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It should come as no surprise that the world's elite players have shown up to deliver at this year's World Cup.
The largest, most expansive, most-watched, and best-attended tournament in recent memory was always primed to showcase spectacular performances from the sport's biggest stars, but the past two weeks across North America have surpassed even the loftiest expectations of the most devoted football enthusiasts time and again. At times, you need to step back and remind yourself that this year's Golden Boot race is not merely a Ballon d'Or shortlist—despite some familiar faces at the top. That's just how extraordinary things have been.
As the group stage draws to a close and the knockout rounds begin in earnest, signaling the true start of the competition, a compelling storyline is beginning to take shape.
Argentina's Lionel Messi appears to rewrite the record books every time he takes the field, and he memorably claimed the title of all-time leading scorer in World Cup history with 18 goals—and still counting—during his second outing, netting a brace against Austria. Given that the defending champions appear well-positioned to advance deep into the tournament along a favorable route, it's worth stressing that he is more than capable of pushing that tally well beyond former record-holder Miroslav Klose's mark.
For all of Messi's well-earned brilliance as he simultaneously marks his 39th birthday, such a feat would ordinarily place him in territory where you'd confidently say he'll hold the top spot for years to come. All-time records tend to carry a certain semi-permanence, becoming embedded as reference points that are revisited tournament after tournament.
Yet in this particular case, one has to wonder whether the torch could be passed twice within the span of two months.
France's talismanic Kylian Mbappé is breathing down Messi's neck, having scored 16 goals in 16 World Cup appearances to draw level with former record-holder Klose. At just 27 years of age, he appears to have ample opportunity to match or overtake the Argentine on the all-time list—potentially as soon as next month, should he help steer Les Bleus to the final in New Jersey.
This pursuit between two all-time greats, from nominally different generations yet still sharing the same World Cup stage, echoes a famous chase from another sport entirely.
Tiger Woods' pursuit of Jack Nicklaus.
Messi is, of course, the elder statesman—the one who has planted the milestone for all others to chase. He has accumulated career honors the way some collect Mardi Gras beads. His standing as one of the greatest to ever grace the sport, if not the greatest, is virtually unanimous. He conjures moments of magic on the pitch that captivate even casual fans at the mere prospect of him bearing down on goal.
Much like Nicklaus, he has frequently had to contend with comparisons to celebrated predecessors who carried an air of mythology—fellow Argentine Diego Maradona in Messi's case, Ben Hogan in Nicklaus's—as well as fierce rivalries with contemporaries that helped elevate their respective sports to new heights. Messi's career has, after all, been largely intertwined with Cristiano Ronaldo as a natural counterpart through their battles on opposing sides of El Clásico, just as golf would not be what it is today without the Golden Bear's decades-long rivalry with Arnold Palmer.