🤔Mbappé chasing Messi: how many goals behind Leo is Kylian?

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is the stage for a remarkable statistical race. After the tournament’s latest matchdays, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé continue finding the net, cementing a historic rivalry atop the competition’s all-time top scorers chart.

Messi at the summit of footballing Olympus

With his recent brace against Austria, the captain of the Argentina national team reached the extraordinary mark of 18 goals across six World Cup editions. With that tally, the Rosario-born star surpassed Germany’s Miroslav Klose (16 goals) and now stands alone as the all-time top scorer.

The French forward’s fierce scoring rate

Meanwhile, Les Bleus’ striker is right on his heels. Thanks to his outstanding performances against Senegal and Iraq, Mbappé climbed to 16 World Cup goals, matching Klose with an astonishing strike rate of one goal per game (16 goals in 16 matches).

At 27, the French phenom sits just two goals behind Messi, threatening to break the record in this very tournament.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.