What’s next for Messi, Mbappe, Haaland, Kane after hot scoring starts

It’s been a big World Cup for the big names so far. Several of the sport’s superstars have already made their mark on the tournament, starting by finding the back of the net at the first opportunity.

Lionel Messi set the benchmark by scoring a hat trick in Argentina’s dominant win over Algeria, proving that he is still a force to be reckoned with at the age of 38. Messi is among the frontrunners at 3/1 to win the Golden Boot for the first time in his career. It is one of the individual awards that has evaded him to date.

Argentina will continue the defence of the title they won in 2022 against Austria with Messi 1/1 to find the back of the net at any time. Messi has scored in five consecutive World Cup matches which is one match shy of the all-time record while Argentina are on a winning run of eight games in all competitions.

Manager Lionel Scaloni might be tempted to rest Messi for the final group game should Argentina be certain of their place in the knockout rounds, but points are still required to be sure of that and so the Inter Miami playmaker is expected to feature from the start. He will be a threat once again.

At 3/1, Kylian Mbappé is currently the co-favourite (with Messi) to add a second World Cup Golden Boot to his collection. The French forward bagged a brace in France’s opening victory over Senegal and appears fresh having missed a number of matches towards the end of last season through injury.

France face Iraq in their next group fixture. Considering the Asian outfit shipped four goals to Norway, Mbappé will surely have opportunities to add to his tally. The Real Madrid forward is 2/1 to score two or more goals. Two goals would see him equal the all-time World Cup scoring record of 16 goals, currently held by Messi and Miroslav Klose.

Harry Kane is another serious contender for the Golden Boot. The Bayern Munich forward is fresh from a season which saw him score an incredible 60 goals in all competitions at club level. He carried that form into the World Cup by scoring twice in England’s impressive 4-2 victory over Croatia to start their campaign.

Priced at 7/2, Kane is another forward who could get his hands on the Golden Boot for the second time in his career after finishing as top scorer at the 2018 World Cup. The 32-year-old might be an even more efficient finisher than he was back then and is spearheading England’s effort to win the World Cup for the first time since 1966.

Erling Haaland similarly got his World Cup campaign off to a strong start, scoring two of the four goals Norway scored against Iraq. The Manchester City striker scored an outrageous 16 goals in just eight qualifiers and will take some stopping as the most fearsome penalty box poacher at this summer’s tournament.

Indeed, Haaland has scored more than once in each of his last five appearances for Norway and is on a scoring run of 11 games in total for his national team. There could be some value in backing Haaland to win the Golden Boot at 10/1 even if Norway might ultimately play fewer games at the World Cup than some of his Golden Boot rivals.

Kai Havertz is another big name who has started his World Cup campaign on the front foot. The Arsenal striker helped himself to a brace in Germany’s 7-1 crushing of Curacao and could be fresher than some of his peers after playing only half the club season due to injury. Havertz shouldn’t be discounted as a Golden Boot contender, although he didn’t score in the German’s tense 2-1 victory against Ivory Coast.

Folarin Balogun should also be part of any early Golden Boot discussion. The Monaco striker bagged a brace in the USA’s eye-catching 4-1 win over Paraguay and is expected to lead the line in every match Mauricio Pochettino’s team plays. Balogun has scored seven times in his last 10 outings for club and country and is 33/1 to win the Golden Boot.

Mikel Oyarzabal was fancied by many to be among this World Cup’s top scorers. The Spain forward has drifted to 40/1 to win the Golden Boot after an underwhelming opening match against Cape Verde which saw Oyarzabal fail to touch the ball once in the opening 30 minutes. However, he rebounded with a two-goal effort against Saudi Arabia and is back in the mix at 6/1. Lamine Yamal also opened his World Cup account in that 4-0 win and is 18/1.

Messi, Mbappé and Haaland all play on Monday while Kane is in action on Tuesday. The race could be shaken up again after those matches.