Soccer-World Cup 2022 top goal scorer: who won the Golden Boot?

Article content

One of the top honors awarded at the

2022 FIFA World Cup was the Golden Boot which is presented to

Article content

the top scorer at the tournament.

France striker Kylian Mbappe topped the count with eight

goals, one more than Argentina’s Lionel Messi, after bagging a

hat-trick in the final which the defending champions lost to the

South Americans on penalties.

The number of assists is used as a tiebreaker to separate

players who are level on goals scored. If they are tied on both

counts, the winner is decided by who played the fewest minutes.

Article content

WORLD CUP TOP GOAL SCORER 2022: FINAL GOLDEN BOOT STANDINGS*

PLAYER GOALS ASSISTS GAMES MINUTES

Golden Boot Kylian Mbappe 2

(France) 598

8 7

Silver Boot Lionel Messi 3

(Argentina) 571

7 7

Bronze Boot Olivier Giroud 4 0

(France) 424

6

* Argentina’s Julian Alvarez also scored four goals but

finished behind Giroud on the tiebreaker rule

KYLIAN MBAPPE

* The 23-year-old scored against Australia in his side’s

opening Group D match and bagged a second-half double against

Denmark as France booked their knockout spot.

* France’s talisman failed to find the net as Tunisia

recorded a famous upset in their final group match.

* He added two more goals to his tally in a 3-1 win against

Poland in the last 16, but was unable to score in France’s 2-1

Article content

quarter-final win over England and their 2-0 win over Morocco in

the semi-finals.

* Mbappe signed off with a hat-trick in the final against

Argentina, netting twice from the spot.

Below is an overview of players who were also contenders in

the race for top scorer at the 2022 World Cup:

LIONEL MESSI

* The Argentina great played in what he said was his last

World Cup. The 35-year-old opened his account by burying a spot

kick in a shock Group C loss to Saudi Arabia, before scoring and

assisting Enzo Fernandez in an emotionally charged win over

Mexico.

* Messi scored in Argentina’s 2-1 win over Australia in the

last 16, putting his side ahead after 35 minutes with a coolly

taken low strike for his 94th international goal.

* He also assisted a goal and scored in Argentina’s

Article content

quarter-final win over the Netherlands.

* Messi was heavily involved in Argentina’s 3-0 semi-final

victory over Croatia, scoring one and assisting on another for

team mate Julian Alvarez, who scored twice.

* He added two more goals to his tally in the final.

OLIVIER GIROUD

* Giroud, 36, surpassed Thierry Henry to become France’s

all-time top scorer when he netted his 52nd goal in 117

appearances for Les Bleus in their 3-1 World Cup last-16 win

over Poland.

* He had drawn level with Henry on 51 after netting a double

in France’s 4-1 win over Australia in their opening Group D

game.

* Giroud also scored in France’s 2-1 quarter-final win over

England but failed to find the net in the semi-final or final.

(Compiled by Siddharth K and Aadi Nair in Bengaluru, and Anita

Kobylinska in Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi, Ken Ferris, Hugh

Lawson, Peter Rutherford and Pritha Sarkar)

Check out our sports section for the latest news and analysis. Care for a wager? Head to our sports betting section for news and odds.