The thrilling race for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Boot heats up as France talisman Kylian Mbappe has overtaken Argentine maestro Lionel Messi at the top of the goalscoring charts, guiding defending champions France into the semi-finals with a clinical 2-0 win over Morocco on Thursday.The Real Madrid superstar experienced a roller-coaster evening 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 in the box. However, Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou read the penalty perfectly, breaking low to his left to deny the French captain.Unscathed by a first-half penalty, the French striker produced a moment of absolute magic in the 60th minute. Dribbling deep into the penalty area, Mbappé unleashed a trademark rocket that flew past the keeper and nestled just inside the post. The spectacular striker scored his eighth goal of this edition, taking him level with Messi and putting him one goal ahead of Norway’s goal-machine Erling Haaland. Mbappe has claimed the top spot in the goal charts from Messi as he has three assists, two more than the Argentine legend.North Africa’s resistance fell completely just 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.In addition to the Golden Boot race, Mbappé continues to rewrite the football history books. The strike was his 20th career World Cup goal in just 20 tournament appearances. He now sits just one goal behind Messi on the all-time World Cup points list. The Argentine legend currently leads with 21 goals in 31 games in six editions.The pressure is now back on the rival camps. Haaland will lead the line for Norway against England in their quarter-final on Saturday, while Messi will look to regain the lead when Argentina take on Switzerland later that night.