Kylian Mbappé is the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history. His 10 goals at the 2026 tournament took his career total to 22, passing Lionel Messi's 21 and Miroslav Klose's long-standing record of 16, which had stood since 2014. Both records fell in the same summer, in the same tournament, which hasn't happened before in the sport's biggest competition. Here's the complete list of the tournament's top scorers, how the record changed hands twice in a single edition, and who might be next to chase it.

The all-time top 10

Rank	Player	Country	Goals	Tournaments
1	Kylian Mbappé	France	22	2018, 2022, 2026
2	Lionel Messi	Argentina	21	2006, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026
3	Miroslav Klose	Germany	16	2002, 2006, 2010, 2014
4	Ronaldo Nazário	Brazil	15	1994, 1998, 2002, 2006
5	Gerd Müller	West Germany	14	1970, 1974
6	Just Fontaine	France	13	1958
7	Pelé	Brazil	12	1958, 1962, 1966, 1970
8	Sándor Kocsis	Hungary	11	1954
8	Jürgen Klinsmann	West Germany / Germany	11	1990, 1994, 1998
8	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	11	2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026
11	Helmut Rahn	West Germany	10	1954, 1958

Goal totals for players still active can shift with future tournaments. This list reflects the final tallies confirmed after the 2026 World Cup.

How Mbappé took the record

Mbappé arrived at his first World Cup in 2018 as a 19 year old and scored four goals, including one in the final as France beat Croatia, becoming only the second teenager ever to score in a World Cup final after Pelé in 1958. In 2022 he scored eight, capped by a hat trick in the final against Argentina, a game France still lost on penalties despite Mbappé becoming the first player to score three goals in a World Cup final since Geoff Hurst in 1966. By the time the 2026 tournament kicked off, he needed just five goals to pass Klose. He got there with room to spare, finishing the tournament on 10 and taking his Golden Boot tally to two straight editions, the first men's player ever to win back to back. Add up his three tournaments and the total reads 4, then 8, then 10, a scoring rate that has actually increased with every World Cup he's played, which is part of why so many people expect the record to keep growing.

Messi's late run at the top

Messi's chase was the story of the tournament for weeks. He opened with a hat trick in Argentina's first group match at 39 years old, a stretch of finishing that briefly made him the outright favorite for a second straight Golden Boot. By the time Argentina reached the final he had pulled level with, then past, Klose's old mark of 16. He finished the 2026 tournament with eight goals and 21 for his career, one behind Mbappé and a Silver Ball to show for it. It's a total built across five different tournaments over 20 years, from a single goal as a teenager in Germany in 2006 to eight as a 39 year old captain in 2026, which says as much about Messi's longevity as it does about his finishing. No other player in the history of the tournament has scored across five separate World Cups.

Who held the record, and when

The all-time scoring record has changed hands only a handful of times, and the timeline says a lot about how the game has evolved. Just Fontaine set the bar impossibly high in 1958, scoring 13 goals in a single tournament, a total nobody had matched across an entire career until Gerd Müller passed him in 1974 with 14 goals spread over two World Cups. Müller's mark held for over three decades until Ronaldo Nazário passed him in 2006 with 15. Miroslav Klose then passed Ronaldo in his final World Cup appearance in 2014, scoring the goal that also helped eliminate the host nation, Brazil, in that infamous 7-1 semi-final. Klose's 16 goals then stood as the record for exactly one World Cup cycle, 12 years, until both Messi and Mbappé passed it within days of each other in July 2026.

The old guard: Klose, Ronaldo, Müller and Fontaine

Miroslav Klose's 16 goals came across four tournaments for Germany between 2002 and 2014, including the semi-final hat trick against Brazil in 2014 that helped send the hosts out 7-1 in one of the most one-sided results in the tournament's history. Ronaldo Nazário's 15 came in an era when Brazil reached three straight finals, winning two, and included eight goals at the 2002 tournament alone as he inspired Brazil to their fifth title after recovering from a career-threatening string of knee injuries. Gerd Müller's 14 are still remarkable given he played in only two tournaments, and he remains West Germany's all-time top World Cup scorer despite retiring from international football at just 28. And Just Fontaine's 13 goals came entirely in the 1958 tournament in Sweden, a single-tournament scoring record that has now stood for well over 60 years and shows no sign of falling, since even Mbappé's best single edition (10, in 2026) falls short of it by three.

Career total vs. the Golden Boot: two different records

It's worth separating two things people often mix up. The all-time top scorers list above tracks a player's career total across every World Cup they've played. The Golden Boot, by contrast, is awarded fresh at each individual tournament to whoever scores the most in that one edition, regardless of career total. Mbappé has now won two Golden Boots (2022 and 2026) without ever leading the all-time career list until this year, while players like James Rodríguez (six goals in 2014) or Thomas Müller (five in 2010) won a Golden Boot without ever coming close to cracking the top 10 above. A player can dominate one tournament and fade from view, or, like Mbappé and Messi, do both: win the single-tournament race repeatedly and build a career total that eventually tops the all-time chart too.

Cristiano Ronaldo's own piece of history

Ronaldo doesn't top the career list, but he owns a record nobody else can claim. His 11 goals across the 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026 tournaments make him the first player in history to score in six separate World Cups, a mark built on sheer longevity as much as finishing. He scored his first World Cup knockout-stage goal only at the 2026 tournament, at 41 years old, having spent his previous ten World Cup goals entirely in the group stage. He has said the 2026 tournament was his last, closing out a World Cup career that ran from a 21-year-old winger in Germany to a veteran leading Portugal's line two decades later.

Who could climb this list next

The most interesting name missing from the conversation entirely is Erling Haaland, widely regarded as the best pure finisher in the world right now, who has never played a single minute of World Cup football because Norway failed to qualify for 2022 and 2026. If Norway reach the 2030 tournament, Haaland would enter as one of the favorites to threaten this list quickly. Among players who have already featured, Vinicius Júnior and Lamine Yamal (still only 19 after the 2026 tournament) both have every reason to expect two or three more World Cups in their careers, and Jude Bellingham has already scored in back-to-back tournaments for England. None of them are within shouting distance of the current top 10 yet, but the same was true of Mbappé in 2018.

Catch up on how Mbappé and Messi got there in our 2026 World Cup results and award winners recap, and see how the tournament's knockout rounds worked in our World Cup 2026 knockout stage guide. For the club game's equivalent list, see our Champions League all-time top scorers guide, and see how individual brilliance gets judged off the pitch in our Ballon d'Or explained guide.

For FIFA's own historical scoring records, see FIFA.com.

FAQ

Who is the all-time top scorer in World Cup history?

Kylian Mbappé, with 22 goals across the 2018, 2022 and 2026 tournaments. He passed Miroslav Klose's 16-goal record during the 2026 tournament.

How many World Cup goals does Messi have?

21, scored across five tournaments between 2006 and 2026, the most of any player except Mbappé.

Who held the World Cup scoring record before Mbappé?

Miroslav Klose of Germany, with 16 goals scored between 2002 and 2014. Before Klose, the record belonged to Ronaldo Nazário of Brazil with 15.

What is the record for most goals in a single World Cup?

13, set by France's Just Fontaine in the 1958 tournament alone. It remains unbroken more than 60 years later and is a completely separate record from the career total list.

Is Mbappé still adding to his World Cup goal total?

Yes. He's 27 and could realistically play in the 2030 World Cup, which would give him a chance to extend his own record further.

How many goals did Pelé score at World Cups?

12 goals across four tournaments between 1958 and 1970, good for 7th on the all-time list.

What's the difference between the World Cup Golden Boot and the all-time top scorers list?

The Golden Boot goes to the top scorer at a single tournament. The all-time list tracks a player's total goals across every World Cup in their career. A player can win one without ever leading the other.

Has Erling Haaland ever played in a World Cup?

No. Norway has not qualified for a World Cup since 1998, so Haaland, widely considered the world's best striker, has never had the chance to play in one.

How many goals has Cristiano Ronaldo scored at World Cups?

11, spread across six tournaments from 2006 to 2026, tied for 8th on the all-time list. Ronaldo is the only player to score in six different World Cups, and he confirmed 2026 was his last one, at age 41.

Could Mbappé's record be broken soon?

Unlikely in the near term. The next player would need several more World Cups worth of prolific scoring, and even Messi, the closest active challenger, is unlikely to play at the 2030 tournament given his age.