What if Messi and Mbappé finish level? What FIFA's rules say
Messi needs more than a brace to overhaul Mbappé's 10 goals for the Golden Boot. Here's the maths — and FIFA's tiebreaker rules.
Spain
Argentina- 120'Final score: Spain 1 - 0 Argentina
- 111'Yellow card: Alexis Mac Allister (Argentina)
- 106'⚽ Goal for Spain (Ferran Torres)
- 102'Substitution: ↑ Marcos Senesi / ↓ Julián Alvarez. (Argentina)
- 99'Substitution: ↑ Eric García / ↓ Aymeric Laporte. (Spain)
- 99'Substitution: ↑ Martín Zubimendi / ↓ Rodri. (Spain)
- 90'Red card: Second yellow card to Enzo Fernández (Argentina)
- 90'Yellow card: Cristian Romero (Argentina)
- 82'Yellow card: Enzo Fernández (Argentina)
- 75'Substitution: ↑ Mikel Merino / ↓ Dani Olmo. (Spain)
- 75'Substitution: ↑ Nico Williams / ↓ Álex Baena. (Spain)
- 70'Substitution: ↑ Giuliano Simeone / ↓ Rodrigo De Paul. (Argentina)
- 70'Substitution: ↑ Facundo Medina / ↓ Cristian Romero because of an injury. (Argentina)
- 62'Substitution: ↑ Pedri / ↓ Fabián Ruiz. (Spain)
- 62'Substitution: ↑ Ferran Torres / ↓ Mikel Oyarzabal. (Spain)
- 58'Substitution: ↑ Nahuel Molina / ↓ Gonzalo Montiel. (Argentina)
- 52'Yellow card: Leandro Paredes (Argentina)
- 45'Second half begins
- 45'Substitution: ↑ Leandro Paredes / ↓ Nico González. (Argentina)
- 45'Half-time
- 45'Half-time
- 44'Substitution: ↑ Nicolás Otamendi / ↓ Lisandro Martínez because of an injury. (Argentina)
- 41'Yellow card: Lisandro Martínez (Argentina)
- 0'Kick-off
- 0'Kick-off
On the eve of the final against Spain, Lionel Messi has a golden opportunity to claim the 2026 World Cup Golden Boot outright. But a simple brace won't be enough to win it alone.
Mbappé, a fixed target at 10 goals
With France's elimination in the third-place match, Kylian Mbappé finished his tournament on 10 goals — a tally that won't change. Messi sits on 8 goals heading into the final, leaving him just one game to close the gap.
The maths for Messi
A brace against Argentina's opponents would bring Messi level with Mbappé at 10 goals apiece — not enough to be crowned outright top scorer. He'd need a hat-trick (or more) to clearly overtake the Frenchman and secure the Golden Boot beyond any doubt.
And if it finishes level?
Should Messi finish tied with Mbappé on goals, FIFA's regulations set out a series of tiebreakers: first the number of assists, then, if still level, total minutes played (the advantage going to whoever needed fewer minutes), and finally the number of goals scored outside of penalties. If everything remains identical, the award is shared between both players.
