Argentina won the World Cup final, but Kylian Mbappe will take home the 2022 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot.
France's Kylian Mbappe and Argentina's Lionel Messi entered the World Cup final showdown between their two nations level on five goals each for the tournament. Then they exchanged spots atop the table several times during the game.
First Messi took the lead after scoring a first-half penalty kick. Then Mbappe scored twice in quick succession late in the second half to jump ahead to seven goals.
Messi retook the lead with an extra time goal, only for Mbappe to respond again on a penalty for a historic hat-trick which leaves him at the top of the Golden Boot table.
Page 57 of the official FIFA World Cup tournament rules explains what happens in case players are tied on goals. There are two layers of tiebreakers: (1) most assists, (2) fewest minutes played. The table below is updated after every match and will take into account the tiebreakers.
MORE:
- How to bet the 2022 World Cup Golden Boot
- Updated World Cup assists table
- Current top scorers in the UEFA Champions League
- Top scorers table in the Premier League
- Who leads the top scorers race in Spain?
FIFA World Cup 2022 Top Scorers
The final table below is updated as of Sunday, December 18 after the World Cup final.
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals (Penalties) | Assists | Matches | Minutes Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kylian Mbappe | France | 8 (2) | 2 | 7 | 597 |
| 2. | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 7 (4) | 3 | 7 | 690 |
| 3. | Julian Alvarez | Argentina | 4 (0) | 1 | 7 | 463 |
| Olivier Giroud | France | 4 (0) | 0 | 6 | 420 | |
| 5. | Goncalo Ramos | Portugal | 3 (0) | 1 | 4 | 151 |
| Alvaro Morata | Spain | 3 (0) | 1 | 4 | 182 | |
| Bukayo Saka | England | 3 (0) | 1 | 4 | 289 | |
| Richarlison | Brazil | 3 (0) | 1 | 4 | 323 | |
| Marcus Rashford | England | 3 (0) | 0 | 5 | 136 | |
| Enner Valencia | Ecuador | 3 (1) | 0 | 3 | 255 | |
| Cody Gakpo | Netherlands | 3 (0) | 0 | 5 | 449 | |
| 12. | Bruno Fernandes | Portugal | 2 (1) | 3 | 4 | 356 |
| Harry Kane | England | 2 (1) | 3 | 5 | 401 | |
| Niclas Fullkrug | Germany | 2 (0) | 1 | 3 | 66 | |
| Vincent Aboubakar | Cameroon | 2 (0) | 1 | 3 | 141 | |
| Mehdi Taremi | Iran | 2 (1) | 1 | 3 | 270 | |
| Neymar | Brazil | 2 (1) | 1 | 3 | 271 | |
| Robert Lewandowski | Poland | 2 (1) | 1 | 4 | 360 | |
| Wout Weghorst | Netherlands | 2 (0) | 0 | 4 | 61 | |
| Rafael Leao | Portugal | 2 (0) | 0 | 5 | 83 | |
| Kai Havertz | Germany | 2 (0) | 0 | 2 | 101 | |
| Giorgian de Arrascaeta | Uruguay | 2 (0) | 0 | 2 | 107 | |
| Ritsu Doan | Japan | 2 (0) | 0 | 4 | 215 | |
| Ferran Torres | Spain | 2 (1) | 0 | 4 | 216 | |
| Mohammed Kudus | Ghana | 2 (0) | 0 | 3 | 247 | |
| Aleksandar Mitrovic | Serbia | 2 (0) | 0 | 3 | 262 | |
| Salem Aldawsari | S. Arabia | 2 (0) | 0 | 3 | 270 | |
| Cho Gue-sung | S. Korea | 2 (0) | 0 | 4 | 274 | |
| Breel Embolo | Switzerland | 2 (0) | 0 | 3 | 327 | |
| Andrej Kramaric | Croatia | 2 (0) | 0 | 7 | 474 | |
| Youssef En-Nesyri | Morocco | 2 (0) | 0 | 7 | 542 |
- 1 goal: 84 players
- Own goals: 3 players
Note: There have been 171 goals scored in the World Cup thus far with three (3) own goals by Morocco's Nayef Aguerd, Germany's Manuel Neuer, and Argentina's Enzo Fernandez.
Odds to win 2022 Golden Boot
Harry Kane was the leading pre-tournament contender to repeat as winner after claiming it four years ago with six goals in England's run to the semifinals. But history was against him, given no one has ever repeated as Golden Boot winner.
Karim Benzema was third favorite (+1000) to win the 2022 award at one point, but he was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injury. Belgium's Romelu Lukaku was also battling an injury and bad form which came back to haunt him in a critical match against Croatia in which he missed on a few chances to cost his team.
Pre-tournament odds below were via Caesars (USA), Sports Interaction (Canada), SkyBet (UK), and Ladbrokes (Australia).
| Player | Country | Caesars (USA) | Sports Interaction (Canada) | SkyBet (UK) | Ladbrokes (AU) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Kane | England | +800 | 6.07 | 7/1 | 8.00 |
| Kylian Mbappe | France | +800 | 7.50 | 8/1 | 8.00 |
| Lionel Messi | Argentina | +900 | 9.00 | 10/1 | 11.00 |
| Neymar | Brazil | +1200 | 11.00 | 10/1 | 13.00 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | +2000 | 15.00 | 16/1 | 15.00 |
| Lautaro Martinez | Argentina | +2200 | 17.00 | 20/1 | 21.00 |
| Vinicius, Jr. | Brazil | +2800 | 27.00 | 25/1 | 26.00 |
| Memphis Depay | Netherlands | +2800 | 20.00 | 25/1 | 26.00 |
| Gabriel Jesus | Brazil | +3500 | 31.00 | 33/1 | 34.00 |
| Romelu Lukaku | Belgium | +3500 | 23.00 | 25/1 | 29.00 |
| Richarlison | Brazil | +3500 | 21.00 | 28/1 | 26.00 |
| Alvaro Morata | Spain | +3500 | 32.00 | 33/1 | 26.00 |
| Olivier Giroud | France | +3500 | 37.00 | 40/1 | 41.00 |
Who won World Cup 2018 Golden Boot
England's Harry Kane played the maximum seven matches as England made it all the way to the semifinals in 2018 and also featured in the third-place match.
Kane's six goals were two better than the rest of the field, which included Cristiano Ronaldo and the French duo of Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann, who helped their team to the World Cup title.
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Harry Kane | England | 6 |
| 2. | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 4 |
| Denis Cheryshev | Russia | 4 | |
| Romelu Lukaku | Belgium | 4 | |
| Kylian Mbappe | France | 4 | |
| Antoine Griezmann | France | 4 | |
| 7. | Yerry Mina | Colombia | 3 |
| Diego Costa | Spain | 3 | |
| Edinson Cavani | Uruguay | 3 | |
| Artem Dzyuba | Russia | 3 |
World Cup Golden Boot winners all time
There have been 21 men's World Cup tournaments and 21 different winners of the Golden Boot.
And a scan of the all-time winners below makes it clear that it's not always the star players who come away with the prestigious award.
| Year | Player | Nation | 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 | Hungary | 4 |
| 1966 | Eusebio | Portugal | 9 |
| 1970 | Gerd Muller | West 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 | Russia | 6 |
| 1998 | Davor Suker | Croatia | 6 |
| 2002 | Ronaldo | Brazil | 8 |
| 2006 | Miroslav Klose | Germany | 5 |
| 2010 | Thomas Muller | Germany | 5 |
| 2014 | James Rodriguez | Colombia | 6 |
| 2018 | Harry Kane | England | 6 |
How many Golden Boot winners also won the World Cup?
There have been 21 previous editions of the men's FIFA World Cup, but there have only been three occasions when the champion also had a player atop the Golden Boot rankings.
The first one came in 1978, as Mario Kempes helped lead Argentina to triumph on home soil, including two goals in the final against the Netherlands.
The following edition it was another goal poacher, this time Italian forward Paolo Rossi, who also scored in the final to help the Azzurri cap their magical run with the title.
Another 20 years passed before the next player to do it, and it was one of the all-time greats. Brazil forward Ronaldo was the star of the 2002 World Cup and he delivered for his country, scoring both goals in the final against Germany.
Ronaldo's eight goals in that 2002 tournament are the most scored in a single tournament since Germany's Gerd Muller hit double digits in 1970.
Who has the most goals in World Cup history?
There are only 13 players who can boast to have double-digit goal totals in FIFA World Cup history. And there's just one active player on that elite list, who is also heading to Qatar 2022.
Germany's Thomas Muller entered the 2022 FIFA World Cup knowing that two goals would have had him even with the legendary Pele of Brazil, but the Bayern Munich man went goal-less in Qatar.
| Player | Nation | Goals | Tournaments |
| Miroslav Klose | Germany | 16 | 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 |
| Ronaldo | Brazil | 15 | 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 |
| Gerd Muller | Germany | 14 | 1970, 1974 |
| Just Fontaine | France | 13 | 1958 |
| Pele | Brazil | 12 | 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970 |
| Lionel Messi | Argentina | 11 | 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 |
| Sandor Kocsis | Hungary | 11 | 1954 |
| Jurgen Klinsmann | Germany | 11 | 1990, 1994, 1998 |
| Helmut Rahn | Germany | 10 | 1954, 1958 |
| Gary Linekar | England | 10 | 1986, 1990 |
| Gabriel Batistuta | Argentina | 10 | 1994, 1998, 2002 |
| Teofilo Cubillas | Peru | 10 | 1970, 1974, 1982 |
| Thomas Muller | Germany | 10 | 2010, 2014, 2018 |
| Grzegorz Lato | Poland | 10 | 1974, 1978, 1982 |