Three of football's most lethal forwards are locked in a Golden Boot battle that may well go down as one of the finest in World Cup history — and the tournament is barely two games old for each of them.

Lionel Messi leads the standings with five goals from two appearances, while Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland sit joint-second on four goals apiece. This is only the second time in World Cup history that three players have each scored four or more goals after two matches — the first occasion came back in 1954.

Messi breaks the all-time record

Messi arrived at this tournament already etched into the history books, and he has wasted no time extending his legend. A double for Argentina against Austria took his World Cup tally to 18 goals from 28 appearances, moving him past Germany's Miroslav Klose — who entered this edition top of the all-time charts with 16 — to become the competition's greatest ever scorer.

Notably, Messi has scored all five of Argentina's goals at this tournament so far, underlining just how central he remains to their campaign at 38 years of age.

Mbappé draws level with Klose

Mbappé was not content to watch from afar. The Frenchman marked his 100th international appearance with two goals in France's weather-delayed win over Iraq, pulling level with Klose on 16 World Cup goals — achieved in as many matches. He now has his sights set on becoming the first striker to claim multiple Golden Boots, and on overhauling Messi's newly set record.

French football expert Julien Laurens told BBC Sport: