FIFA World Cup 2022 Golden Boot Winner Betting Tips

What is the Golden Boot Award?

The World Cup Golden Boot award is one of many honors presented to players who excel at the World Cup. First christened the Golden Shoe award before a name change in 2010, the World Cup Golden Boot award is presented to the highest goal scorer (or scorers) in the quadrennial competition. The Golden Ball and the Golden Glove awards are some of the other individual honors presented to players at the World Cup.

While the most valuable player at the World Cup gets that Golden Ball and the goalkeeper(s) with the cleanest sheets gets the Golden Glove, the Golden Boot is reserved for the best goalscorer(s). The award is generally presented to one player, and only in the event of a tie does more than one player receive it. While some players have blazed their way to the award without much competition, others have had to share the top spot on the goalscorers chart. Since FIFA put the current tiebreakers in place, the Golden Boot award has not been presented to more than one winner.

You will be surprised that some of the best strikers and goalscorers in world football have not won the Golden Boot award at the World Cup. Big names like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Diego Maradona, Pele, Robert Lewandowski, and others are conspicuously missing from the list of all-time Golden Boot winners. Some of these players have plundered goals at the club level but have been unable to repeat these feats at the World Cup. As it turns out, scoring goals at the World Cup is not an easy feat after all.

Quick Facts About The World Cup Golden Boot Award

• Although the top scorer rankings had been in place since 1930, the World Cup Golden Boot award was first presented in 1982.
• Paolo Rossi of Italy won the first Golden Boot award.
• The Golden Boot award was first known as the Golden Shoe, and FIFA only changed the name in 2010.
• France’s Just Fontaine scored the most goals in a World Cup with 13 strikes in 1958.
• The top scorers in the 1962 edition of the World Cup scored only four goals, the least of all top scorers.
• No player has won the World Cup Golden Boot award twice.
• Only three players have hit goals in double figures at the World Cup (Just Fontaine – 13 goals, Sandor Kocsis – 11 goals, and Gerd Mueller – 10 goals).
• Since FIFA introduced the Golden Boot award, no player has hit double figures in goals at the World Cup.

FIFA World Cup Golden Boot Winner Tiebreakers

In 1994, FIFA introduced the tie-breaker rule for the World Cup Golden Boot award. According to the rules, if there are two or more players with the same number of goals, the person with more or the most assists gets the award. If two players are tied on the number of assists, then the number of minutes played is considered. The player with the least game time receives the award.

For instance, if Harry Kane, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Kylian Mbappe are tied to the same number of goals in Qatar 2022, they will not share the award automatically. FIFA will consider the number of assists each player provided. If Harry Kane provided four assists, Mbappe had four, and Ronaldo assisted three goals, Kane and Mbappe would be tied for the award. If Mbappe appeared in the tournament for 470 minutes and Harry Kane played for 490 minutes, Mbappe would receive the award ahead of his counterpart for playing lesser minutes.

Now, let us look at the recipients of the Golden Boot award from the inaugural World Cup in 1930.

Past World Cup Golden Boot Winners

Ranking every player that has won the Golden Boot award or topped the goalscorers chart at the World Cup:

Davor Suker

Born in 1905, Stabile almost inspired Argentina to glory at the inaugural World Cup with eight goals in four matches.

Oldrich Nejedly

One of Czechoslovakia’s all-time greats, Nejedly scored five goals in the 1934 World Cup.

Leonidas

One of the biggest footballing names in the early World Cups, Leonidas da Silva scored seven goals in the 1938 World Cup and was also voted the tournament’s best player.

Ademir

Known as Queixada for his prominent underbite, Ademir hit eight goals at the 1950 World Cup.

Sandor Kocsis

The Hungarian found the back of the net eleven times in the 1954 World Cup.

Just Fontaine

Fontaine struck thirteen times in 1958 to surpass the record for the most goals at a World Cup, previously held by Sandor Kocsis.

Florian Albert and Others

Florian Albert and five others shared the top scorer berth in 1962 after scoring four goals each.

Eusebio

Considered one of the greatest players ever to grace the sport, Eusebio scored nine goals in the England 1966 World Cup.

Gerd Mueller

One of the greatest finishers of all time, Gerhard ‘Gerd’ Mueller had a fantastic outing in 1970, scoring ten goals.

Grzegorz Lato

Grzegorz Lato was a member of Poland’s golden generation of footballers, scoring seven goals at the 1974 World Cup.

Mario Kempes

He inspired Argentina to glory at the 1978 World Cup and scored twice in the final to take his goal tally to six for the tournament.

Paolo Rossi

The first recipient of the Golden Shoe award, Rossi scored six goals for Italy in the 1982 World Cup.

Gary Lineker

At the 1986 World Cup, Gary Lineker scored six goals to become the first Englishman to win the Golden Shoe award.

Salvatore Schillaci

Schillaci struck six times for Italy at the 1990 edition of the World Cup.

Oleg Salenko and Hristo Stoichkov

In the 1994 World Cup, Oleg Salenko and Hristo Stoichkov were tied on goals scored. However, Oleg had played fewer minutes, and he received the award ahead of the Bulgarian. The tiebreaker was first introduced that year.

Davor Suker

One of the Czech football greats, Davor Suker, scored six goals in the France 1998 World Cup.

Ronaldo Nazario

After losing the final in 1998, Ronaldo inspired Brazil to win the trophy in the Korea-Japan 2002 World Cup, scoring six goals.

Miroslav Klose

The highest goalscorer in World Cup history, Klose won the Golden Shoe in 2006 with six goals and one assist and went on to score 16 goals overall in the competition.

Thomas Mueller

In South Africa in 2010, a young Thomas Muller shocked the world when he scored five goals and created another three.

James Rodriguez

The flying Colombian was the star of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, scoring six goals and providing two assists.

Harry Kane

The Englishman marked his first World Cup appearance in style with six goals to take England to fourth place.

Who will claim the Golden Boot award in Qatar 2022?

Betninjas FIFA World Cup 2022 Golden Boot Winner Betting Predictions

There are tens of favorites to win the Golden Boot, especially players who have proven themselves on the big stages for their countries. Unlike club football, unlikely names shine at the World Cup. If you are looking to bet on the World Cup Golden Boot winner, here are a few tips you should consider:

• Player form at the national level: Some players may not be performing at top form for their clubs but always put on a show for their countries, e.g., Gareth Bale. Before you bet on any player to win the Golden Boot award in Qatar, you should consider their form at the country level. Are they consistent starters for their country? Do they show up in the big games? These and many more are questions you must answer before placing that bet.
• Previous tournament experience: The World Cup is not a playground, and first-timers may have difficulty lighting up the tournament. The intensity, pressure, and other factors are not easy to deal with, and players with previous experience always have the advantage.
• National team form and quality: Teams that score lots of goals and have a top striker with a good conversion rate have a high chance of producing the Golden Boot winner in Qatar. Top teams like France, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, England, and others will go into this tournament with all guns blazing. You may look to their star forwards as favorites to win the Golden Boot.

Betninjas World Cup 2022 Golden Boot Winner Odds

Without further ado, here are the top ten favorites to win the Golden Boot award in Qatar according to several sportsbooks:

• Kylian Mbappe: The flying Frenchman is tipped to conquer the goalscoring world at 8.70 odds on 22bet.
• Harry Kane: The current Golden Boot holder is favored to win the award again this year, and the outcome is available on Dafabet at 8.50 odds.
• Cristiano Ronaldo: The 37-year-old forward will be having his final bow at the World Cup, and he is one of the favorites to win the Golden Boot at 10.5 odds on Paripesa.
• Karim Benzema: After a stellar 2021/2022 season, Benzema is expected to continue his goalscoring heroics at the World Cup, at 14.5 odds on 22bet.
• Lionel Messi: The Argentine is arguably featuring in his final World Cup appearance, and he is favored to win the Golden Boot award at 13.5 odds on Paripesa.
• Romelu Lukaku: Although he had a not-so-good outing at Chelsea in 2021/2022, Lukaku is expected to bang in the goals for Belgium, and the odds for him to win the Golden Boot are available on Dafabet at 15.00.
• Neymar Jr: The Brazilian has been in such fine form for his country, and he is a favorite to top the goalscoring charts at 16.00 odds on 22bet.
• Memphis Depay: Out of favor at Camp Nou, Depay hit new heights with Oranje in qualification and is tipped to win the Golden Boot award at 18.00 odds on Paripesa.
• Lautaro Martinez: With Lionel Messi and Angel di Maria alongside him in attack, Lautaro might be Argentina’s go-to player for goals. The odds for the Inter forward to win the Golden Boot are placed at 23.00 on Dafabet.
• Vinicius Junior: The Brazilian has done enough to register a starting berth for Seleçao, and he is favored to win the Golden Boot award at 24.00 odds on 22bet.

Other forwards that make the favorites list include Raheem Sterling, Antoine Griezmann, Robert Lewandowski, Steven Bergwijn, Gabriel Jesus, Alvaro Morata, and Diogo Jota.