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#3 Karim Benzema
Karim Benzema is one of the most prolific strikers to have not won the European Golden Boot award as yet. But that could change if Benzema keeps up his imperious exploits this season until the end of the campaign.
After operating in the shadow of his illustrious teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema has come into his own in the last three seasons. Since Ronado's departure in the summer of 2018, Benzema has netted at least 20 league goals in each of his three campaigns.
This season, the 33-year-old has taken things up a notch. He has already racked up ten league goals and seven assists, powering Real Madrid to the La Liga summit. Recently, Benzema brought up his 200th goal in the Spanish top flight.
The 2021 Nations League winner currently trails this season's Golden Boot race leader Robert Lewandowski by four goals.
#2 Alessandro Del Piero
Alessandro Del Piero is one of the finest Italian strikers in history. The 2006 FIFA World Cup winner enjoyed a successful club career. He scored nearly 200 goals in the Italian top flight, all of them for Juventus.
During his 18 campaigns in Serie A, the 47-year-old registered 20-goal campaigns twice during his career. However, on both occasions (1997-98 and 2007-08), Del Piero finished well short of the Golden Boot winner.
The six-time Serie A winner is one of only five players to score a hat-trick in a UEFA Champions League semi-final. Del Piero also won the Champions League in the 1995-96 season.
With 188 Serie A strikes, Del Piero is just outside the top ten all-time top-scorers in the competition.
#1 Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer is arguably the most lethal goalscorer to have never won the European Golden Boot award.
The all-time Premier League top-scorer (260 goals) is the only player in competition history to score 30 goals in three consecutive seasons. Nobody else has done it even in consecutive campaigns.
Nevertheless, on all three occasions, he missed out on the Golden Boot award to non-top-five league players, who scored more league goals than Shearer. Those were the days when the coefficient system for the Golden Boot award was not in place.
Shearer is the only player in Premier League history to score over 250 goals and net over 100 times for two clubs. However, he only won the competition once (with Blackburn Rovers in 1995).
Shearer was also a prolific scorer in international football, netted 30 times in over 60 appearances for England.
