Messi and Jairzinho Lead World Cup Goal Scorers Without the Golden Boot

Lionel Messi’s impressive goal tally at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where he scored seven goals, placed him in an elite group of players who have found the net prolifically without clinching the tournament’s top individual scorer award, the Golden Boot. He now shares this distinction with Brazilian icon Jairzinho, both having achieved seven goals in a single World Cup campaign without securing the accolade.

The 2026 World Cup is already seeing high goal counts, with both Messi and Kylian Mbappé reaching six goals, raising the possibility that the record for most goals scored without a Golden Boot could be broken this summer.

Por que importa

Jairzinho’s seven goals in Brazil’s triumphant 1970 campaign were overshadowed by Gerd Müller’s 10 goals for West Germany. Similarly, in 2022, Messi’s seven goals were surpassed by Mbappé’s hat-trick in the final, which took him to eight goals and the Golden Boot. Despite missing out on the scoring award, Messi was recognized with the Golden Ball for the tournament’s best player and secured the World Cup trophy.

The history of the World Cup is replete with instances of players scoring heavily but falling short of the Golden Boot. In 1954, a high-scoring tournament with an average of 5.38 goals per game, Max Morlock of West Germany, Erich Probst of Austria, and Josef Hügi of Switzerland all netted six goals, finishing five behind the prolific Sandor Kocsis of Hungary.

Contexto

Four years later, in 1958, Pelé and Helmut Rahn scored six goals each, a remarkable feat that still placed them seven goals behind the tournament’s top scorer, Just Fontaine, who astonishingly scored 13 goals.

A particularly poignant near-miss occurred in 1978 when Rob Rensenbrink’s stoppage-time shot in the final famously hit the post. Had that shot gone in, Rensenbrink would have secured the Golden Boot with six goals, edging out Mario Kempes’s five. The Dutch forward would have also potentially won the World Cup, as Kempes’s goal in extra time decided the final.

The Women’s World Cup also features similar stories. In 1991, Germany’s Heidi Mohr scored seven goals but was outdone by the USA’s Michelle Akers-Stahl, who notched 10. In 2007, Abby Wambach of the USA and Norway’s Ragnhild Gulbrandsen both scored six goals, but were pipped by Brazil’s Marta, who finished with seven.

More recently, in the 2019 tournament, Alex Morgan of the USA and England’s Ellen White both finished with six goals. While Morgan led in assists, a penalty scored by her teammate Megan Rapinoe secured the Golden Boot for Rapinoe herself, also with six goals but more assists. The narrative highlights the fine margins, as had Morgan assisted Rapinoe’s penalty, she might have taken the top scorer title.

Key facts

These records underscore the competitive nature of World Cup scoring races, where individual brilliance can sometimes be eclipsed by a teammate or a late surge from a rival, even when a player’s goal tally is exceptionally high.

Source: The Guardian Football – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/01/knowledge-world-cup-most-goals-without-golden-boot