One joy of this World Cup has been the riot of goalscoring by great players. Leo Messi has netted five for Argentina even before Saturday’s potentially goal-rich encounter with Jordan. France’s Kylian Mbappé, Brazil’s Vinicius Júnior and Norway’s Erling Haaland have four each, while Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane lurk on two.
The greater race, though, is to be the World Cup’s all-time highest scorer. Since the tournament kicked off, Mbappé has equalled the 16 goals of the previous record-holder, Germany’s Miroslav Klose, while Messi has surged into the lead with 18.
Talking about personal stats is taboo in football. The standard line is that only the team matters, especially in the holiest competition, the World Cup. But, in fact, many great players do target personal achievements. More than that, they see these as intertwined with the team’s. A star’s egotistical drive can help win a World Cup.