The exciting race for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Boot is heating up as French talisman Kylian Mbappe successfully overtook Argentine maestro Lionel Messi at the top of the goalscoring charts, driving defending champion France into the semi-finals with a clinical 2-0 win over Morocco on Thursday.The Real Madrid superstar experienced a rollercoaster night at Gillette Stadium. Mbappé initially missed a golden opportunity to put his team ahead in the 28th minute when he drew a foul from Moroccan defender Noussair Mazraoui inside the box. However, Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou read the penalty perfectly, diving low to his left to deny the French captain.Undeterred by first-half penalty heartbreak, the French forward produced a moment of absolute magic in the 60th minute. Dribbling deep into the penalty area, Mbappé unleashed a rocket of a goal that flew past the keeper and nestled inside the post. The stunning strike marked his eighth goal of this edition, pulling him level with Messi and putting him one goal ahead of Norway’s goal machine Erling Haaland. Mbappe claimed the top spot in the scoring charts from Messi as he had three assists, two more than the Argentine legend.North Africa’s resistance completely collapsed six minutes later when winger Ousmane Dembélé headed home to double the lead. With the game safely secured, coach Didier Deschamps replaced his star striker in the 77th minute, allowing Mbappé to receive a standing ovation from the packed stadium.Apart from the Golden Boot race, Mbappé continues to rewrite the football history books. The strike was his 20th career World Cup goal in just 20 appearances at the tournament. He is just one goal behind Messi on the all-time World Cup scoring list. The Argentine legend now leads the way with 21 goals in 31 games in six editions.The pressure now shifts back to the opposing camps. Haaland will lead the line for Norway against England in their quarter-final on Saturday, while Messi will be looking to regain absolute leadership when Argentina take on Switzerland later on the same night.