Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe have walked the most at World Cup with Argentina star strolling around more than double the distance covered by Cristiano Ronaldo

Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe may be the joint-top goalscorers at the World Cup, but they certainly aren't covering themselves in glory in the running department.

With five goals each, Messi and Mbappe have spearheaded Argentina and France, respectively, to Sunday's final in Qatar.

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The Paris Saint-Germain teammates are not only in with a shot at winning the tournament, but also the Golden Ball and Golden Boot.

But what may come as a surprise to football fans is that the pair have walked more than half of the distance they have covered from their six matches.

In stats obtained by , Messi has walked the most out of any player from the 53.11km he has covered.

He has walked a whopping 30.61km, meaning he has walked 57.64 per cent of the time on the pitch at the World Cup.

That is, incredibly, fractionally more than the 30.5km total covered by Cristiano Ronaldo, though the Portugal skipper was used sparingly in the knockout stages, walked 13.35km of figure.

Despite Messi's high walking statistics, he has covered more distance than anyone else on the 29-man list, which contained no midfielders.

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Les Bleus star Mbappe follows him in second spot, having strolled around for 22.85km from his 44.54km covered, which equates to 51.31 per cent walking time.

Though it should be said that both Messi and Mbappe are often occupying pockets of space before turning on the afterburners when they are played in behind.

They also have been allowed to keep their position high up the field instead of constantly tracking back to help the defence.

Given that's the case, it's perhaps surprising Brazilian centre-back Thiago Silva is third on the list having walked [17.31km] for 48.17 per cent of the time.

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However, the Chelsea veteran walked fewer than Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk [22.72km], Tottenham's Cristian Romero [20.37km] and Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski [19.33km].

Commenting on the stats, a spokesperson for Lord Ping said: “Lionel Messi may be the best player in history and his walking figures truly prove how devastating he is with the ball at his feet.

“At the World Cup, no player has walked more than the Argentine magician and yet he is the frontrunner for both the Golden Boot and Golden Ball.

“Kylian Mbappe has shown the world how quick he can be once he gets going, but his figures show he also likes a nice stroll before bursting into the explosive arsenal that he is."

With football's Holy Grail on offer on Sunday, it looks likely that Messi and Mbappe will once again save their sprinting until they're guaranteed a chance to get in front of goal.