Argentine national team player Lionel Messi leads the list of top scorers at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico with three goals.
Messi scored three goals after leading his country to a 3-0 victory over Algeria in their opening Group J match at Kansas City Stadium.
Messi's three goals in this match came in the 17th, 60th, and 76th minutes. His first hat trick in a World Cup, not only took him to the top of the all-time scorers list, but also tied Germany's Miroslav Klose for the all-time World Cup goalscorer with 16 goals.
Messi's hat-trick surpassed the record held by Kylian Mbappe for France and Erling Haaland for Norway, who had just scored twice to lead their countries to victory in their opening 2026 World Cup campaign on the same day.
Mbappe's two goals in the 66th and 90+6th minutes led France to a 3-1 victory over Senegal at New York Stadium, New Jersey, East Rutherford, while Haaland's double in the 29th and 43rd minutes marked his World Cup debut with Norway's 4-1 victory over Iraq.
Besides Mbappe and Haaland, the only two goalscorer at the World Cup was Folarin Balogun of the United States, who led his country to a 4-1 victory over Paraguay from Group D in their opening match on Saturday.
Following Balogun, Kai Havertz scored a brace at the 2026 World Cup as Germany thrashed Curacao 7-1 in Group E on Monday. Shortly after Havertz, Yasin Ayari equalized the feat, leading Sweden to a 5-1 victory over Tunisia in Group F.
On Tuesday, New Zealand's Elijah Just followed in the footsteps of those players as his country drew 2-2 against Iran in Group G.
The list of top scorers in the first week of the 2026 World Cup is still subject to change as there are still four matches remaining, starting.
The final four matches to be played are Portugal versus the Democratic Republic of Congo in Group K, England versus Croatia in Group L, Ghana versus Panama in Group L, and Uzbekistan versus Colombia in Group K.
