Mbappé Makes History With 10 Goals and Two Golden Boots — But Spain Takes Everything
Mbappé becomes the first player ever to win the Golden Boot at two consecutive World Cups with 10 goals, yet Spain are champions and Rodri claims the Golden Ball.
Ten goals in eight games. Two consecutive tournaments as top scorer. And yet Kylian Mbappé left the 2026 World Cup without the one thing he wanted most.
The French forward became the first player in history to win the Golden Boot at two consecutive World Cups — having done the same in Qatar in 2022. This time he reached ten goals, a mark no man had hit in a single tournament since Gerd Müller in 1970. Only two players in history have scored more: Just Fontaine, with 13 in 1958, and Sándor Kocsis, with 11 in 1954.
Yet Mbappé himself sounded ambivalent in celebration. "When you score that many goals at a World Cup, it takes you to another level," he said after the match in Miami. But he added: "I would have preferred not to be the top scorer and to have played in the final. It's good for my legacy when I retire, but right now that's not what's on my mind."
The words say it all. France finished fourth, beaten 6–4 by England in a topsy-turvy semifinal — the third-place match turned into a spectacle, with a Bukayo Saka hat-trick and a comeback that almost happened. Mbappé scored twice in the second half and moved to 22 World Cup goals in history, surpassing Messi as the tournament's all-time top scorer.
Champions Spain swept the collective awards. Spanish captain Rodri took the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player. Golmetria's model had given Spain a 75.49% chance of lifting the title — and they delivered.
Mbappé is 27. If he makes it to the 2030 World Cup, the story could grow even larger. For now, he carries two individual prizes and one question he can't shake: when does the trophy come?