Taking the teaching reform of highway tunnel engineering undergraduate education as an example, aiming at the new requirements of the construction of a strong transportation country for the training of highway tunnel professionals to be "the world leader", the concept and teaching method of engineering education aiming at cultivating "leading" first-class undergraduate talents are proposed and implemented. A talent training system of "two stages, three tutors, and four platforms" has been constructed and implemented, and a curriculum innovation system featuring practicality, innovation and strength has been formed. The "five-stage teaching method" of the tunnel course combined with the leading engineering construction has been created, the major engineering practice base and the on-site virtual perception demonstration platform have been built, and the guarantee system has been established to enhance students' engineering "leading" awareness and innovation ability. It has solved the problems of how to cultivate talents in highway tunnel engineering education to adapt to the "world leader", students' desire for development, the needs of employers, and students' weak awareness of engineering innovation, and the content, methods, digital simulation, and practice of engineering teaching lag behind the "world leader" major tunnel projects. Batches of "leading" first-class professionals who are playing a key role in the world's major tunnel projects have been cultivated.