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Playing for the national team is always the most significant part of every sportsperson's career. And to move a step further and represent your country at the highest stage - the World Cup is the most popular sport on the planet has a special place in every footballer's heart.
It takes months and years of hard work and extreme consistency to get eventually onboard the plane heading to the World Cup. Of course, every player plays his heart out for his country at the grandest stage, yet there are some who turn out to be exceptional. Their goal-scoring prowess either places their country on the brink of World Cup glory or ends up helping the nation lift the gleaming golden trophy.
While every World Cup has had stars who turned up the style quotient and found the back of the net frequently, let's have a look at the last five World Cup finals to see who bagged the Golden Boot award and who was inches closer to becoming the top goalscorer of the tournament.
1998 FIFA World Cup, France
The 1998 FIFA World Cup hosted by France saw the host country winning the international football's grandest prize. While Les Bleus trumped the Samba Boys and defending champions Brazil 3-0 in the final, it was the tiny country of Croatia which surprised one and all, as they finished third in the tournament.
Top Goalscorers:
6 goals - Davor Šuker (Croatia)
Šuker first helped Croatia qualify for the World Cup 1998 finals by scoring five goals in nine matches during the qualifying stages. He continued his prolific performance in the World Cup finals as he ended up scoring at least one goal in every 1998 World Cup match that Croatia scored in.
His goalscoring started with the 69' goal in the 1-3 victory against Jamaica. He continued his brilliant form as he scored six goals in seven matches (including the victory against Jamaica) to get Croatia on the brink of World Cup Final. He opened the scoring against host nation France in the semi-finals. However, his efforts went in vain as Lillian Thuram scored twice to ensure France head to the finals. In spite of this, Šuker scored the winner in the third-place playoffs to ensure Croatia finish third in their first World Cup appearance since becoming an independent nation.
5 goals - Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina), Christian Vieri (Italy)
4 goals - Ronaldo (Brazil), Marcelo Salas (Chile), Luis Hernández (Mexico)
2002 FIFA World Cup, South Korea / Japan
The first-ever World Cup to be hosted in Asia, the 2002 World Cup was one entertaining extravaganza. Hosted by South Korea and Japan, the tournament saw defending champions France crash out in the group stages with just one point, while second on the list of favorites - Argentina also crashed out in the group stages. To add more zest to this World Cup, Turkey finished third and the hosts South Korea managed to go all the way to the semi-finals before losing out to Germany. A powerful German side clashed against the mighty Brazilians in the final, with Brazilians coming out on top to win their fifth World Cup trophy.
Top Goalscorers:
8 goals - Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima (Brazil)
The toothy Brazilian superstar played the best of his international career in the famous Brazilian jersey at the 2002 tournament. Injured prior to the tournament, Ronaldo made a remarkable recovery just in time to lead Brazil to their fifth World Cup glory.
Starring alongside Rivaldo and Ronaldinho, he scored eight goals - at least one against every opponent except in the quarter-finals against England. In the final against Germany, he scored both the goals which helped the Seleção trump their German rivals.
5 goals - Rivaldo (Brazil), Miroslav Klose (Germany)
4 goals - Jon Dahl Tomasson (Denmark), Christian Vieri (Italy)
2006 FIFA World Cup, Germany
Germany was hosting the World Cup for the second time (the first being in 1974 as West Germany). Unfortunately, they couldn't progress beyond the semi-finals as they crashed out to eventual champions Italy. The 2006 World Cup is considered to be one of the most-watched events in the world. It had its fair share of controversies - the first major one coming as the infamous Cristiano Ronaldo wink after coaxing the referee to show a red card to his Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney in Portugal's quarter-final showpiece against England.
However, the events that unfolded in the finale trumped them all as Zinedine Zidane headbutted Italian Marco Materazzi in a bizarre fashion during their match in the final. This eventually led to his immediate dismissal and had a big role in Italy's victory over the French in the penalty shootout that followed.
Top Goalscorers:
5 goals - Miroslav Klose
Klose's five goals which helped him win the Golden Boot went in vain as eventual champions defeated the Germans with two goals late into the extra-time. His first two goals came in the opening 4-2 win against Costa Rica. Klose converted two close-range shots to begin the German WC campaign with aplomb. He scored a similar brace in the final group game against Ecuador which Germany won 3-0. His final and fifth goal for the tournament came against Argentina.
4 goals: Hernán Crespo (Argentina), Thierry Henry (France), Fernando Torres (Spain), Maxi Rodríguez (Argentina), Zinedine Zidane (France), David Villa (Spain), Ronaldo (Brazil), Lukas Podolski (Germany)
2010 World Cup, South Africa
The first World Cup to be hosted in an African nation, it ended with Spain as World Champions. The tournament had its share of surprises with 1998 champions France and defending champions Italy not making it beyond the group stages. Like every World Cup, it had its fair share of controversies and stories. The foremost being the handball by Luis Suarez to deny Ghana a fitting chance to qualify for the semi-finals. Ghana, who were performing exceptionally well in the tournament so far, lost out in the penalty shootouts which would have probably not taken place if Suarez hadn't denied them a clear goal. The Netherlands was the star performing nation as they went all the way to the finals before losing out to a 116th-minute winner by Spain's Andres Iniesta.
Top Goalscorers:
5 goals - Thomas Müller (Germany)
In what turned out to be an entertaining conclusion to the World Cup, the tournament ended with four players scoring five goals which were the highest number of goals scored. Alongside Germany's Thomas Müller, Spain's David Villa, The Netherlands' Wesley Sneijder, and Uruguay's Diego Forlán finished with five goals apiece. However, given that the rest took seven matches to score five goals while Müller took simply six matches to score the same number of goals, Muller was adjudged to be the winner of the Golden Boot. His first goal came against Australia and he continued his fine goal-scoring form till the playoffs where he scored against an excellent Uruguayan side to complete his five goals.
5 goals - David Villa (Spain), Wesley Sneijder (The Netherlands), Diego Forlán (Uruguay)
4 goals - Gonzalo Higuaín (Argentina), Miroslav Klose (Germany), Róbert Vittek (Slovakia)
2014 FIFA World Cup, Brazil
Back to the country which has given birth to generations of football legends, it was indeed a rejoicing moment for Brazil to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup. However, their joy turned into agony when eventual champions Germany booted them out of the tournament in the most humiliating manner. Playing in the semi-finals, an optimistic Brazilian side was dealt an early blow when 2010 World Cup Golden Boot winner Thomas Müller opened the scoring. What followed was an absolute carnage as the Germans decimated the Brazilians 1-7. In another story, history repeated itself as defending champions Spain were knocked out in the group stages, so did England and Italy. The Germans marched unperturbed to the finals where they faced Lionel Messi's Argentina and won the final with a 113' Mario Gotze winner.
Top Goalscorers:
6 goals - James Rodríguez (Colombia)
Probably one of the best players in the tournament, Rodríguez was adjudged as the FIFA Man of the Match three out of the five matches he played in the tournament. Such was his influence over the Colombian side that he set up five goals and scored five as well, as Colombia scored 11 goals en route to their quarter-final match against Brazil. He scored another goal in the quarter-final against Brazil, taking his tally to six goals, which was more than enough to ensure he finished as the top scorer.
5 goals: Thomas Müller (Germany)
4 goals: Lionel Messi (Argentina), Neymar (Brazil), Robin van Persie (The Netherlands)
