The 2026 World Cup is expected to be the last in which we see Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo competing against each other.
Ronaldo is already 41 years old, while Inter Miami star Messi is 38, making it unlikely that either will feature at the tournament in 2030.
But despite both players now being in the twilight of their careers, fellow superstar Kylian Mbappe thinks the duo will be among the top goal scorers at this year’s World Cup, though Ronaldo will net more because he is a striker.
Cristiano Ronaldo backed to be one of the top goalscorers at 2026 World Cup
In an interview with Fiago via TikTok, Mbappe was asked to predict who will score the most goals at the tournament.
He was given a number of notable names to choose from in winner-stays-on style rounds, and picked Messi to outscore his Real Madrid teammate, Vinicius Jr, in the third-from-last pick. He said “Leo, yeah, Leo will score goals at the World Cup.”
However, the Frenchman was then asked to decide who will find the back of the net more out of Messi and the Argentine’s long-time rival, Ronaldo.
He selected CR7, explaining that he made his decision because Cristiano is a striker. The Real Madrid forward said: “Cristiano is the striker, so I will go with Cristiano.”
But he still doesn’t think that Ronaldo will end the 2026 World Cup as the top goalscorer.
After choosing Ronaldo over Messi, Mbappe was then asked to predict who will score more out of the former Manchester United star and himself at the tournament, and confidently responded: “Ah me, of course. Me, me, me.”
Who has scored the most goals at a World Cup?
Despite being one of the greatest players of all time, Ronaldo has only scored eight goals at World Cups in the past.
Messi, on the other hand, has 13 to his name, meaning four goals this summer would see him surpass Miroslav Klose for the most goals scored at the tournament overall (16).
Meanwhile, former French player Just Fontaine holds the record for finding the back of the net on the most occasions at a single World Cup.
He scored on a staggering 13 occasions back in 1958, a record it is hard to imagine will ever be beaten in modern football.
