Adidas’ 2018 World Cup incarnation of the Golden Boot was revealed in a Moscow department store. It is the award given to the best goalscorer in a World Cup tournament. This version appears to be based on the next-generation Adidas X 18+ boot that was released back in May especially for the Champions League final. The laceless boot unavoidably features the German sportswear giant’s signature three stripes across the front. The current Golden Boot holder is Colombia’s James Rodriguez, who scored six goals on his way to claiming the award in 2014. Germany’s Thomas Muller and Miroslav Klose are his predecessors, having scored five goals each in 2010 and 2006, respectively. France’s Just Fontaine (13), Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis (11) and Germany’s Gerd Muller (10) are the only players in World Cup history to score 10 or more goals in a single tournament.
Former Barcelona teammates Lionel Messi and Neymar have been made the odds-on favorites win the 2018 World Cup Golden Boot, closely followed by the leader of this French generation and the Euro 2016 Golden Boot winner – Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann. Gabriel Jesus and Harry Kane round up the top five candidates. Cristiano Ronaldo should also be in the mix. 18 of the 20 recipients of the Golden Boot award have played for a team that finished either first, second or third, so the bookmakers obviously love the chances of Argentina, Brazil and France going far in the tournament hosted by Russia. Messi will do his best to take his Argentina team a step further after losing in the final against Germany in the last World Cup organized by Brazil. He’s a man on a mission to win the trophy that has eluded him throughout his career and is the reason why he’s not unanimously recognised as Argentina’s best footballer of all time.
Neymar also has some unsettled business after the events that took place four years ago. The 7-1 semi-final loss to Germany still haunts him and his Brazilian teammates. Having recovered from a foot injury that forced him to miss most of the second half of the season for PSG, he’ll be fresh and ready to make amends.
Antoine Griezmann comes into this 2018 World Cup in great form, having led Atletico Madrid to the Europa League title with two goals in the final. The minimum expectation for France is to reach the semi-finals and goals from Griezmann will be essential in fulfilling that expectation. The 2018 World Cup kicks off on June 14 in Moscow with a match between the host Russia and Saudi Arabia.
PREVIOUS GOLDEN BOOT WINNERS
Uruguay 1930 – Guillermo Stabile, Argentina – 8 goals
Italy 1934 – Oldrich Nejedly, Czech Republic – 5 goals
France 1938 – Leonidas, Brazil – 7 goals
Brazil 1950 – Ademir, Brazil – 8 goals
Switzerland 1954 – Sandor Kocsis, Hungary – 11 goals
Sweden 1958 – Just Fontaine, France – 13 goals
Chile 1962 – Florian Albert, Hungary, Valentin Ivanov, Soviet Union, Garrincha, Brazil, Vava, Brazil, Drazan Jerkovic, Yugoslavia, Leonel Sanchez – 4 goals
England 1966 – Eusebio, Portugal – 9 goals
Mexico 1970 – Gerd Muller, Germany – 10 goals
West Germany 1974 – Grzegorz Lato, Poland – 7 goals
Argentina 1978 – Mario Kempes, Argentina – 6 goals
Spain 1982 – Paolo Rossi, Italy – 6 goals
Mexico 1986 – Gary Lineker, England – 6 goals
Italy 1990 – Salvatore Schillaci, Italy – 6 goals
US 1994 – Oleg Salenko, Russia, Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgaria – 6 goals
France 1998 – Davor Suker, Croatia – 6 goals
South Korea / Japan 2002 – Ronaldo, Brazil – 8 goals
Germany 2006 – Miroslav Klose, Germany – 5 goals
South Africa 2010 – Thomas Muller, Germany – 5 goals
Brazil 2014 – James Rodriguez, Colombia – 6 goals
