Apart from the Jules Rimet trophy, there is no better honor other than a Golden Boot Award for a football player. Each of the players’ eyeballs would be stuck up on the Golden Boot, which is apparently their biggest dream. It is an award given to the player who scored the most in the entire season. Although many players have scored goals in the World Cup 2022, we believe that one of the best players, such as Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo, or Lionel Messi, will take that goal home.
Kylian Mbappe, France- 5
France’s 23- year old player, Kylian Mbappe, initially scored against Australia in their opener match on December 3, 2022, and he bagged a double in the second half of the game with Denmark, as they booked their way to the knockout round. In other words, it can be said that Mbappe has played a major role in taking France to the knockout stage.
After Brazil’s Pele, it is Mbappe who has become the youngest footballer to score five goals in the knockout stage alone. Therefore, it is feasible to say Mbappe could run for the Golden Boot, and most probably, he might also dethrone the playing goats, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Aside from these three, we have England Captain Harry Kane, who has scored his first goal. Although he has been showing a spark, it is uncertain that the 2018 Golden Boot winner might win the race against the finest player, Kylian Mbappe. But what is more interesting is that England teammates Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford have encountered more goals than the captain. Thus, we can expect to see unexpected faces on the final run for the Golden Boots.
Lionel Messi, Argentina- 3
Regardless of Argentina’s destiny in the Qatar World Cup 2022, Lionel Messi has already created history so far. In fact, it is needless to mention what records he has broken so far and is yet to break in the future.
For pro players like Messi, there is no better exposure than a World Cup. Although they couldn’t set their bar high in the opening match with Saudi Arabia, the Argentina fans were adamant that they would come back, and they did the same. With Messi leading the team, how could Argentina not reach the knockout stage anyway?
In the second game, they had the most anticipated win against Mexico. Unfortunately, this will be the last time we see the 35-year-old Argentine captain their country in the World Cup.
As per LifestyleUG’s latest list of the most followed Instagram accounts, Messi is the third most followed person on Instagram, and by the time the tournament ends, there is a greater probability that he might get himself positioned at least at the second.
So far, Messi has scored three goals, which is a draw with France’s Kylian Mbappe and many other players, including England’s Marcus Rashford and Spain’s Alvaro Morata. All while playing for Barcelona, the football behemoth, Messi has been awarded six Golden Boots, making him the most challenging player.
Cristaino Ronaldo, Portugal – 1
Like Lionel Messi, the Qatar World Cup will be Cristiano Ronaldo’s final playground, where he will lead Portugal. He himself told ESPN that the 2022 World Cup is going to be his last international tournament.
Portugal’s all-time top goal scorer, Ronaldo, has only been able to bag a single goal. That makes his run for the Golden Boot pretty hard, when compared to the other two players, Mbappe and Messi, who have already scored three goals each.
He scored the opening goal in the Qatar World Cup against Ghana. But after that particular match, he failed to score a second. The country faced Ghana, Uruguay, and South Korea, but only lost to the latter, securing their place in the knockout stage. Including the team leader, Ronaldo, the entire Portuguese team must be building up their confidence to make a perfect comeback.
This would be Portugal’s eighth World Cup appearance, and coach Fernando Santos is beyond thrilled about this particular fact. Like millions of others, he believes the team is capable of winning the title,and its captain is even more apt to own the Golden Boot as well. If he wins, then it would be Ronaldo’s fifth Golden Boot.
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