Goal, goal, goal! The strongest No. 9 showdown in the 2026 World Cup is coming

Goals, goals, goals, centers are born to do this.

When we look at the historical scorer list of the World Cup, most of the golden boots are worn by No. 9, with only three exceptions in 1950, 1974, and 2014 - Admir in 1950 was actually the second forward, Lato in 1974 was a winger, and Rodriguez in 2014 played as an attacking midfielder.

In the remaining tournaments, the World Cup Golden Boot has been won by the center without exception. Starting from Stabile who won the championship with 8 goals in the 1930 finals, the tradition continues to this day.

In 2026, this tradition is likely to be pushed to the extreme: as long as we are healthy, we may welcome three super centers at their peak at the same time. They have just reached full form in the last wave of European qualifying games.

Kane (England), Mbappe (France), and Haaland (Norway) are three super centers who will start the most suspenseful battle for the top scorer in the history of the World Cup.

- Kane: Scored in 6 of 8 games, scoring 8 of England’s 22 goals

- Mbappe: Played only 4 games, contributed 5 of France’s 16 goals

- Haaland: Full attendance in 8 games, scoring 16 of Norway's 37 goals.

Cut the camera back to the club. The efficiency of the three is equally outrageous:

Kane 23 goals/17 games, Mbappe 18 goals/16 games, Haaland 19 goals/15 games.

When we extend the timeline to the entire national team career, the statistics of the three are still dazzling:

Kane has 78 goals in 112 games, Mbappe has 55 goals in 94 games, and Haaland has 55 goals in 48 games.

In addition to scoring goals, Mbappe also has hidden skills-40 assists, far exceeding Kane's 19 and Haaland's 6. All three of them are big scene men:

- Even if Kane is in average physical condition, he can still grab points to break the game in a life-and-death battle

- It has just been two years since Mbappe's famous scene of wearing a hat in the final

- Haaland carried Norway into the World Cup for the first time, beating Italy twice to win the group leader

For Norway, a country with a population of only 5 million and which has not played in the World Cup since 1998, Haaland is all hope. Although he is surrounded by familiar faces from the Premier League such as Odegaard, Bob, and Strand Larsen, the spotlight is only for him.

During the summer when he went to the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the whole world wanted to see how high this "scoring machine" could score goals.

England's bench is much deeper, but once Kane ceases playing, the Three Lions' chances of winning will still have to be rewritten. Don't forget, Captain Britain is still evolving - building a wall under his feet, retreating to organize, taking long-range shots, and adding new tricks every year. In terms of age, he is 7 years older than Haaland and 6 years older than Mbappe, but there is no sign of the accelerator being loose at all.

The tactical book is getting thicker and thicker. These three people remind everyone in the most primitive way: Football can be very simple-as long as your No. 9 can send the ball into the net again and again, there is no ceiling for your dream.

In 2026, let us wait and see the "mythical beasts" peck each other.