World Cup 2026 Attacker Stats: Top Scorer, XG, Big Chances, Shots On Target & More

A scintillating set of Last 16 ties have lit the touchpaper under the 2026 World Cup, with the tournament’s biggest stars taking centre stage.

Kylian Mbappé’s decisive penalty against Paraguay set the ball rolling, before Norway talisman Erling Haaland bagged a brace to knock out five-time winners Brazil.

And we didn’t have to wait long for two more of international football’s big hitters to put on a show, when a Jude Bellingham double and Harry Kane’s second half spot kick saw England past Mexico.

Not to be outdone, Lionel Messi scored in Argentina’s stunning 3-2 comeback win against Egypt, with Morocco, Spain, Belgium and Switzerland all also progressing to the quarter-finals.

There is sure to be plenty more drama over the World Cup’s remaining rounds, but now feels like a good time to take a breath and dig into the data from the competition so far.

With that in mind, here are some of the key attacking stats from every match in the United States, Mexico and Canada to date…

World Cup Top Goalscorers: Messi in front but Mbappé, Haaland and Kane closing in

The World Cup Golden Boot race is hotting up, with little to separate the tournament’s top attackers.

Messi currently leads the way with eight strikes to his name, but Mbappé and Haaland are just behind with seven apiece.

Three Lions star Kane remains in contention after netting six times so far, but France’s Ousmane Dembélé, Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal and Bellingham have some catching up to do to boost their four-goal tallies.

Ismaïla Sarr (Senegal), Julián Quiñones (Mexico) and Vinícius Júnior (Brazil) are also level on four goals, but won’t have a chance to add to that number after exiting the competition in the Last 16.

Norway’s quarter-final clash with England could be pivotal in the top scorer stakes, with Haaland and Kane going head-to-head during Saturday’s tantalising match-up.

But Messi and Mbappé will also be confident of keeping their scoring streaks going, when the duo take on Switzerland and Morocco, respectively.

World Cup 2026 Top Goalscorers

World Cup Highest XG: Magic Messi outperforming expected goals

You may not be surprised to learn that Messi has the highest xG at the World Cup, coming in at 4.51 as things stand.

It is his overperformance that is perhaps more striking, though, with an eight-goal tally that is significantly higher than his xG figure.

That contrasts sharply with second-place Sarr, who has an xG almost exactly in line with the four goals he scored across four matches (3.98).

There is a general trend of overperformance among the tournament’s top scorers, though, with Haaland’s 3.97 xG – enough to put him in third place – notably below his seven strikes to date.

It is a more marginal difference when it comes to Cristiano Ronaldo in fourth (3.49 xG vs three goals), before the gap once again increases.

Mbappé has 3.33 expected goals in fifth, just in front of Kane (3.23), who is the final player to have an xG of over three after the Last 16.

World Cup 2026 Highest XG

World Cup Big Chances Scored: Hitman Haaland converts most clear opportunities

It’s hard to argue with Haaland’s record of seven goals so far, especially when two of them came against World Cup heavyweights Brazil.

And it is certainly true that no player at the tournament has converted more big chances than the Norway frontman, who has put away six high-quality opportunities.

However, it’s worth noting that Haaland has also missed five big chances – the joint-most with Mbappé.

That is likely to be because of the sheer volume of chances they are being presented with. But it does contrast with Spain star Oyarzabal who has converted four such opportunities, while missing just one.

It puts Oyarzabal joint-second on the list of big chances scored, alongside Bellingham, Kane, Sarr and the aforementioned Mbappé.

Deniz Undav (Germany), Brian Brobbey (Netherlands) and Matheus Cunha (Brazil) probably deserve a special mention, too. They were ice cold in front of goal, each scoring all three of the big chances that were presented to them.

World Cup 2026 Big Chances Scored

World Cup Most Shots: Messi and Mbappé prioritise volume

When it comes to sheer volume of shots, two players at this World Cup stand above the rest.

Messi has amassed 29 efforts at goal, with Mbappé just behind on 26. That’s notably more than the trio of Kane, Oyarzabal and Colombia’s Luis Díaz, who all sit on 19 shots after their Last 16 fixtures.

Then there are a whole host of players just behind on 18 – Haaland, Ronaldo, Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Raúl Jiménez (Mexico) and Jonathan David (Canada).

Things get even more interesting if we look at most shots on a per 90 minutes basis, though.

Messi is still in the lead with 6.37, but two Türkiye players in Kenan Yildiz (5.75) and Hakan Çalhanoglu (5.5) are in second and third.

Vincenzo Montella’s team racked up plenty of chances against their Group D opponents Paraguay, Australia and the USA yet couldn’t convert them – becoming the second team eliminated from the tournament as a result.

World Cup 2026 Most Shots

World Cup Most Shots On Target: Familiar duo top the charts

It’s all very well amassing a high number of shots, but accuracy is also essential.

Fortunately for Messi and Mbappé, they are top of the tree for both shots and shots on target, reflecting two players who are at the pinnacle of the global game.

The pair have each mustered 17 shots across their five matches played, which is ahead of Haaland (12), Vinícius Júnior (11) and Kane (10), though it should be noted that Haaland has played one game less than every other player mentioned.

Of course, a high number of shots on target doesn’t necessarily equate to being the most effective marksman in front of goal. For that we perhaps need to look at shooting accuracy as a percentage.

If we focus exclusively on players who have had at least eight efforts over the tournament then Alexander Isak and Bellingham lead the way.

The former got six of his eight shots on target (75%) as Sweden reached the Last 32, while England’s No.10 can boast a comparable record with nine out of 12 shots on target (also 75%).

Elsewhere, Haaland and Belgium’s Maxim De Cuyper sit on 66.67%, with Mbappé (65.38%) and Vinícius (64.71%) a little further behind.

Gonzalo Plata (62.5%) of Ecuador and the Netherlands’ Cody Gakpo (60%) round off the list of players to have at least a 60% shooting accuracy at the 2026 World Cup.

World Cup 2026 Most Shots On Target