Most of the best footballers in the world are off to red-hot starts in the ongoing World Cup, and we might have the best Golden Boot race in recent memory on our hands.

Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Vini Jr and Harry Kane are all off to multi-goal starts, and who knows, maybe Lamine Yamal will catch up to them now that he’s healthy. The expanded 48 team format also gives an option to statpad against the slightly weaker teams- case in example Ronaldo’s brace against Uzbekistan.

This is all making for drama on who scores the most goals all-tourney long and gets the Golden Boot trophy. Obviously, there’s fair bit of dosh to be made off this prediction on the top betting sites for the World Cup. But it’s also legacy talk for us football fans. So just for fun, let’s guess how the pecking order for the Golden Boot could go for the rest of the tournament.

Lionel Messi

Messi won the 2022 Golden Boot with a whopping 7 goals as he led Argentina to its third-ever World Cup trophy. However, his critics were quick to point out that four of those goals were penalties and he really wasn’t as good as billed.

That was then and this is now: Messi is up to five goals in just two matches. He followed his hat trick against Algeria with a brace against Austria. In scoring that double, Messi broke Klose’s long standing record for most all-time World Cup goals. The little boy from Rosario, now a sprightly 39-year-old veteran, is up to 18 goals now.

And honestly, we think Messi will continue at this excellent pace and is our pick to win the Golden Boot. This comes down to three things.

One, Argentina is making another deep run in the tourney. The more games Messi plays, the more chances he has to score, obviously. Argentina’s draw also seems to be a nice one- they avoid the heavy hitters till the end of the tournament.

But two, and this might be controversial, but Messi is still a very good player- as good, or perhaps even better than what he was in Qatar. These are no chip-shot goals he’s scoring. The man is balling like his old self again.

Three, it seems like Argentina need him to score. We mean, no one else has put the ball into the back of the net. Lautaro Martinez has been a non-factor upfront. Julian Alvarez would likely be better, but he’s not healthy. That means Messi is being asked to score more than in 2022.

If we were betting men, we’d lay a good amount of money on Messi right here. We predict he’s going to extend his World Cup goal-scoring record with at least three more.

Kylian Mbappe

Kylian Mbappe has scored 16 goals in 16 career World Cup games. He could soon own the all-time record that currently belongs to Messi.

Let’s say you’re not sold on a 39-year-old turning back the hands of time. Ok, that’s fair. Then who takes it? Mbappe is our next favorite choice.

We mean, he’s up to four goals in two matches, too. That puts him right on the tail of his former PSG teammate, Messi. And we’re not just talking about this year’s Golden Boot.

Believe it or not, the all-time World goal scorer’s record will soon belong to Mbappe, too. Only 27 years old — 12 years younger than Messi — he’s up to 16 all-time World Cup goals (two off the lead). Who’s to say that record doesn’t become his in 2026 rather than 2030, when we can only assume Messi would be retired (but who knows at this rate).

Because just like Argentina, we’re of the belief that France will be hard to get out of the tournament. Matter of fact, they’re our pick to win the World Cup. No team is as talented as them, simple as that. Take Mbappe out of the picture, France has two other top-10 attackers on their squad — Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise.

This team could easily make their third final in a row, and Mbappe will be a big reason why. If one person can catch Messi, it’ll be him.

Lamine Yamal

This might be a surprise, but Yamal is next up on our list. Yes, ahead of the likes of more obvious choices like Haaland (four goals in two games, too), Kane and Vini

Why? For the same reasons we said about the other two, his team is a legit World Cup contender. To us, the title comes down to Spain, France, or Argentina so that helps the chances of all three’s best scorers and playmakers.

For Yamal, he’s barely getting back to 100 percent health. In his absence, we saw just how much he’s needed for Spain to succeed. He’s the engine that makes the whole attack go, not just scoring, but creating for his teammates too.

We said Argentina needs Messi, but Spain needs Yamal in the same token. As odd as that is to say about an 18-year-old, it’s true- just look at the Cabo Verde game as an example where Spain struggled to create chances and score in his absence, but put four past Saudi Arabia the moment the teenager came into the XI.

That’s why he has just one goal so far, but if someone can rally back, say by hitting a hat trick in a single game, then it’s Yamal. If he can stay fit and healthy, he’s a good choice for people who want to go against the grain and pick a non-obvious choice compared to Messi, Mbappe, Kane, Haaland and Vini Jr.