The 2022 World Cup provides an illusion - in fact, Klose s 16-goal record is not easy to be broken

The 2022 World Cup is a carnival in Argentina from the team perspective; but from the perspective of personal data output, it is a carnival between Mbappe and Messi. When Mbappe put the 8-goal data in front of the whole world, we thought of Ronaldo immediately. Since 1978, it was Ronaldo who broke the curse of no more than 6 goals in the World Cup Golden Boot (note, I have said that it has been since 1978, stop mentioning Fontane). After Ronaldo, the 6-goal curse seems to have been continued. It was not until Mbappe scored 8 goals in the 2022 World Cup that he once again made a cross-era connection with Ronaldo.

And Messi's value is that he won 7 goals in the silver boots, which is much higher than the level of silver boots in 2002. The silver boots at that time only scored 5 goals.

Of course, the silver boots at that time were the protagonist of today's topic - Klose.

Klose is not a talented player, and he is not even the top superstar in the world football world. But thanks to the stable performance and stable output of the four World Cups, Klose became the number one scorer in the history of the World Cup, with 16 goals, surpassing the world and suppressing Ronaldo.

Klose set the record in 2014. Originally, everyone thought that this record would be difficult to break in the short term. After all, many great shooters either retired or passed their peak period and could not compete with Klose's data. But in 2022, we suddenly discovered that Mbappe and Messi actually took big steps towards Klose. Currently, Mbappe has scored a total of 12 World Cup goals, while Messi has 13. They are only 4 goals and 3 goals away from Klose. So, the 2022 World Cup gives us the feeling that Klose’s record is almost impossible to save.

But is it possible, is this an illusion?

Let's look at Messi first. Messi scored 7 goals in the 2022 World Cup, perhaps many people did not expect. After all, Messi was 35 years old at that time. But Messi happened to catch a good time when a group of young Argentine players were willing to revolve around him, and took this opportunity to explode. But the problem is that Messi is now heading for 40 years old, and his position on the field has been adjusted backwards, focusing on organization. It is OK to expect him to attack the city and capture the village, but the strength and frequency will definitely be greatly reduced.

In fact, it can be seen from the World Cup and the Copa America that Messi is no longer Argentina's first firepower point. Although the gap between 3 goals seems small, can Messi really do it in the 2026 World Cup? 2026 is no longer 2022.

So, what about Mbappe? In 2022, many people thought that Mbappe broke Klose's record, but it was only a matter of time. After all, he was only 24 years old at that time. But after 2022, we clearly feel that Mbappe’s path toward slows down. In Paris Grande, Mbappe has basically not continued to rise in the ball. Instead, because of his decline in physical functions, his impact and deterrence are not as good as before.

In the 2024 European Cup, Mbappe's performance was not satisfactory, giving people the impression that he is no longer the main output of France.

So, in the 2022 World Cup, many people think it is the beginning of Mbappe's move to a higher mountain, but there is still a gray possibility - the 2022 World Cup is actually Mbappe's peak. Later on, it will be difficult for him to reappear the intensity of 8 goals. Even 4 goals is difficult. The 2024 European Cup is proof.

Moreover, now Dembele has been raised to a new dimension, and the younger generation has emerged. Mbappe has a feeling of being too high and not low in the national team, and seems to be unable to find his position. He is 28 years old in 2026, and later, he is 32 years old in 2030.

So, I think Klose's 16-goal record may not be broken for a long time. At least, it is difficult for Mbappe and Messi to count on it, so they can only hope that a new generation of shooting machines will appear.