JUMP TO:
- What is the World Cup Golden Boot?
- How is the World Cup Golden Boot winner decided?
- Who won the first World Cup Golden Boot?
- Who has scored the most goals in World Cup history?
- World Cup Golden Boot winners by year
- What a World Cup Golden Boot means for a player's legacy
- World Cup Golden Boot FAQs
Winning a World Cup title is considered the pinnacle achievement in global football, with players all over the world targeting FIFA glory every four years to say they climbed the tallest mountain in the sport.
Yet there are also individual awards which can signify a player's contributions to the beautiful game that go beyond lifting the coveted collective achievement.
The World Cup Golden Boot is one of those individual accomplishments which can bolster a player's career significantly and vault them into football lore for the rest of their lives.
AllSportsPeople brings you an overview of the Golden Boot award, what it means to international football, how it's awarded, who it's been given to across the history of the World Cup and all you need to know about the trophy.
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What is the World Cup Golden Boot?
The World Cup Golden Boot award is given out at the end of every single FIFA World Cup to recognize the top goal scorer at that iteration of the competition.
How is the World Cup Golden Boot winner decided?
Whichever player scores the most goals across the entirety of a single World Cup tournament is the Golden Boot winner.
It does not matter what stage, game or moment the goals are scored. It is simply a tally of the most goals scored by a single individual across the whole competition.
For much of the World Cup history, the award was shared for those finishing level atop the goal scoring standings. However, since assists became an officially tracked statistic by FIFA in 1994, the number has been used to determine a single winner of the award in the event of a tie.
If players are still tied using assists, then the individual with the fewest minutes, and thus a higher goals-per-minute ratio, wins the award.
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Who won the first World Cup Golden Boot?
The top goal scorer at the first FIFA World Cup in 1930 was Argentine legend Guillermo Stabile, who bagged eight goals in five matches, three more than anyone else.
The Golden Boot was not a recognized award until 1982, and thus, winners prior to this did not receive recognition at the time of their achievement. The winner in that tournament was Italian striker Paolo Rossi, who was the first to receive a trophy for his accomplishment.
However, because the winner is simply determined by a tally of goals, we can retroactively award each tournament's top goal scorer with ease.
MORE: Who won the first ever World Cup?
Who has scored the most goals in World Cup history?
The player with the most goals in a single World Cup tournament is Just Fontaine who scored an incredible 13 goals at the 1958 tournament in Sweden.
Fontaine bagged a hat-trick in France's opener against Paraguay and had racked up six goals by the end of the group stage alone. From there, he ripped off two more against Northern Ireland in the quarterfinals and then picked up one more as France fell 5-2 to Brazil in the semifinals.
Fontaine would then finish in style with an incredible four goals against West Germany in the third place match, setting the all-time record, which still stands today.
The all-time leading goal scorer across all World Cup tournaments is Miroslav Klose of Germany, who has scored 16 goals in 24 career World Cup matches.
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World Cup Golden Boot winners by year
| Year | Host | Top Scorer | Country | Goals |
| 1930 | Uruguay | Guillermo Stabile | Argentina | 8 |
| 1934 | Italy | Oldrich Nejedly | Czechoslovakia | 5 |
| 1938 | France | Leonidas | Brazil | 7 |
| 1950 | Brazil | Ademir | Brazil | 8 |
| 1954 | Switzerland | Sandor Kocsis | Hungary | 11 |
| 1958 | Sweden | Just Fontaine | France | 13 |
| 1962 | Chile | Florian Albert | Hungary | 4 |
| Garrincha | Brazil | |||
| Vava | Brazil | |||
| Valentin Ivanov | Soviet Union | |||
| Drazan Jerkovic | Yugoslavia | |||
| Leonel Sanchez | Chile | |||
| 1966 | England | Eusebio | Portugal | 9 |
| 1970 | Mexico | Gerd Muller | Germany | 10 |
| 1974 | West Germany | Grzegorz Lato | Poland | 7 |
| 1978 | Argentina | Mario Kempes | Argentina | 6 |
| 1982 | Spain | Paolo Rossi | Italy | 6 |
| 1986 | Mexico | Gary Lineker | England | 6 |
| 1990 | Italy | Salvatore Schillaci | Italy | 6 |
| 1994 | USA | Oleg Salenko | Russia | 6 |
| Hristo Stoichkov | Bulgaria | |||
| 1998 | France | Davor Suker | Croatia | 6 |
| 2002 | South Korea/Japan | Ronaldo | Brazil | 8 |
| 2006 | Germany | Miroslav Klose | Germany | 5 |
| 2010 | South Africa | Thomas Muller | Germany | 5 |
| 2014 | Brazil | James Rodriguez | Colombia | 6 |
| 2018 | Russia | Harry Kane | England | 6 |
| 2022 | Qatar | Kylian Mbappe | France | 8 |
* Also won World Cup title that year
What a World Cup Golden Boot means for a player's legacy
While there is little tied to the Golden Boot tangibly, winning top goal scorer at a FIFA World Cup will write that individual's name into the pantheon of the greatest strikers the game has ever seen.
Seeing a player included alongside the likes of Lionel Messi, Ronaldo Nazario, Gary Lineker, Kylian Mbappe, Eusebio and Just Fontaine means that individual has excelled at the highest known international level.
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World Cup Golden Boot FAQs
Who is the youngest World Cup Golden Boot winner?
The youngest winner of the Golden Boot as top goal scorer in a single World Cup tournament is Thomas Muller, who at 20 years, 274 days old won the award at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Muller finished level atop the goal scoring charts alongside three other individuals — David Villa of Spain, Wesley Sneijder of the Netherlands and Diego Forlan of Uruguay. Thus, as per the modern rules, Muller's three assists propelled him to the win.
Who is the oldest World Cup Golden Boot winner?
The oldest winner of the Golden Boot as top goal scorer in a single World Cup tournament is Davor Suker of Croatia, who won the award at the 1998 edition of the World Cup in France.
Suker was 30 years, 196 days old when he scored six goals across the tournament. Suker never scored more than one goal in any individual game, but spread out his contributions across all but one match for Croatia, the 1-0 defeat to Argentina in the group stage finale.
The Croatian would then go on to be named president of his country's football federation on 2012, a position he would hold for nine years. Under his watch, Croatia would reach the World Cup final in 2018.
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Which country has the most World Cup Golden Boot winners?
Naturally, as the most successful nation in the history of the World Cup, it tracks that Brazil have the most individual players to win World Cup Golden Boot.
Five Brazilian players have won a Golden Boot award at four different World Cup tournaments, both more than any other country.
Germany has had three players win Golden Boot awards, while Italy, Argentina, France, England, Hungary and Russia/Soviet Union all have two.
Has any player won multiple Golden Boots?
No player has ever won multiple Golden Boot awards at the FIFA World Cup.
Winning the award is already incredibly difficult on its own. When considering the distance between tournaments, and the statistical variance of such number-based awards in short sample sizes, it has proven too much for players to accomplish thus far.
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What is the difference between the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball?
The Golden Boot award is a numerically-based trophy given out to whoever scores the most goals at a single competition.
This is different from the Golden Ball which is a subjective award given to the best player at a particular tournament.
Given out since 1982, only one time in history has the Golden Ball winner also won the Golden Boot at the same tournament. That was Paolo Rossi, the first winner of both awards officially given out at the 1982 tournament.
Do most Golden Boot winners also win the World Cup title?
Statistically, most Golden Boot winners do not come from the World Cup champions, although it has happened plenty.
Of the 22 World Cup champions prior to the 2026 tournament, only five of them featured the Golden Boot winner or winners in the winning squad.
The last player to win Golden Boot and lift the trophy at the same tournament was Ronaldo, who scored eight goals to lead Brazil to the 2002 World Cup title.
Just as often, the Golden Boot winner has come from the runner-up, also happening five times, including at the most recent tournament in 2022 where Kylian Mbappe scored eight goals in France's heroic second-place effort. Mbappe's performance included only the second hat-trick ever in a World Cup final, following Geoff Hurst in 1966.
What was the World Cup Golden Boot award originally called?
Upon its inception in 1982, the Golden Boot award at the FIFA World Cup was originally created as a sponsorship deliverable.
Thus, FIFA's long-standing partnership with kit-maker Adidas led the award to be dubbed the "Adidas Golden Shoe" until 2006.
At that point, it was changed to simply the "World Cup Golden Boot" award.
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