{"id":6199,"date":"2026-07-03T16:08:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T16:08:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6199"},"modified":"2026-07-03T16:08:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T16:08:45","slug":"messi-returns-to-the-field-and-golden-boot-race-at-the-world-cup-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6199","title":{"rendered":"Messi returns to the field and Golden Boot race at the World Cup continues"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Argentina\u2019s Lionel Messi spalshes water on his head to cool down during a training session on the eve of the team\u2019s World Cup round of 32 soccer match against Cape Verde, Thursday, July 2, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo\/Rebecca Blackwell)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. \u2014 Lionel Messi resumes his chase of the Golden Boot on Friday.<\/p>

Read more James Dolan cedes day-to-day running of the NHL\u2019s New York Rangers to son Quentin<\/a><\/p>\n

Argentina\u2019s captain \u2014 widely considered the greatest player ever \u2014 returns to the World Cup pitch when the defending champions take on Cape Verde in the round of 32. Messi has six goals in this World Cup, tied with France\u2019s Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 for the tournament lead.<\/p>\n

The Golden Boot is presented to the top goal-scorer.<\/p>\n

Messi and Mbapp\u00e9 are far from being the only contenders: Norway\u2019s Erling Haaland and England\u2019s Harry Kane each have five goals entering Friday, while four more players \u2014 France\u2019s Ousmane Dembele, Spain\u2019s Mikel Oyarzabal, Brazil\u2019s Vinicius Junior and Senegal\u2019s Ismaila Sarr have four. Sarr is out of the running since Senegal has been eliminated.<\/p>\n

Norway, England and France have all clinched spots in the round of 16; Argentina and Messi need a win over Cape Verde to join them in that round.<\/p>

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Messi has been on an absolute goal-scoring tear, with at least one goal in his last seven World Cup matches going back to 2022 \u2014 something no men\u2019s player has ever accomplished in the tournament\u2019s history. He has 11 goals in those seven games, pushing his career total to 19. That\u2019s also the most in World Cup history, one ahead of Mbapp\u00e9.<\/p>\n

The Golden Boot is something Messi has never won. He finished second in that race with seven goals at the 2022 World Cup, one behind Mbapp\u00e9, and tied for third with four goals at the 2014 World Cup.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s a tie atop the goal list when the tournament ends, FIFA will use assists as the first tiebreaker and fewest minutes played as the second tiebreaker. Entering Friday, that meant Mbapp\u00e9 would have the edge over Messi based on his 2-0 lead in assists.<\/p>

Read more White and green McLarens reflect F1\u2019s movie heritage at British Grand Prix<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

See more of AP\u2019s World Cup coverage here<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lionel Messi resumes his chase of the Golden Boot on Friday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nMessi returns to the field and Golden Boot race at the World Cup continues - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6199\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Messi returns to the field and Golden Boot race at the World Cup continues - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lionel Messi resumes his chase of the Golden Boot on Friday\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6199\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-03T16:08:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0519164b2b4a92f25e6bbec4fdd7d3fc.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6199#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6199\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Messi returns to the field and Golden Boot race at the World Cup continues\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-03T16:08:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6199\"},\"wordCount\":409,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6199#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2c85d4954dfeda2b0929c18092c1e490.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6199#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6199\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6199\",\"name\":\"Messi returns to the field and Golden Boot race at the World Cup continues - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6199#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6199#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2c85d4954dfeda2b0929c18092c1e490.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-03T16:08:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6199#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6199\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6199#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2c85d4954dfeda2b0929c18092c1e490.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2c85d4954dfeda2b0929c18092c1e490.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1333,\"caption\":\"Argentina's Lionel Messi spalshes water on his head to cool down during a training session on the eve of the team's World Cup round of 32 soccer match against Cape Verde, Thursday, July 2, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 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