Messi, Mbappé, Haaland's Great Challenge: Taking on Fontaine's 'Impenetrable' 13-Goal Record

The world's top goalscorers are heating up the scoring race, launching a challenge against an "impenetrable" record in football history.

Lionel Messi (38, Argentina), Kylian Mbappé (27, France), and Erling Haaland (25, Norway) all scored braces on June 23 (KST) in their respective second group stage matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Messi, playing for defending champion Argentina, added two goals against Austria, bringing his tally to five goals in just two matches to take the sole lead in the scoring charts.

France's Mbappé also added two goals against Iraq to reach four goals, while Norway's Haaland scored two goals in just 15 minutes of the second half against Senegal, also reaching the four-goal mark.

The combined total of goals scored by the three players is 13.

Coincidentally, this number is the same as the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup tournament, set by France's Just Fontaine at the 1958 Sweden World Cup.

Fontaine scored 13 goals in six matches at the time.

This record has not been threatened once in 68 years.

Since then, the only player to score double-digit goals in a single tournament was West Germany's Gerd Müller (10 goals) at the 1970 Mexico World Cup.

Since the 1974 West Germany tournament, the maximum goals scored by a top scorer has remained at eight.

Ronaldo (Brazil) in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup and Mbappé in the 2022 Qatar World Cup won the Golden Boot with eight goals each.

In modern football, 13 goals in a single tournament is virtually considered impenetrable.

With defensive organization becoming more sophisticated and the difficulty of matches rising sharply as the tournament progresses, it is not easy for a single player to carry the scoring in every match.

However, there is a new variable in this tournament.

As the number of participating countries increased from 32 to 48, a Round of 32 was newly established in the knockout stage.

The number of matches a team plays to reach the final has increased from seven to eight.

When Fontaine scored 13 goals, France played six matches.

Mathematically, Messi, Mbappé, and Haaland have been given two more matches.

The weight carried by the three players is different.

This is highly likely to be Messi's sixth and final World Cup.

With his goals against Austria, he has recorded 18 career World Cup goals, surpassing Miroslav Klose (Germany, 16 goals) to become the all-time leading goalscorer in World Cup history.

Mbappé is chasing Messi, tying Klose with 16 career goals.

He is aiming to be the World Cup's top scorer for the second consecutive tournament.

Haaland, making his World Cup debut, is the key figure who led Norway to the finals for the first time in 28 years.

Against Senegal, he was quiet in the first half, with a shot hitting the post, but scored the opening goal in a counterattack in the second half, followed by the winning goal when his right-footed shot hit the crossbar and bounced inside the goal line.

"He is the best striker. He is scoring goals for Norway, not France or Argentina," said Norway manager Ståle Solbakken. "While the Golden Boot favors players playing for France or Argentina, we will try to provide Haaland with more opportunities and support in the next match."

Haaland has scored in 12 consecutive matches for the Norway national team, netting 24 goals during this period.

Haaland, showing off his natural goal-scoring instinct, smiled and said about his secret, "I just have a talent for scoring goals, and I'm also quite lucky. I don't really know the secret."

Mbappé's France and Haaland's Norway will play their final group stage match on June 27.

It is expected to be a pride battle between the two goalscorers, while also deciding the top spot in Group I.

Meanwhile, Argentina, which has already secured a spot in the Round of 32 from Group J, will hunt for goals against underdog Jordan.

Whether Messi will continue his streak of braces in this match is also a point of interest.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.