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The biggest World Cup ever has lived up the hype. With more teams and more games than ever before and hosted in North America for the first time in three decades, the football gods have overdelivered thus far.
The best Golden Boot race ever. The all-time scoring record broken... twice (so far). Unlikely last-ditch comebacks. Stoppage time super hero exploits. Cinderella stories. And yes... VAR controversy.
Above all else, the stars have shown out.
On June 16, Lionel Messi scored a hat trick, Erling Haaland netted a brace and Kylian Mbappe — the reigning Golden Boot winner — also scored twice. And the fireworks haven't stopped.
MORE: World Cup top goal scorers and Golden Boot tracker
Harry Kane became England's all-time leading scorer in the World Cup while his teammate Jude Bellingham has at times looked like football's most complete player. Mbappe's France teammates, in particular Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembele, proved that Les Bleus is far more than one man. Though Lamine Yamal entered the World Cup poised to grab the torch, his fellow Spaniards Rodri and Mikel Oyarzabal have delivered best-in-class tournaments.
And that's before getting to the likes of Cape Verde's 40-year-old goalie Vozinha who became an overnight global sensation quantified by a ridiculous surge Instagram followers.
It begs the question: Who has been the World Cup's best player?
We're firmly in the championship rounds with the pressure and stakes higher in every match.
Will Messi win a second straight World Cup? Will Mbappe or Kane become the first ever two-time Golden Boot winner?
We could only be so lucky to see a thrilling end just as we did four years ago in Qatar with perhaps the greatest World Cup final ever.
English (US)