Ikhtisar Velarde Camargo

The 2026 World Cup is well underway and so is the race for the prestigious Golden Boot - the award given to the tournament's top scorer. There's a long and winding road to be navigated as 48 nations battle for the top prize, but which star will take home the illustrious award? Here, GOAL tracks the tournament's most prolific stars.

Bruno Guimaraes has hit back at suggestions that Brazil are the overwhelming favourites against Norway, accusing Erling Haaland of cleverly shifting the pressure onto the five-time champions ahead of Sunday's World Cup round-of-16 clash, while also revealing his excitement for a personal battle with Martin Odegaard in midfield.

Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti has strongly defended his managerial credentials following intense scrutiny over his side's tactical style at the World Cup. The Italian tactician dismissed external critiques by pointing to his vast experience, asserting that former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is the only individual qualified to advise him.

The real World Cup is finally under way! After a group phase almost completely devoid of jeopardy because of the tournament's farcical format, the first batch of knockout games treated us to some long overdue drama, with Germany and Netherlands among the big names to fall in the round of 32. A couple more heavyweights could have been kayoed too, though.