Stephen Dunmoye
In every world cup tournament, golden boot is won once in every four years which means players have few opportunities to win it in their career.
Players will often claim that they are not interested in personal accolades as the team performance is the main priority. But it’s fair to say that a statement like that is only half true.
Yes, getting as far as possible in the World Cup is of optimal importance, but forwards love scoring goals and they know that scoring more than anyone else leads to a rather smart trophy at the end of the tournament.
These are the current frontrunners for the Golden Boot in Qatar.
Kylian Mbappe — 5 goals
Mbappe is leading the way with five goals going into the quarter-finals.
The young Frenchman has quite the knack of playing his best football at World Cup finals.
After playing a starring role in France’s triumphant campaign in Russia four years ago, Kylian Mbappe is doing everything he can to ensure the trophy stays in Paris.
His performances at this year’s World Cup have been even better than France supporters could have ever hoped for. Mbappe has scored five goals and assisted two more in just four games in Qatar.
He netted his first against Australia in France’s opener before adding a brace against Denmark.
Another two goals followed in the last-16 win against Poland and they were both worthy of the healthy lead he has built up in the Golden Boot race.
Claims that he came into the tournament as the world’s best player have only strengthened until this point.
Goncalo Ramos — 3 goals
Bursting onto the scene would be an understatement when describing Goncalo Ramos’ first international start.
He was handed the almost-impossible job of deputising for Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal’s last-16 clash with Switzerland.
But, instead of struggling under the pressure, he thrived. Ramos managed to score the first hat-trick in the knockout stage of the World Cup since 1990.
If that wasn’t enough, he even added an assist for Raphael Guerreiro in the 6-1 win.
Lionel Messi — 3 goals
In what is likely to be his last World Cup, Lionel Messi is making sure Argentina have a fighting chance of winning the trophy on December 18.
Although, had he scored his penalty against Poland, he would only be one goal behind Mbappe instead of two.
His first goal at the tournament actually came from the penalty spot, in the humiliating defeat against Saudi Arabia. He was soon able to turn his country’s World Cup campaign on its head with a brilliant goal that kick-started the win against Mexico.
A goalless performance in the comfortable victory against Poland followed before Messi ran the show in the last-16 meeting with Australia. He scored the opener in the 2-1 win to bring his tally to three goals
Marcus Rashford — 3 goals
Despite starting just once for England at this World Cup, Marcus Rashford has emerged as an outsider for the Golden Boot.
In little more than an hour and a half of action, he has scored three goals: one against Iran and a brace against Wales.
The two goals against England’s closest neighbours were particularly brilliant with a free-kick and a solo goal leading the Three Lions to a 3-0 win.
Given there were pre-tournament doubts over whether or not he should be involved in the squad at all, he has shown just how valuable he can be to Gareth Southgate.
Bukayo Saka — 3 goals
One of Rashford’s team mates has also managed three goals at this World Cup so far.
Bukayo Saka, who had only scored four England goals in 21 caps prior to the tournament, got England off to the perfect start against Iran.
He netted twice in the 6-2 win before adding the finishing touch to the last-16 win against Senegal.
Should he and his team mates knock France out in the quarter-final, he will certainly have a chance at winning the Golden Boot.
Olivier Giroud — 3 goals
Three World Cup goals and a national record for Giroud in Qatar (Photo: Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
Talking about France, Olivier Giroud is another player who has scored three times.
He headed into the World Cup knowing that he was two goals behind Thierry Henry in the all-time goalscoring charts.
A brace against Australia in the opener drew the 36-year-old level at the top. He then went out on his own as France’s leading goalscorer with a smart finish in the last-16 win against Poland.
It has been quite the reaction from Giroud after he failed to score in his nation’s World Cup-winning campaign four years ago.
Richarlison — 3 goals
When Richarlison pulls on the famous yellow shirt, he becomes one of international football’s most prolific strikers.
Not only has the Brazil frontman scored three goals, two of them were among the best goals at this World Cup.
His overhead kick to open the scoring against Serbia will take some beating as goal of the tournament while his goal against South Korea wasn’t bad either.
A run to the final for Brazil could see him go home with the Golden Boot.
Cody Gakpo — 3 goals
Cody Gakpo has shown exactly why he continues to be the subject of a big-money move to the Premier League.
He scored in each of the Netherlands’ Group A matches as they qualified for the last-16 as group winners. In doing so, he became the first Dutchman to score in his first three World Cup matches.
His streak ended in the last-16 against the USA but he can more than make up for that by scoring in the quarter-final against Argentina.
Alvaro Morata — 3 goals
Alvaro Morata continued his impressive goalscoring record at major tournaments in Qatar. Unfortunately, it was not enough to keep Spain in the World Cup as they were beaten, on penalties, by Morocco in the last-16.
With three goals and one assist, many La Roja supporters have asked why Morata only started one game.
He was introduced just after the hour mark in the last-16 defeat but couldn’t add to his three-goal tally.
Enner Valencia — 3 goals
Enner Valencia was one of the stars of the World Cup group stage but that was where his tournament came to an end.
While carrying an injury niggle throughout, he netted a brace against Qatar in the opening game and the equaliser in the draw against the Netherlands. He was unable to score in the final group game against Senegal as Ecuador went crashing out after such a strong start.
At 33 years old, another World Cup might be a bit of a stretch so he will likely finish his career with a record of six goals in six games at two tournaments. Not bad at all.
Here are all the players that have scored two goals at the 2022 World Cup.
Bruno Fernandes
Nicolas Fullkrug
Vincent Aboubakar
Mehdi Taremi
Robert Lewandowski*
Rafael Leao
Kai Havertz
Giorgian de Arrascaeta
Julian Alvarez
Ritsu Doan*
Ferran Torres*
Mohammed Kudus*
Aleksandar Mitrovic*
Salem Al-Dawsari*
Cho Gue-sung*