The exciting race for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot is heating up as French star Kylian Mbappe managed to catch top scorer Argentinian maestro Lionel Messi on Thursday as defending champions France advanced to the semi-finals with a 2-0 win over Morocco.The Real Madrid superstar endured a roller-coaster night at Gillette Stadium. In the 28th minute, Mbappe fouled Moroccan defender Mazraoui in the penalty area and missed an excellent opportunity to give the team the lead. However, Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou executed the penalty perfectly, diving low to the left to deny the France captain.Undeterred by a heartbreaking first-half penalty, the France striker produced a moment of absolute magic in the 60th minute. Mbappe dribbled the ball deep into the penalty area and unleashed a trademark rocket that flew past the goalkeeper and landed inside the post. The stunning strike was his eighth of the season, taking him level with Lionel Messi and one ahead of Norwegian goal machine Erling Haaland. Mbappe surpassed Messi to top the goal charts with 3 assists, 2 more than the Argentine legend.The North African resistance collapsed just six minutes later when winger Ousmane Dembélé doubled the lead. With the game safely over, coach Didier Deschamps replaced his star striker in the 77th minute, giving Mbappe a standing ovation.In addition to the Golden Boot, Mbappe continues to rewrite football history. It was his 20th career goal in 20 World Cup games. Currently, he is only one goal behind Messi on the World Cup all-time scoring list. The Argentine legend currently tops the list with 21 goals in 31 games across six editions of the tournament.Now the pressure has shifted to the opposing camp. Haaland will start for Norway in Saturday’s quarter-final against England, while Messi will be looking to regain a commanding lead when Argentina take on Switzerland that night.
