What happened when four players tied for the 2010 World Cup Golden Boot award? Can Messi and Mbappe do the same?

The race for the Golden Boot at the 2026 FIFA World Cup is heading towards an end remarkably similar to one of the closest battles in the tournament’s history.Lionel Messi currently leads the standings with eight goals and four assists, slightly ahead of France captain Kylian Mbappe, who scored eight goals and three assists.

Although both players are equal in goals, Messi leads because the first tiebreaker in FIFA is assists.While France is still scheduled to face England in the third-place play-off before Argentina meets Spain in the World Cup final, the race is far from over. It’s a situation reminiscent of the dramatic end to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, when four players finished level on goals and FIFA was forced to separate them using an official tie-break.

The 2010 World Cup produced one of the closest Golden Boot runs ever.German Thomas Muller, Spaniard David Villa, Dutchman Wesley Sneijder, and Uruguayan Diego Forlan each finished the tournament with five goals.Instead of announcing joint winners, FIFA applied its own official ranking criteria.Müller also contributed three assists, while Villa, Sneijder and Forlan each finished with one assist.

That gave the German striker the Golden Boot even though the four players were tied on goals.The remaining positions were then determined by the following tiebreaker: minutes played.Villa was awarded the Silver Boot because he played fewer minutes than the remaining players.Sneijder was awarded the Bronze Boot after clocking fewer minutes than Forlan, leaving the Uruguayan captain in fourth place despite leveling with the others in terms of goals.The final ranking was:

Interestingly, both Muller and Forlan scored one goal each in the third place match. Germany defeated Uruguay 3-2 to secure the bronze medal, but Müller’s superior passing ensured he remained at the top of the Golden Boot standings.

Although often described as a consolation match, the third-place match is still considered an official FIFA World Cup match.Every goal, assist and minute played contributes to the Golden Boot race.History has produced many examples where the match directly affected the outcome of the award.In the 1958 World Cup finals, French striker Just Fontaine scored an astonishing four goals against West Germany in the third-place play-off to finish with 13 goals, a record for a single World Cup tournament that still stands today.Four decades later, at the 1998 World Cup, Croatian striker Davor Šuker scored the winning goal in a 2-1 win over the Netherlands in the third-place match.

This goal took him to six goals, earning the Golden Boot ahead of all other competitors.

Why could 2026 produce another tiebreaker?

The current standings show how finely balanced the race is.

Messi stepped forward after providing two assists in Argentina’s thrilling 2-1 semi-final against England. Although he did not score, his passes to Enzo Fernandes and Lautaro Martinez took his assist tally to four, one more than Mbappe.The elimination of France did not end Mbappe’s chances, because the French team still faces England in the third-place match.

Any goals scored there count towards the Golden Boot, giving the French captain one last chance to move on before Messi plays Spain in the World Cup final.How does FIFA decide the Golden Shoe?FIFA applies three criteria to determine the winner:

These precise regulations are what decided the award in 2010, and they could be decisive again if Messi and Mbappe finish the 2026 tournament on equal terms in terms of number of goals.

The prize is often decided by good margins in recent tournaments:

With Messi and Mbappe still level on eight goals, another Golden Boot race could ultimately be decided not by goals alone, but by the same tie-break rules that separated Müller, Villa, Sneijder and Forlan in South Africa 16 years ago.