Despite France’s World Cup hopes ending with a 2-0 semi-final defeat to Spain on Tuesday, Kylian Mbappe is not out of the race for the Golden Boot.
France will still play in Saturday’s third-place match and any goals scored in that game will count towards the Golden Boot standings. Les Bleus will face the loser of Wednesday’s semi-final between England and Argentina.
Mbappe and Lionel Messi are currently tied for the tournament lead with eight goals each. If they finish with the same number of goals, the Golden Boot will be decided by a FIFA tiebreaker:
- Most passes: The player with the most passes wins.
- Fewest minutes played: If the assists are also tied, the award goes to the player who scored the goal in fewer minutes.
Mbappe currently has the advantage with three assists compared to Messi’s two.
Mbappe played 609 minutes in seven matches, and Messi 531 minutes in six. If Messi plays at least 79 minutes against England on Wednesday, he will overtake Mbappe in total minutes played, meaning the tiebreaker will also be in the French star’s favour.
Despite losing in the semi-finals, Kylian Mbappe is +180 points to win the Golden Boot award (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images).
So what does Mbappe need to do to win a second Golden Boot in a row?
Now his most obvious path is to keep the standings as they are. If Messi does not score or record another assist in Argentina’s remaining matches, Mbappe will win the assist tiebreaker award if both score eight goals. Of course, they are both superior to the Englishmen Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham or the Spaniard Mikel Oyarzabal.
However, if Messi scores or makes an assist in Wednesday’s semi-final, Mbappe will likely have to respond in France’s third-place match to keep his hopes of a repeat Golden Boot alive.
Let’s take a look at the updated Golden Boot odds at FanDuel Sportsbook as of July 14th.
Current odds for Golden Boot winner:
Lionel Messi: -160 (bet $10 to win a total of $26.50)
Kylian Mbappe: +180 (bet $10 to win a total of $28)
Harry Kane: +950 (bet $10 to win $105)
Jude Bellingham: +1600 (bet $10 to win a total of $170)
Mikel Oyarzabal: +12500 (bet $10 to win a total of $1260)