Walking football stars: Messi and Mbappe lead unexpected anti-rating of 2026 World Cup
Strikers Lionel Messi (Argentina national team) and Kylian Mbappe (France national team) took the top spots in an unusual statistical ranking of the 2026 World Cup. As Report reports citing the analytical resource OptaJoe, both forwards became leaders among all field players in the percentage ratio of the distance they covered on foot during matches. According to experts' calculations, Messi walked 47% of his total distance on the field, and Mbappe — 45%. It is noted that when compiling this metric, only the indicators of those football players who played a total of at least 150 minutes at the current world championship were taken into account.
Despite minimal running activity and leadership in this anti-rating, both strikers demonstrate the highest efficiency in the final stage of attacks. At the moment, Messi and Mbappe lead the list of top scorers of the current World Cup. Each of the forwards has already managed to score seven goals in the tournament matches.
