Haaland Ties Messi and Mbappe for Golden Boot, Fan Tokens Surge

Erling Haaland notched his seventh goal of the World Cup 2026, pulling level with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe at the top of the Golden Boot standings. The scoring race has spilled into crypto markets.

Fan token trading volumes rose. The ARG token, tied to Argentina's national team and Messi, runs on the Chiliz blockchain, powered by CHZ. Messi's sponsorship deal with Socios.com, signed in 2022 and valued at over $20 million, made him one of the most prominent athletes in the crypto-sports crossover space.

NFT activity also jumped. Haaland's NFTs have traded for as much as 265 ETH, roughly $600,000 to $750,000 depending on the session. Mbappe's earlier partnership with Sorare, the fantasy football NFT platform, triggered a 795% spike in NFT sales within 24 hours. Panini Blockchain released World Cup 2026 NFT packs featuring all three goal-scoring leaders.

Prediction markets are processing billions of dollars in wagers on who takes home the scoring title. The broader crypto sports engagement trend is covered in AlphaScala's crypto market analysis.