Kylian Mbappé sits on 12 World Cup goals for France. Just Fontaine scored 13, all in 1958. One goal ties it, two breaks it. That is the shortest distance between a living player and a national all-time record in this entire tournament, and 2026 is the likeliest place it gets closed.

Mbappé needs two

Fontaine’s 13 came in a single tournament. Mbappé has reached 12 across four tournaments for France, and if he features this year he needs just 2 goals to stand alone at the top. The expanded format gives a deep-running side 8 matches instead of 7. France will likely make it to the later rounds. This one falls.

Ronaldo needs two, Portugal has a succession problem

Cristiano Ronaldo has 8 goals for Portugal. Eusébio holds the national record at 9. Ronaldo needs 1 to tie, 2 to break it. That gap is as tight as Mbappé’s, but the situation is a lot messier. If he starts games in 2026 he has a realistic shot at 10. The record is within range, but we’ll see whether he’s handed the platform to reach it or not.

Kane is England’s live threat

Harry Kane has 8 goals for England. Gary Lineker’s national record is 10. Kane needs 3 to break it. That’s a heavier ask than the two cases above, but Kane as England’s penalty taker and first-choice striker gives him a structural advantage. The round of 32 in 2026 adds a match where a side like England would be heavily favoured, which means an extra opportunity from twelve yards or in open play. Three goals across up to 8 games is not unrealistic.

Messi already holds it, Álvarez is the future

Argentina’s national record belongs to Lionel Messi on 13. He passed Gabriel Batistuta’s 10 in Qatar, so the record changed hands as recently as 2022. The chaser in 2026 is Julián Álvarez, who scored 4 in Qatar and needs 10 more to break Messi’s mark. That is not going to happen in a single tournament. What 2026 can do is put Álvarez in position. A strong tournament puts him in the mid to high single figures, and suddenly he’s the one who chases Messi’s mark for the next decade. The record itself is safe for now.

Klose’s 16 is not Germany’s problem alone

Miroslav Klose’s 16 is not just the German national record, it is the all-time record across all countries ever to play in a World Cup. His fellow Germans, Kai Havertz and Niclas Füllkrug are on 2 each, needing 14 just to catch up. Nobody alive is closing that in one tournament or two. Klose scored across four editions between 2002 and 2014. It took him four tournaments over twelve years. Anyone starting from scratch would need to match that pace into the 2030s. The number will stand for a long time, and the German record will stand with it.

Fontaine’s record has waited 68 years. Mbappé is the first man close enough that the wait might actually end in 2026.