By Gabriel Mills
While many previous winners of this award would happily trade their individual accolade for the World Cup trophy itself, winning a World Cup Golden Boot remains a rare and prestigious award.
Introduced for the 1982 World Cup in Spain, the Golden Boot is awarded to the tournament’s top goalscorer.
Italy’s Paolo Rossi picked up the first before the likes of Gary Lineker, Hristo Stoichkov and Ronaldo Nazario followed suit.
Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe have won the most recent editions of the award with neither lifting the World Cup trophy the year they won it.
World Cup 1958 saw the highest goal tally recorded by a single player – France’s Just Fontaine scored a ridiculous 13 goals.
Here are a few likely candidates and outside shouts for this summer’s showpiece.
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Harry Kane – England
It is extremely hard to look past Harry Kane as the Englishman is tearing apart the Bundesliga for Bayern Munich.
The former Spurs striker has scored an astonishing 61 goals in 51 games this season – and many hold him currently as the best player on the planet.
Kane won himself a Golden Boot at World Cup 2018 where he managed to net six times as England reached the semi-final stage.
Like 2018, England will face Panama again in the group stages – an opponent in which the striker scored a hat-trick in a 6-1 win.
Croatia and Ghana make up the rest of Group L and despite being strong sides, you would not bet against a player like Kane being the key for England goals.
Kylian Mbappe – France
Kylian Mbappe often relishes the chance to shine on the biggest stage for his country – this was no more apparent than the World Cup 2022 final where he scored a hat-trick.
The Real Madrid forward has scored 25 league goals this season while being especially fruitful in the Champions League, where he has bagged 15 goals in 11 games.
In Group I, France will face Senegal, Iraq and Norway – a group France will be expected to walk through.
An extremely rare trophyless season for Los Blancos may give Mbappe an extra push to lead his nation to a World Cup.
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Matheus Cunha – Brazil
While Vinicius Junior or even Igor Thiago may have been smarter picks from Seleção, I’m going out on a limb and backing the Manchester United man.
Brazil possess many players with flair and skill but Matheus Cunha holds a valuable ability to change a game from nowhere.
Against a powerhouse like Brazil, sides will look to sit deep and defend resolutely.
Cunha could hold the key to breaking them down as a wide forward, number 10 or even nine.
Whether it be long-range strike, a dazzling solo run or even a back-post header, Cunha can do it all.
With Joao Pedro being a surprise absentee from the squad and Neymar’s minutes expected to be few and far between, Brazil may look to Cunha as one of the main forwards to fire them to glory.
Julian Alvarez – Argentina
Having scored four goals in the previous World Cup for his nation as a 22-year-old, Julian Alvarez feels a smart choice this time around.
With Argentina lifting the trophy in 2022, Lionel Scaloni will be eager to reach the latter stages again.
Lionel Messi will still be expected to start and Alvarez will likely be his forward partner.
Since making the move from Manchester City to Atletico Madrid in 2024, Alvarez has scored 49 times for the Spanish giants.
Argentina will face Algeria, Austria and Jordan in the group stage and I’m backing the striker to have a big impact for his country this summer.
Mikel Oyarzabal – Spain
This may raise a few eyebrows with players like Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams at the disposal of Spain boss, Luis De La Fuente.
Oyarzabal’s record for the national team is hard to ignore, however.
Following his winning goal against England in the 2024 Euros final, the Real Sociedad man is a regular scorer for Spain.
In 2025 and 2026, Oyarzabal has scored in eight out of 12 international matches and has now crept into the top 10 all-time scorers for his country.
Spain also have a favourable looking group as they face Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde and Uruguay – goals look likely for the two-time World Cup winners.
Mikel Oyarzabal also takes penalties for his country which could also be a useful way to top the World Cup scoring chart.
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