Lionel Messi changed the shape of the World Cup record book in the first week of the tournament, scoring his first hat-trick against Algeria and drawing level with Miroslav Klose at the top of the competition’s all-time scoring chart. He will turn 39 on Wednesday, but the headline now is not his age. It is that he has forced his name into the same line as the tournament’s most prolific scorer.
That is why people are searching for who's winning the World Cup now: all 48 teams have completed one of their three group matches, and the opening round of games has already tilted the early player rankings. The updated list is built from a ratings model that rewards what happened on the field in matchday one, while still giving some credit to players who entered the tournament highly rated before a ball was kicked.
Messi was the loudest movement in the standings, but he was not alone. Harry Kane scored twice in England’s 4-2 win over Croatia, and Michael Olise was central to France’s victory over Senegal, creating the opener with what was described as the pass of the tournament so far while repeatedly picking his way through the Senegal defense. Kylian Mbappe added two more goals in that match, giving France another player who has already made a strong case for the top of the week-one list.
There was still a reminder that great attacking numbers do not tell the whole story. England’s win over Croatia ended 4-2, yet Kane still had to make a vital block in his own penalty area to stop late drama. That kind of detail matters in a rankings model built to measure impact, because a forward can dominate one end of the pitch and still be dragged into the other when a match tightens.
Elsewhere, Joshua Kimmich had two assists as Germany ran riot against Curacao, while Vinicius Junior scored a brilliant solo equaliser against Morocco and stayed a constant threat down the left. James Rodríguez also made his mark for Colombia, clipping a brilliant pass in behind the Uzbekistan defense for Daniel Munoz to flick home before later scoring after Utkir Yusupov had denied Colombia and then restored his side’s lead. Even Erling Haaland was involved in the kind of moment that can swing a ranking, chasing a weak back pass toward Iraq goalkeeper Jamal Hasan.
For now, the week-one table is less a finished answer than a live snapshot of the tournament’s opening argument. The rankings still lean toward players who arrived with a strong reputation, but Messi’s hat-trick, Kane’s goals, Olise’s invention and Kimmich’s control have already forced a reset. The next set of group matches will decide who keeps climbing and who gets pushed aside.
