Argentina superstar Lionel Messi has once again taken the lead in the race for the World Cup's Golden Boot award after scoring his eighth goal in his country's thrilling 3-2 win over Egypt in the round of 16 on Tuesday.

Messi's goal brought Argentina back on level terms after they were 2-0 down in the match in Atlanta, and also helped him break away from the rest of the pack.

For three days, French talisman Kylian Mbappe and Argentinian great Lionel Messi rubbed shoulders as the joint leaders – with seven goals apiece – in the race to be the tournament's top goal scorer, but Haaland's double in Norway's round of 16 win against Brazil put him level with both on Sunday.

When the World Cup's knockout stage began, Messi became the first to reach seven goals when Argentina beat Cape Verde on Friday, and Mbappe matched him a day later as France beat Paraguay.

England's Harry Kane took his tally to six goals after scoring in England's thrilling 3-2 win over Mexico late on Sunday. Spain's Mikel Oyarzabal and Mbappe's teammate Ousmane Dembele are hot on their heels with four goals each.

FIFA's Golden Boot is awarded to the player with the most goals at the end of the tournament. France's Mbappe is the current holder after scoring eight goals in Qatar at the 2022 World Cup. If two players are tied on the same number of goals, the player with the most assists wins. If still tied, the player who achieved the goals and assists in the least minutes wins.

Entering the quarterfinals, Mbappe gets his chance first to increase his goal tally when France plays Morocco on Thursday. French forward Just Fontaine holds the record after scoring an incredible 13 goals at the 1958 tournament in Sweden.

Source: www.aljazeera.com