Messi, Mbappe, Haaland and Kane are chasing a World Cup scoring record that has stood for 68 years

Dubai: We are two weeks into this World Cup and the top scorers are putting up numbers that do not look normal.

Lionel Messi has five goals in two games. Kylian Mbappe has four in two. Erling Haaland has four in two. Harry Kane has two from just one match and plays again tonight. The group stage is not even finished and these four are already on pace to do something the World Cup has not seen in nearly 70 years.

In most tournaments, the Golden Boot winner finishes with five to eight goals across the whole event. This time, multiple players could hit double figures. Only three men have ever reached 10 or more goals in a single World Cup: Just Fontaine (13 in 1958), Sandor Kocsis (11 in 1954) and Gerd Muller (10 in 1970). This summer, three or four players are genuinely on track to join that list.

Messi: 5 goals

He opened with a hat-trick against Algeria in Kansas City on 16 June. It was his first ever World Cup hat-trick. He was in tears after the first goal for personal reasons he kept private. By the third, he had tied Miroslav Klose's all-time record of 16 World Cup goals.

Six days later against Austria, he missed an early penalty in the ninth minute. Most 38-year-olds would let that rattle them. Messi scored twice anyway. The first came when he swept home a trademark left-footed finish in the 38th minute. The second came deep in stoppage time when he fiercely squeezed the ball past a wall of defenders on the goal line. That took him to 18 career World Cup goals, breaking Klose's record outright and overtaking Marta's 17 as the highest tally in men's or women's World Cup history.

He has now scored in six consecutive World Cup matches. Only two players have ever done that before: Just Fontaine in 1958 and Jairzinho in 1970. He has scored all five of Argentina's goals in this tournament. He turns 39 on tomorrow.

Argentina are already through to the round of 32, with one more group game against Jordan on 27 June.

Mbappe: 4 goals

The defending Golden Boot winner is right behind Messi and showing no intention of handing over the crown.

He scored twice in France's opener against Senegal, including a brilliant solo run and strike from a tight angle that goalkeeper Edouard Mendy had no chance of reaching. He added two more in Monday's 3-0 win over Iraq, including one where he capitalised on a square pass from Ousmane Dembele after the Iraqi goalkeeper's mistake. The game also marked Mbappe's 100th cap for France, and his goals took his career World Cup total to 16, level with Klose's former record.

Mbappe is 27. He has already passed Olivier Giroud as France's all-time leading scorer. He has the best creative midfield in the tournament feeding him. And France are one of the favourites to reach the final, which means more games and more chances.

No player in history has won back-to-back Golden Boots. Mbappe is trying to be the first.

Haaland: 4 goals

This is Norway's first World Cup since 1998. Twenty-eight years of waiting, and Haaland has made up for lost time immediately.

He scored twice on his debut in a 4-1 win over Iraq, then added two more in a dramatic 3-2 victory over Senegal on Monday night. Norway had to hold on after Senegal pulled a goal back in the 93rd minute, but the three points were secured.

After just two games, Haaland is already Norway's all-time leading World Cup scorer. When asked after the Iraq game whether he considered himself the best striker in world football, he kept it simple: "I would say I'm up there."

Norway are not among the favourites to go deep, which could limit how many games Haaland gets. But if they make it out of the group, the knockout rounds could get very interesting.

Kane: 2 goals (with more coming tonight)

Harry Kane opened with a brace in England's 4-2 win over Croatia, including a penalty and a towering header from a Declan Rice corner. That took his career World Cup total to 10, tying Gary Lineker's record as England's highest ever scorer in the tournament.

Kane won the Golden Boot in 2018 with six goals. If he wins it again, he becomes the first player in history to claim it twice. England face Ghana tonight and are expected to dominate, so the tally is very likely going up.

The chasers making noise

It is not just the big four. There are several players building strong cases behind them.

Jonathan David scored a hat-trick in Canada's 6-0 win over Qatar, taking his tally to three. The Juventus forward is Canada's all-time leading scorer and has been clinical when the chances have come.

Germany's Deniz Undav was not on anyone's radar before the tournament but the Stuttgart super-sub already has three goals and is proving that you do not need to start every game to be in the conversation.

Folarin Balogun got the USA off to a dream start with two goals in a 4-1 win over Paraguay. Spain's Mikel Oyarzabal has two from the thrashing of Saudi Arabia. Japan's Ayase Ueda scored twice against Tunisia. Morocco's Ismael Saibari has two including the winner against Scotland. Netherlands winger Crysencio Summerville and Canada's Cyle Larin are also on two.

A few more names could join the mix tonight

Portugal face Uzbekistan at 9pm UAE time. Cristiano Ronaldo is yet to score in the tournament and will be desperate to get off the mark. England play Ghana at midnight, giving Kane his chance to move to three or four and close the gap on the leaders.

Why this feels different from every other Golden Boot race

In previous World Cups, one or two players usually pull away and the rest fall off. In 2022, Mbappe won with eight goals but only two others reached five. In 2018, Kane won with six. In 2014, James Rodriguez won with six and nobody else passed five.

This time, four of the biggest names in world football are all scoring at a rate that has never been seen simultaneously at a single World Cup. The expanded 48-team format means more matches, more knockout rounds and more opportunities to keep scoring.

Fontaine's 1958 record of 13 goals in a single tournament has stood for 68 years. It has never been seriously threatened. For the first time, it genuinely looks like it could fall.

And we are not even out of the group stage yet.