World Cup Golden Boot Winners


The golden boot award is given to the highest goal scorer at every world cup. It has officially been given out to the winner since the 1982 World Cup in Spain, being known as the Golden Shoe award until the 2010 World Cup. 

World Cup Golden Boot Winners. From 1982 onwards, 11 players have won the Golden Boot. These are Paolo Rossi, Gary Lineker, Salvatore Schillaci, Oleg Salenko, Hristo Stoichkov, Davor Suker, Ronaldo, Miroslav Klose, Thomas Mueller, James Rodriguez and Harry Kane 

The official award of the Golden Boot has only been given out since the 1982 World Cup in Spain. Before that, there was no official award given to the top scorer. FIFA decided to give the award in 1982 to recognise the incredible achievement of finishing as the tournament’s top scorer. 

List of World Cup Top Scorers

YearHostTop ScorerCountryGoals ScoredMatches Played
1930UruguayGuillermo StabileArgentina84
1934ItalyOldrich NejedlyCzechoslovakia54
1938FranceLeonidas da SilvaBrazil74
1950BrazilMarques AdemirBrazil86
1954SwitzerlandSandor KocsisHungary115
1958SwedenJust FontaineFrance136
1962ChileDrazen JerkovicYugoslavia46
1966EnglandFerreira EusebioPortugal96
1970MexicoGerd MullerWest Germany106
1974West GermanyGrzegorz LatoPoland77
1978ArgentinaMario KempesArgentina67
1982SpainPaolo RossiItaly67
1986MexicoGary LinekerEngland65
1990ItalySalvatore SchillaciItaly67
1994USAOleg SalenkoRussia63
1994USAHristo StoitchkovBulgaria67
1998FranceDavor SukerCroatia67
2002Japan & South KoreaRonaldoBrazil87
2006GermanyMiroslav KloseGermany57
2010South AfricaThomas MüllerGermany56
2014BrazilJames RodríguezColumbia65
2018RussiaHarry KaneEngland76
2022QatarTBCTBCTBCTBC

World Cup Golden Boot Winners 

1930-1982 

1930 World Cup- Guillermo Stabile – 8

Argentinian forward Guillermo Stabile was the dominant top scorer, finishing with three more goals than second place. But his goal in the final could not prevent his Argentinian side from losing in the final to the hosts Uruguay. 

1934 World Cup- Oldrich Nejedly – 5

Czechoslovakian forward Oldrich Nejedly scored five goals to lead the World Cup in scoring. The most important of those was a hattrick in the Semi-final against Germany to send his side to the final where they would lose to hosts Italy, a very similar exit to Guillermo Stabile’s 1930 World Cup. 

1938 World Cup- Leonidas – 7

Finishing the tournament on seven goals, Leonidas was the tournament’s top scorer, despite failing to score in the crucial Semi-final that saw his side knocked out. 

1950 World Cup- Ademir  – 8

In the first tournament to be hosted in Brazil, it was Brazilian forward Ademir who finished with almost double the amount of goals as anyone else. Six goals in the first two games of the Final round meant that he was always going to be the tournament’s top scorer, but failed to score in the final game of the round, which saw Uruguay lift the trophy for the second time. 

1954 World Cup-Sandor Kocsis – 11

Hungary had their first World Cup top scorer in 1954. In just the two group games he scored seven goals, including four against West Germany. Kocsis added two more in both the Quarter-final and the Semi-finals. Despite this incredible scoring, he failed to find the net in the final, with West Germany getting their revenge. 

1958 World Cup- Just Fontaine – 13

The French forward still holds the record for the most goals at a single World Cup with a staggering 13. Six of these goals came in the group stage, with Fontaine scoring in every game that he played at the World Cup. He finished the tournament scoring four against West Germany in the Third Place play-off. 

1962 World Cup- Florian Albert, Valentin Ivanov, Garrincha, Vava, Drazan Jerkovic and Leonel Sanchez – 4

Miraculously, six players all finished on four goals at the end of the 1962 World Cup. Four goals are still the lowest total a golden boot winner has finished on. There has only been one other World Cup when more than one player has finished as the top scorer. 

1966 World Cup- Eusebio – 9

Eusebio had a tournament to remember in 1966, scoring three goals in the group stage before an incredible knockout performance. His four goals took Portugal past North Korea, but his goal in the Semi-final could not get them past England, with Eusebio adding his ninth goal with a penalty in the Third place play-off. 

1970 World Cup-Gerd Muller – 10

German striker Gerd Muller had a brilliant World Cup, including scoring the 108th-minute winner to beat reigning champions England in the Quarter-final. Much like a lot of the other golden boot winners on this list, his goals could not take his team to the final, with Muller scoring twice in added time in the 4-3 loss to Italy. 

1974 World Cup-Grzegorz Lato – 7

Poland scored a whopping 12 goals in their first three group games, adding another three in the second group stage. Grzegorz Lato was crucial to that, finishing the World Cup as the tournament’s top scorer as well as scoring the unlikely winner in the Third place play-off. 

1978 World Cup- Mario Kempes  – 6

Argentina had a brilliant home World Cup and that was in big thanks to their striker Mario Kempes. Having scored four in the group stages, his double in the final led his country to their first World Cup. 

1982 World Cup-Paolo Rossi – 6

After just three goals in his team’s first five games, it seemed unlikely Paolo Rossi would finish as the tournament’s top scorer. But the Italian scored three goals in his next two, including the first in the final which Italy ended up winning. This was the first time a golden shoe award was given.

1986 World Cup-Gary Lineker – 6

Becoming the first Englishman to finish as the World Cup’s top scorer, Linekers’ tournament was ended by the hand of god moment from Diego Maradona. 

1990 World Cup- Salvatore Schillaci – 6

Incredibly, Salvatore Schillaci only scored one goal for Italy outside of a World Cup. He opened the scoring in the Round of 16 and the Quarter-final. His sixth goal was the winner in the Third place play-off to beat England. 

1994 World Cup- Hristo Stoichkov, Oleg Salenko – 6

The only time that the official award has been shared. Salenko remains the only player to score five goals in a single World Cup game, finishing as joint top scorer despite Russia only playing three games. 

1998 World Cup-Davor Suker – 6

Croatian Davor Suker had a brilliant scoring run which helped his side to the Semi-final, where they would lose 2-1 to eventual winners France. 

2002 World Cup-Ronaldo – 8

R9 was unstoppable at the 2002 World Cup, scoring the only goals in both the semi-finals and the final, being named the tournament’s top scorer after a phenomenal run. 

2006 World Cup-Miroslav Klose – 5

Klose was excellent in the 2006 World Cup, scoring five of his six goals in the group stage before scoring the equaliser in the quarter-final. 

2010 World Cup-Thomas Muller – 5

Despite finishing on the same amount of goals as David Villa, Wesley Sneijder and Diego Forlan, Muller finished as the Golden boot winner thanks to having the most assists. 

2014 World Cup-James Rodriguez – 6

Thanks in part to his wonder goal in the Round of 16, James finished as the tournament’s top scorer, just barely preventing Thomas Muller from getting his second award in a row. 

2018 World Cup-Harry Kane – 7

England striker Harry Kane scored five in the group stage including a hat trick against Panama to finish as the tournament’s top scorer. 

Louis

Life long Portsmouth Fan and have followed football since 1993. Is there a better sport on earth?

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