The golden shoe is on fire between Messi and Mbappé.

Lionel Messi, the star of the Argentine national football team, faces a tough task to catch up with Frenchman Kylian Mbappé in the race for the Golden Boot.

The captain of Argentina has won almost all the major titles in the world of football, except for the World Cup top scorer award, and is now two goals behind Mbappé, after the French striker raised his tally to 10 goals by scoring two in the thrilling third-place playoff.

Even if Messi does not succeed in clinching the Golden Boot, he seems very close to winning the Golden Ball for the best player of the tournament for the third time in his career, ahead of Argentina's match against Spain in the World Cup final later today, Sunday, in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Messi is the only player to have won the Golden Ball for the best player in the World Cup more than once since its inception in 1978, and leading Argentina to a second consecutive final at the age of thirty-nine enhances his chances of winning it again.

Lionel Scaloni, the coach of Argentina, said: "It's history... It's the legend."

Additionally, after the final match, the Golden Glove award for the best goalkeeper and the best young player award, designated for the best player aged 21 or younger, will also be awarded.

The Spanish national team appears to be a strong contender for one or both of the awards, as their goalkeeper Unai Simon has conceded only one goal in seven matches, alongside the remarkable performance of forward Lamine Yamal (19 years old), who continues to prove he is one of the most promising talents in world football.

Messi stands on the other side of an extraordinary career that has seen him crowned the best player in the world with the Golden Ball eight times, a record.

Despite this, the Golden Boot in the World Cup remains elusive from his collection, even though he entered the last two matches of the tournament as the top scorer, having tied with Mbappé at eight goals each after the semi-finals, with an advantage in the assists metric.

However, Mbappé scored two goals in France's loss to England with a score of 4-6 in the third-place playoff, becoming the first player to score 10 goals in a single World Cup since the German legend Gerd Müller in 1970.

Mbappé also won the Golden Boot in the Qatar World Cup four years ago when France lost the final to Argentina. This time, he could join names like Italian Salvatore Schillaci in 1990, Croatian Davor Šuker in 1998, and German Thomas Müller in 2010, whose goals in the third-place match led them to win the Golden Boot.