If he doesn’t score, he assists and thus keeps his enormous influence on the game intact. Argentina. Under that criterion, Lionel Messi leads the World Cup scoring rankings of North America, despite sharing the top with Frenchman Kylian Mbappé, both with eight points.
The Albiceleste captain was once again decisive in the 1-2 victory over England in the semifinals played in Atlanta. Although he did not manage to score, he was the author of the two assists that allowed Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez to sign the comeback and seal the Argentine ticket to the grand final.
At 39 years old, turned last June 24, Messi continues to be the main offensive reference of the team led by Lionel Scaloni. His ability to unbalance is not only reflected in the goals, but also in the generation of play and his leadership on the field.
The Argentine star built his eight annotations throughout the tournament with a hat trick against Algeria in the group stage, a double against Austriaa goal against Jordan and many others in front of Cape Verde, in the round of 32, and Egyptin the eighths. Although he did not find the goal in the quarterfinals or the semifinals, he once again showed that his impact transcends scoring statistics.
With the two assists Against England, Messi had four assists in this edition of the World Cupa record that reinforces his candidacy as the most influential footballer in the tournament.
In addition, the man from Rosario expanded his status as the all-time top scorer in all editions of the World Cup with 21 goalsone more than Mbappé, who will also seek to increase his tally in the game for third place. The fight for the Golden Boot remains open, although the regulations favor Messi thanks to his greater number of assists. And the Frenchman has given three passes for goals.
– 2026 World Cup scorer classification:
- With 8: Lionel Messi (Argentina) and Kylian Mbappé (France).
- With 7: Erling Haaland (Norway)
- With 6: Jude Bellingham (England) and Harry Kane (England)
- With 5: Mikel Oyarzabal (France) and Ousmane Dembélé (France)
- With 4: Vinicius Junior (Brazil), Julián Quiñones (Mexico) and Ismaila Sarr (Senegal).
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– Classification of historical scorers:
- Lionel Messi (Argentina) 21
- Kylian Mbappé (France) 20
- Miroslav Klose (Germany) 16
- Ronaldo (Brazil) 15
- Gerd Müller (Germany) 14
- Just Fontaine (France) 13
- Harry Kane (England) 13