The race for the World Cup Golden Boot is likely to be hotly contested with Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe likely to be among the front runners. However, it is England star Bukayo Saka who has taken an early lead, joining Ecuador captain Enner Valencia and Iran talisman Medhi Taremi with the trio scoring two goals in their opening games.
Three Lions captain Kane is the current holder of the award after scoring six goals in Russia. Mbappe and Ronaldo were second after finding the net on four occasions, along with Denis Cheryshev, Antonine Griezmann and Romelu Lukaku. The Tottenham star could make history in Qatar by becoming the first player ever to claim the accolade twice.
However, he will face competition from the likes of Ronaldo and Mbappe, with Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez and Neymar also among the bookies’ favourites. Most are yet to get their quest for the golden boot underway with Argentina and France playing their first matches against Saudi Arabia and Australia respectively later today.
Frenchman Just Fontaine holds the record for the number of goals scored in a single competition after finding the net an impressive 13 times during the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. Hungarian Sandor Kocsis with 11 and German legend Gerd Muller with 10 just behind the forward with those competing in Qatar dreaming of equalising their number.
BBC presenter Gary Lineker is the only Englishman to have won the golden boot other than Kane, scoring six times in Mexico in 1986. Saka is in pole position to join him after two goals against Iran, with Valencia and Taremi both joining him on that number.
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Current race for the Golden Boot
Bukayo Saka (England) 2
Enner Valencia (Ecuador) 2
Medhi Taremi (Iran) 2
Olivier Giroud (France) 2
Raheem Sterling (England) 1
Kylian Mbappe (France) 1
Jude Bellingham (England) 1
Jack Grealish (England) 1
Marcus Rashford (England) 1
Cody Gakpo (Holland) 1
Davy Klaassen (Holland) 1
Gareth Bale (Wales) 1
Timothy Weah (USA) 1
Lionel Messi (Argentina) 1
Salem Al Dawsari (Saudi Arabia) 1
Saleh Al Shehri (Saudi Arabia) 1
Craig Goodwin (Australia) 1
Adrien Rabiot (France) 1
Past Winners
1930 – Guillermo Stábile (Argentina)
1934 – Oldřich Nejedlý (Czech)
1938 – Leônidas (Brazil)
1950 – Ademir (Brazil)
1954 – Sándor Kocsis (Hungary)
1958 – Just Fontaine (France)
1962 – Flórián Albert (Hungary), Valentin Ivanov (Soviet Union), Garrincha (Brazil), Vavá (Brazil). Dražan Jerković (Yogoslavia), Leonel Sánchez (Chile)
1966 – Eusébio (Portugal)
1970 – Gerd Müller (Germany)
1974 – Grzegorz Lato (Poland)
1978 – Mario Kempes (Argentina)
1982 – Paolo Rossi (Italy)
1986 – Gary Lineker (England)
1990 – Salvatore Schillaci (Italy)
1994 – Oleg Salenko (Russia), Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)
1998 – Davor Šuker (Croatia)
2002 – Ronaldo (Brazil)
2006 – Miroslav Klose (Germany)
2010 – Thomas Müller (Germany)
2014 – James Rodríguez (Colombia)
2018 – Harry Kane (England)