The Golden Boot or Golden Shoe is an award presented to the top goalscorer of that particular World Cup. Every footballer dreams of scoring for their national team on the biggest stage. The feeling of scoring in the World Cup while donning your national team’s jersey remains a dream for many but a few footballers have not only done it once but on multiple occasions.
The golden shoe was first presented in 1982 to the Italian international Paolo Rossi for scoring 6 goals in the 1982 FIFA World Cup. The Golden Shoe was rebranded as the Golden Boot in 2010, making Thomas Muller the first winner of the rebranded award for scoring 5 goals in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Since 1994, the rule has remained that if more than one player ends with the same number of goals, the tie-breaker goes to the tie-breaker goes to the player with fewer goals scored from penalties, then the next tie-breaker goes to the person with more assists - with the FIFA Technical Study Group deciding whether an assist is to be counted as such.
If there is still more than one player, the tie-breaker since 2006 goes to the player who has played the least amount of time, which translates to a higher goal average.
Most Goals In World Cup
| Top Goalscorer | ||
| World Cup | Top goalscorer | Goals |
| 1930 Uruguay | Guillermo Stábile | 8 |
| 1934 Italy | Oldřich Nejedlý | 5 |
| 1938 France | Leônidas | 7 |
| 1950 Brazil | Ademir | 8 |
| 1954 Switzerland | Sándor Kocsis | 11 |
| 1958 Sweden | Just Fontaine | 13 |
| 1962 Chile | Flórián AlbertValentin IvanovGarrinchaVaváDražan JerkovićLeonel Sánchez | 4 |
| 1966 England | Eusébio | 9 |
| 1970 Mexico | Gerd Müller | 10 |
| 1974 West Germany | Grzegorz Lato | 7 |
| 1978 Argentina | Mario Kempes | 6 |
| Golden Shoe | ||
| World Cup | Golden Shoe | Goals |
| 1982 Spain | Paolo Rossi | 6 |
| 1986 Mexico | Gary Lineker | 6 |
| 1990 Italy | Salvatore Schillaci | 6 |
| 1994 United States | Oleg SalenkoHristo Stoichkov | 6 |
| 1998 France | Davor Šuker | 6 |
| 2002 South Korea/Japan | Ronaldo | 8 |
| 2006 Germany | Miroslav Klose | 5 |
| Golden Boot | ||
| World Cup | Golden Boot | Goals |
| 2010 South Africa | Thomas Müller | 5 |
| 2014 Brazil | James Rodríguez | 6 |
| 2018 Russia | Harry Kane | 6 |
Who Holds The Record For Most Goals In The World Cup?
| # | Player | Team(s) | M. | goals | Penalty | Ø |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miroslav Klose | Germany | 24 | 16 | 0 | 0.67 |
| 2 | Ronaldo | Brazil | 19 | 15 | 1 | 0.79 |
| 3 | Gerd Müller | Germany | 13 | 14 | 1 | 1.08 |
| 4 | Just Fontaine | France | 6 | 13 | 0 | 2.17 |
| 5 | Pelé | Brazil | 14 | 12 | 0 | 0.86 |
| 6 | Jürgen Klinsmann | Germany | 17 | 11 | 0 | 0.65 |
| 7 | Sándor Kocsis | Hungary | 5 | 11 | 0 | 2.20 |
| 8 | Gabriel Batistuta | Argentina | 12 | 10 | 4 | 0.83 |
| 9 | Teófilo Cubillas | Peru | 13 | 10 | 2 | 0.77 |
| 10 | Grzegorz Lato | Poland | 20 | 10 | 0 | 0.50 |
| 11 | Gary Lineker | England | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0.83 |
| 12 | Thomas Müller | Germany | 16 | 10 | 1 | 0.63 |
| 13 | Helmut Rahn | Germany | 10 | 10 | 0 | 1.00 |
| 14 | Ademir | Brazil | 6 | 9 | 0 | 1.50 |
| 15 | Roberto Baggio | Italy | 16 | 9 | 2 | 0.56 |
| 16 | David Villa | Spain | 12 | 9 | 2 | 0.75 |
| 17 | Eusébio | Portugal | 6 | 9 | 4 | 1.50 |
| 18 | Jairzinho | Brazil | 16 | 9 | 0 | 0.56 |
| 19 | Paolo Rossi | Italy | 14 | 9 | 0 | 0.64 |
| 20 | Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | Germany | 19 | 9 | 0 | 0.47 |
| 21 | Uwe Seeler | Germany | 21 | 9 | 0 | 0.43 |
| 22 | Vavá | Brazil | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0.90 |
| 23 | Christian Vieri | Italy | 9 | 9 | 0 | 1.00 |
