The first round of group-stage matches at the FIFA World Cup 2026 was full of action. Stars like Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, and Harry Kane all stepped up for their teams. The second round kept that energy going, and the excitement never stopped at the quadrennial event.
Messi lit up the show with three goals against Algeria in Argentina’s opening game, making him the oldest player ever in the history of the tournament to register a hat-trick. With his brace against Austria on Monday, the Argentine now leads the race for the Golden Boot with 5 goals. Kylian Mbappe, of France, and Erling Haaland, of Norway, both also scored braces against Iraq and Senegal respectively, adding two more to their tally and going joint-second in the race for the Golden Boot with 4 goals each.
Juventus striker Jonathan David also scored a brilliant hat-trick in co-hosts Canada’s 6–0 rout of Qatar. Germany’s Deniz Undav is level with David on 3 goals, after scoring a brace in Germany’s 2-1 win over Ivory Coast. He had also found the back of the net in Germany’s rout 7-1 over Curacao.
Undav also has only 69 minutes of game time to his name, having come in as a substitute for Germany in both matches. In addition to three goals, the German has two assists to his name, both coming against Curacao, as he leads the list of players with the most goal contributions in this tournament.
The list includes a few big names like Kylian Mbappe, who scored a brace in France’s 3-0 win over Iraq and now has 16 goals in the World Cup overall. Norway’s Erling Haaland is joint-second with Mbappe on 4 goals. Canada’s Jonathan David and Germany’s Deniz Undav are level on third with 3 goals each. Brazil’s Vinicius Junior & Matheus Cunha, England’s Harry Kane, Netherlands’ Crysencio Summerville, Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo, Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal are among the few players who have scored two goals in this World Cup so far.