Top 10 World Cup Golden Boot Winners
- jonjoward1998
- 13 hours ago
- 4 min read
The golden boot is the prize that every striker is looking to win at the start of every World Cup because they want to score as many goals as they can and more goals than any other player.
The best strikers in the world in particular are the ones who have their sights set on winning the award because of the mentality they have and this mentality is why they've become the best in their position.
Many of those best strikers in the world have been lucky enough to win a World Cup golden boot and even the World Cup itself and a few of them are the list.
When I ranked the players in this list, I ranked them on the amount of goals they scored at the World Cup they won the golden boot.
Now without further ordo, here is the list:
Harry Kane
Eusebio
James Rodriguez
Ronaldo
Miroslav Klose
Kylian Mbappe
Gary Lineker
Gerd Muller
Paolo Rossi
Just Fontaine
Harry Kane
Kane won the golden boot at the 2018 World Cup in Russia by scoring 6 goals with most of them being penalties.
I've got him down in 10th because of most of his goals being penalties and his strikes from open play being far from clean strikes.
But despite that his goals still played an integral role in England reaching the semi finals where they were beaten by Croatia in extra time.
With the season he's been having with Bayern Munich this season, he'll surely have his eyes set on another golden boot this summer.
Miroslav Klose
Klose won the golden boot at the 2006 World Cup by scoring 5 goals as Germany reached the semi finals on home soil.
He went close to winning it in 2002 and 2010 where he scored 5 and 4 goals respectively but 2006 was the one where he ended up on top of the charts.
The goals he scored in 2006 were typical striker goals with most of them being tap ins and the others being a header and a strike inside the box.
Gary Lineker
Lineker won the golden boot at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico by scoring 6 goals including a hat trick against Poland during the group stages.
England might've gone out at the Quarter Finals to eventual winners Argentina, against who he scored, but he still scored enough goals to win the award.
The goals he scored in 1986 were typical striker goals in tap ins and first time finishes as well as one header which was his goal against Argentina.
James Rodriguez
Rodriguez won the golden boot at 2014 World Cup in Brazil by scoring 6 goals as Colombia reached the Quarter Finals.
That World Cup was the tournament he announced himself on the world stage and where he looked like one of the best players in the world due to the goals he scored and the kind of performances he put in.
He scored in every game he played at that tournament with his best goal by far being that volley he scored against Uruguay in the last 16.
Paolo Rossi
Rossi won both the golden boot at the 1982 World Cup in Spain where he scored 6 goals as Italy went all the way.
Half of his goals came against Brazil in that classic match during the second group stage before going on to net twice against Poland in the semi finals and the opening goal in the final against Germany.
His goals played a key role in Italy winning that World Cup with most of them being headers with his best one being the first of his three against Brazil.
Kylian Mbappe
Mbappe won the golden boot at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar where he scored 8 goals including a hat trick in the final against Argentina.
He became the first player to score a hat trick in a World Cup final since Geoff Hurst in 1966 but it wasn't enough as France would go on to lose on penalties.
He'll surely have his sights set on another golden boot this summer with the season he's having and I think he'll win it again because of France being one of the favourites.
Ronaldo
Ronaldo won the golden boot at the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan where he scored 8 goals as Brazil went all the way to win their fifth World Cup.
He sealed the award by scoring twice in the final against Germany to finish ahead of Rivaldo and Miroslav Klose who both finished behind him in second place with 5 goals.
His goals were key to Brazil to winning that World Cup and him winning the player of the tournament award alongside his performances throughout the tournament.
Eusebio
Eusebio won the golden boot at the 1966 World Cup in England where he scored 9 goals as Portugal finished 3rd.
4 of his 9 goals came in one game against North Korea in the Quarter Finals where he single-handedly turned the game around as Portugal came from 3-0 down to win 5-3.
His goals played a key role in Portugal finishing 3rd which remains their best finish at a World Cup finals and was the only World Cup he played in.
Gerd Muller
Muller won the golden boot at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico by scoring 10 goals which took him straight to the top of the all-time goal charts.
He scored two hat tricks at that tournament against Bulgaria and Peru and he scored in almost every game he played in up until the third place play off against Uruguay.
Most of the goals he scored during that tournament turned out to be crucial as they turned out to be the goals that won games for Germany.
Just Fontaine
Fontaine had to be my no.1 because he holds the record for the most goals scored at a single World Cup with 13 from when he won the golden boot at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.
He scored two hat tricks at that tournament against Paraguay in their opening group game and in the third place play off against Germany where he scored four times as France won 6-3 to finish third.
He was France's first great player before the likes of Platini and Zidane came along and his impact in 1958 was the start of France producing great players.
MY TOP 10:
Just Fontaine
Gerd Muller
Eusebio
Ronaldo
Kylian Mbappe
Paolo Rossi
James Rodriguez
Gary Lineker
Miroslav Klose
Harry Kane
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