Goals scored in the third-place play-off will count toward the FIFA World Cup Golden Boot race at World Cup 2026, keeping the award alive for players who have one last match to improve their tally. Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham remain in contention heading into the final two games.
That matters now because France and England meet in the third-place play-off on Saturday, before Spain play Argentina in the final a day later. Mbappe and Lionel Messi are level on eight goals, but Messi leads the race because he has one more assist. Behind them, Erling Haaland has seven goals and cannot add to them after Norway's quarter-final exit, while Kane and Bellingham have six goals each and Dembele and Mikel Oyarzabal have five apiece.
The prize is still open because the third-place match is not an exhibition. Goals there count exactly the same as goals in the final or any earlier round, and the standings can shift in one swing. That is why the search around the FIFA World Cup Golden Boot has turned so sharply to Saturday, when England and France will both know that one clean finish could change the shape of the race.
There is another reason the match still carries weight. The Golden Boot race could well be decided by how strong a side England and France each field, and history suggests that even teams with little left to prove do not always sit back. When England faced Belgium in the same match in 2018, Gareth Southgate made five changes from the team that had lost to Croatia in the semi-finals. Harry Kane started that game and did not score.
The record also shows how often this match has mattered to the award itself. Seven previous World Cup Golden Boot winners scored in the third-place play-off, and four of those seven needed those goals to win it. Thomas Muller in 2010, Davor Suker in 1998, Salvatore Schillaci in 1990 and Leonidas in 1938 all benefited from a goal in that match. Grzegorz Lato in 1974, Eusebio in 1966 and Just Fontaine in 1958 would have won even without theirs.
So the last two matches are not just about finishing the tournament; they are about finishing the scoring race cleanly. If France or England leave room for one more strike on Saturday, the Golden Boot could change hands before the final whistle on Sunday.
