in the race is Lionel Messi.
Messi, who had led Argentina to the historic victory in the 2022 FIFA World Cup and is now playing in a record 6th consecutive world cup, is just 4 goals away from setting a new record.
But wait Messi has a challenger
But wait Messi has a challenger. And, the challenger is the captain of the France Football Team, Kylian Mbappe. Mbappe had stunned the football fans with a hat trick in the Argentina vs France 2022 Football World Cup.
With 12 FIFA World Cup goals, Mbappe is only 1 goal behind Messi’s total of 13 goals and 05 goals away from setting the new record of the most goals in FIFA World Cup. And, the way Mbappe is currently playing, Messi cannot be certain that his run for the most goals in the FIFA World Cup will go unchallenged.
There are also other players in the race with 11 and 10 goals to their credit. But one of the other players who everybody is watching this world cup is Portugal Skipper Cristiano Ronaldo.
Like Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo is also playing 6th world cup. But he has only 08 FIFA World Cup goals to his credit.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the highest goal scorer in international football with a total of 973 goals, and is now eying the historic milestone of 1,000 goals. Football fans are watching CR7, as Ronaldo is lovingly called, how close to this milestone he takes his goal tally this tournament.
Messi-led Argentina is set to start its 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign on June 16 with match against Algeria, Mbappe-led France will play its first match of the ongoing football world cup against Senegal on June 16 whereas Ronaldo-led Portugal will play against DR Congo on June 17, 2026 to start its football world cup campaign.
[Zohair Mohammed Safwan Faizee is Staff Writer at ummid.com.]
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