The FIFA World Cup, held once every four years, rolls out several awards to the top players in every edition.
While the Golden Ball is awarded to the best player and the Golden Glove goes to the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets, the top goal-scorer at the end of the edition is awarded the Golden Boot. The second and third-highest goal-scorers are awarded the Silver Boot and the Bronze Boot, respectively.
Branded originally as the Golden Shoe, the award officially started in 1982. Its current iteration, the Golden Boot, came recently in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Brazil and Germany have the players with the most Golden Boots in the tournament's history.
Golden Boot winners at FIFA World Cup
|
Year |
Player |
Country |
Goals |
|
1930 |
Guillermo Stabile |
Argentina |
8 |
|
1934 |
Oldrich Nejedly |
Czechoslovakia |
5 |
|
1938 |
Leonidas |
Brazil |
7 |
|
1950 |
Ademir |
Brazil |
8 |
|
1954 |
Sandor Kocsis |
Hungary |
11 |
|
1958 |
Just Fontaine |
France |
13 |
|
1962 |
Florian Albert Valentin Ivanov Garrincha Vava Drazan Jerkovic Leonel Sanchez |
Hungary Soviet Union Brazil Brazil Yugoslavia Chile |
4 |
|
1966 |
Eusebio |
Portugal |
9 |
|
1970 |
Gerd Muller |
Germany |
10 |
|
1974 |
Grzegorz Lato |
Poland |
7 |
|
1978 |
Mario Kempes |
Argentina |
6 |
|
1982 |
Paolo Rossi |
Italy |
6 |
|
1986 |
Gary Lineker |
England |
6 |
|
1990 |
Salvatore Schillaci |
Italy |
6 |
|
1994 |
Oleg Salenko Hristo Stoichkov |
Russia Bulgaria |
6 |
|
1998 |
Davor Suker |
Croatia |
6 |
|
2002 |
Ronaldo Nazario |
Brazil |
6 |
|
2006 |
Miroslav Klose |
Germany |
5 |
|
2010 |
Thomas Muller |
Germany |
5 |
|
2014 |
James Rodriguez |
Colombia |
6 |
|
2018 |
Harry Kane |
England |
6 |
Guillermo Stabile topped the charts with eight goals in the inaugural edition of the football World Cup in 1930. On the back of his performances, Argentina finished runners up, losing an all-South American final against Uruguay.
Just Fontaine is one of the three players who have notched up double figures in a single FIFA World Cup edition. Fontaine’s 13 goals in the 1958 edition remain the record for most goals scored in a single edition of the tournament. The French striker scored two hat-tricks in the edition, including a four-goal performance against West Germany in the third-place playoff.
Along with Fontaine, Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis and German legend Gerd Muller have also crossed the 10-goal mark in a single FIFA World Cup edition.
Kocsis previously held the record for most goals in an edition with 11 goals in the 1954 edition. Despite the best efforts of the Hungarian legend, his team lost the final to Germany in 'The Miracle of Bern'.
Meanwhile, Gerd Muller scored 10 goals in the 1970 edition, becoming the first German player to win the Golden Boot. Muller was key in the Germans winning the title in the 1974 edition.
The Golden Boot could be shared between multiple players until the 1994 FIFA World Cup. FIFA, the international governing body of football, introduced a tie-breaker system from the 1994 edition onwards. Currently, if two players are level, most non-penalty goals, followed by most assists, and, if required, least minutes played, are the criteria used to judge the winner.
At the turn of the century, Ronaldo Nazario provided the impetus in front of goal, scoring eight goals in the 2002 edition, enabling Brazil to lift the title.
Two German players, Miroslav Klose and Thomas Muller won the Golden Boot in 2006 and 2010, respectively. Colombia’s James Rodriguez claimed the award in 2014 while taking his team to the quarter-finals.
Harry Kane of England is the latest Golden Boot winner at the FIFA World Cup. Kane’s six goals guided England to a fourth-placed finish.
Gary Lineker, Eusebio, Leonidas and Davor Suker are among other notable players to have won the Golden Boot.
So far, no player has won the FIFA World Cup Golden Boot award twice.
Featured image: Unsplash
