Germany's Kai Havertz, Sweden's Yasin Ayari, and Folarin Balogun from the United States are leading the chase for the adidas Golden Boot at the FIFA World Cup 2026. Each player has scored two goals in their first matches.
Balogun, the 25-year-old striker for AS Monaco, made history by becoming the first American to score multiple goals in a World Cup match since 1930. He scored twice in the first half of the co-hosts' 4-1 win over Paraguay in Group D at Los Angeles Stadium.
This is a Monday update from our correspondent, based on information from FIFA's website.
On June 14, Germany's Kai Havertz matched Balogun's achievement with two goals in Germany's impressive 7-1 victory over World Cup newcomers Curaçao in a Group E match in Houston.
Later that same day, Sweden's Yasin Ayari joined their ranks by scoring twice in Sweden's 5-1 win against Tunisia.
As many teams in the tournament of 48 nations have yet to play their first matches, the Golden Boot standings will likely change as the tournament continues.
Golden Boot Criteria
The adidas Golden Boot goes to the player who scores the most goals during the FIFA World Cup finals.
If two or more players finish with the same number of goals, the first tie-breaker is the number of assists, as decided by FIFA's Technical Study Group. If they are still tied after looking at assists, the total minutes played is considered. The player with fewer minutes played ranks higher.
As the group stage rolls on and more teams start their matches, the fight for the top-scorer award remains open.
Current adidas Golden Boot Standings
Two Goals
Folarin Balogun (USA), 2 goals, 0 assists, 77 minutes played
Yasin Ayari (Sweden), 2 goals, 0 assists, 100 minutes played
Kai Havertz (Germany), 2 goals, 0 assists, 100 minutes played
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