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The World Cup 2022 is on the horizon, with the action set to get underway on November 20.
This will be a unique tournament in several ways: it is the first World Cup to be held in the Arab world, the first to be staged in the northern hemisphere’s winter, and the last to feature 32 teams ahead of a planned expansion to 48 in 2026.
There is plenty of focus on which team will lift the trophy in Qatar on December 18, but that is not the only prize worth fighting for at the upcoming competition.
Indeed, several high-profile attackers will also have designs on the Golden Boot, the award that will be given to the World Cup 2022 top scorer. This guide contains everything you need to know about that particular race.
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Harry Kane, the Golden Boot winner four years ago, is the favorite to finish as the top scorer this time around too. The England captain is a guaranteed starter and his team has high hopes of going deep in Qatar.
Kylian Mbappe will be an integral part of the France team, but it will be interesting to see whether he or Karim Benzema emerges as the defending champions’ chief goal-getter.
Brazil are the favorites to triumph and their talisman Neymar is not too far off becoming the country’s all-time record goalscorer. His Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Lionel Messi will be leading the charge for Argentina, and his old rival Cristiano Ronaldo will hope to keep up his excellent scoring record for Portugal.
Belgium are potential outsiders to win the tournament and they will rely on Romelu Lukaku for goals, even though the Inter striker has had an injury-hit season so far. Lautaro Martinez and Richarlison could rival Messi and Neymar for goals respectively.
In nine of the last 10 World Cups, a return of six goals has been enough to finish as the tournament’s top scorer. That is the magic number to look out for this winter.
If you would like to check out more betting options available to you for World Cup 2022, check out our guide on how to bet on soccer.
Player and Country | Goals |
---|---|
Miroslav Klose (Germany) | 16 |
Ronaldo (Brazil) | 15 |
Gerd Muller (West Germany) | 14 |
Just Fontaine (13) | 13 |
Pele (Brazil) | 12 |
Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) | 11 |
Jurgen Klinsmann (West Germany/Germany) | 11 |
Helmut Rahn (West Germany) | 10 |
Gary Lineker (England) | 10 |
Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina) | 10 |
Teofilo Cubillas (Peru) | 10 |
Grzegorz Lato (Poland) | 10 |
Thomas Muller (Germany) | 10 |
Player(s), Country and Goals | World Cup |
---|---|
Guillermo Stabile (Argentina) - 8 | 1930 |
Oldrich Nejedly (Czechoslovakia) - 5 | 1934 |
Leonidas (Brazil) - 8 | 1938 |
Ademir (Brazil) - 9 | 1950 |
Sandor Kocsis (Hungary) - 11 | 1954 |
Just Fontaine (France) - 13 | 1958 |
Garrincha (Brazil), Vava (Brazil), Leonel Sanchez (Chile), Florian Albert (Hungary), Valentin Ivanov (Soviet Union), Drazan Jerkovic (Yugoslavia) - 4 | 1962 |
Eusebio (Portugal) - 9 | 1966 |
Gerd Muller (West Germany) - 10 | 1970 |
Grzegorz Lato (Poland) - 7 | 1974 |
Mario Kempes (Argentina) - 6 | 1978 |
Paolo Rossi (Italy) - 6 | 1982 |
Gary Lineker (England) - 6 | 1986 |
Salvatore Schillaci (Italy) - 6 | 1990 |
Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria), Oleg Salenko (Russia) - 6 | 1994 |
Davor Suker (Croatia) - 6 | 1998 |
Ronaldo (Brazil) - 8 | 2002 |
Miroslav Klose (Germany) - 5 | 2006 |
Thomas Muller (Germany), David Villa (Spain), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), Diego Forlan (Uruguay) - 5 | 2010 |
James Rodriguez (Colombia) - 5 | 2014 |
Harry Kane (England) - 6 | 2018 |
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The World Cup 2022 top scorer is simply the player who has scored the most goals over the course of the tournament. The winner is only confirmed after the World Cup final, which will take place on December 18.
If two or more players score the same number of goals, they do not share the Golden Boot. The first tie-breaker sees penalty goals subtracted from the total. If the contenders are still level, the second tie-breaker is the number of assists the players have provided. The final tie-breaker is the amount of minutes played - since it gives a higher goal average, being on the pitch for less time is favorable for the Golden Boot award.
No player in World Cup history has won the Golden Boot twice, although Harry Kane and Thomas Muller could make history by doing so in Qatar.
Ahead of World Cup 2022, Cristiano Ronaldo has outscored Lionel Messi at the tournament by seven goals to six. This will probably be the last World Cup both players appear in.
Soccer fans based in the United States can watch World Cup 2022 on Fox Sports this November and December. Kick-off times are 5 AM, 8 AM, 10 AM, 11 AM, 14 PM and 15 PM (EDT).
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Greg Lea is a freelance soccer journalist from London. He is the former editor of The Set Pieces, and has contributed to the Guardian, FourFourTwo, and ESPN. A Crystal Palace fan, he is a long-time subscriber to the belief that it's the taking part that counts. Email: [email protected]
More info on Greg Lea
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