THE TOP PLAYERS from all over the world meet in Russia this summer to compete for football’s top prize, the World Cup. However, for some there’s a chance to aim for the Golden Boot.
The World Cup Golden Boot is awarded to the tournament’s top goalscorer and many players will be competing to join the illustrious list of former winners and see their names alongside the likes of Müller, Ronaldo and Schillaci.
The race is often unpredictable and offers a different dimension to the tournament and a chance for some stars to shine when their nation perhaps doesn’t.
Here’s a rundown of the favorites and pick of dark horses for the accolade:
The Favourites
Neymar 8/1
Brazil’s main man and the world’s most expensive player, Neymar is worth his billing as joint favorite for the prize. He’s been lethal this season in front of goal and the way this Brazil side is bubbling up for a World Cup tilt, he’s likely to play a lot of games this summer.
Lionel Messi 10/1
No surprises as to why he’s a favourite to pick up the prize. This may be the 30-year-old’s last chance to impress in a World Cup. He was the tournament’s best player in 2014 as Argentina reached the final. A Golden Boot and a World Cup medal would be the perfect way to cement his legacy as the best ever.
Antoine Griezmann 10/1
In an exciting and ever-changing French squad, Griezmann remains the talisman heading to Russia. The 27-year-old is one of the world’s best attackers and with France expected to go very far in the tournament, it makes sense that the Atletico man will get a chance to rack up a strong tally.
Gabriel Jesus 14/1
The Brazilian has been in excellent form for Premier League champions Man City and has been clinical in a Brazil shirt too. The 21-year-old is one of the game’s brightest stars and alongside Neymar, Brazil’s attack could well be free-scoring in Russia. Expect Jesus to bag a few goals.
Timo Werner 14/1
Werner is one of the new breed that Germany will rely on as they look to retain the World Cup this year. He’s been a revelation for RB Leipzig and has brought that form to the national side, finishing among the Confederations Cup top scorers last year. The 22-year-old has a promising summer ahead.
Harry Kane 16/1
The Spurs striker has been one of Europe’s most consistent in the last four seasons, scoring over 20 league goals each season including 30 Premier League goals this season. Kane comes into his first World Cup as England’s first-choice striker and if on form, he’ll undoubtedly be in with a shout.
Cristiano Ronaldo 18/1
Similar to Messi, this is Ronaldo’s last chance to shine on the biggest stage. At 33, he’s won it all at club level and also tasted success at Euro 2016. He will look to lead Portugal from the front and will terrorise any defence and is definitely to be considered as a favorite.
The Dark Horses
Thomas Müller 25/1
Müller made his breakthrough at the 2010 World Cup where he won the Golden Boot and he also finished second behind James Rodriguez in the 2014 tournament. Now at 28, the Bayern Munich man is one of the most complete forwards in the game. With his international pedigree, it would be foolish not to consider him as a potential winner.
Kylian Mbappe 25/1
The French teenager is one of the most exciting young talents in the game and has broken into the French set up in the last year as a result. Expect Mbappe to be prominent for the French and he should expect to get on the score-sheet.
Robert Lewandowski 25/1
The fact that the Bayern Munich target man is priced so highly is confusing. Lewandowski is one of the best goalscorers today and as Poland’s shining light, expect him to cause serious problems for anyone he faces.
Sergio Aguero 40/1
Aguero is likely to be a key man for Argentina in Russia. As well as Messi, this may be his last chance to perform at a World Cup and the Man City man will look to take advantage of that. He’s a top-class striker and at 40/1, that’s almost insulting.
Radamel Falcao 50/1
The 32-year-old is definitely a long shot for the award but one to keep an eye on. Falcao’s career took a downward spiral from his move to Monaco from Atletico Madrid in 2013 and after unsuccessful loan spells at Man United and Chelsea, the Colombian has finally found his feet back at Monaco this season. He has it in him and leading Colombia’s attack, you just never know.
Mo Salah 75/1
Recovering from his Champions League shoulder injury, Salah heads to this tournament with 44 goals this season and the record for most goals in a Premier League season. The Egyptian is a national hero after steering his country to the tournament and provided he’s fully fit, he’ll expect to be in among the goals.
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Ireland beat NZ, SA and OZ in the same year! Rory best deserved his ovation
Well said…
Go on the biys!! Southern Hemisphere got nothing on us
Ringrose is becoming exceptionally good exceptionally quick at this level!!
Great opportunist try. BOD-esque in his step and pace.
Murray what do you think of our injury concerns? We seem to get an abnormal amount from game to game; which would make a World Cup run of games very difficult.
Conor you got there before me thinking the same.
Given another week, we’d likely have had Henshaw, Payne at full strength and O’Brien in the team. Last week was exceptionally brutal. Australia rested a huge amount of their team last week. We did very well considering the circumstances.
In a World Cup though, that’s scant conciliation when you play tough games from week to week.
When him and Henshaw get a bit of a run together for Leinster its gonna be real exciting. Drico and Darce reborn only bigger? Well done to all the young lads, playing out of position etc. Incredible shift.
When Peter O’Mahoney came on I though he was really good. Steadied the ship.
I would love to see what a pom cj jvdf back row could do in a full game
Diarmuid, you’ll have to wait until Heaslip retires. Not a single coach on the planet would leave him out of an Irish 15.
I was one of heaslips doubters myself but I must say he has been one of Irelands best players this autumn I just wanted to see how those 3 could work together would have been an exciting prospect to see but the back row competition atm is frightening
Well said diarmuid. I was the same. Had my doubts, but he has been excellent.
@Stephen Foster:@Stephen Foster: He spend his 20 mins on the wing, and didn’t bother to tackle. Clearly unfit..
Take a bow Ringrose. Chuffed for Best shows true grit in Ireland to grind out that win. Great to see O’Mahony back to his best bruising men and getting a vital turnover. Well done Ireland great series!
Rory Best is a gent. And a great captain. Tough second half…. Well done the boys in green.
Well done to a valiant Irish team. Bring on the 6 Nations…
And we sure saw a lot of LIONS there tonight ????
Pat – possibly, but there is a 6Nations to come yet and make no mistake it will be physically brutal.
What a game by the whole 23 great series with plenty of new players blooded on to the six nations…
Do you think there are any other players that haven’t played in this series that could come into the mix? Maybe Ronan O Mahony? Stuart olding?
Jesus me nerves!!!
@Range Rover P38: Bloody oath mate. Do wish we wouldn’t kick possession away – just adds to the stress.
What a country we have! Proud to be Irish. Great win.
Couldn’t agree more. Proud of Rory and all of ‘em!
What a great win and heroic performance; a scrum half on the wing, a rookie out half full back, a midfield who hasn’t played together and all the injuries to senior players prior to the game. Great heart and performance.
Brilliant win. Getting wins over the big three in one year is nothing to be sniffed at. The depth at backrow is unreal, even when we had to reshuffle we had a backrow that dominated Hooper, Pocock at the breakdown, and we finished with a backrow of POM, VDF and Stander. Ringrose a special player. Best a great leader. Furlong a monster. Mighty potential shown over the series. One thing though, should we have started Scannell and O’Halloran? Players pushing hard to recover from injuries weren’t able to last the full match, that stretched us a bit.
@Thomas Moroney: And what happened to the SH dominance all of a sudden? Australia, SA, Argentina and even NZ losing in the November series. Glad to see that things are maybe being shaken up at international level.
Your right there Thomas, I have never seen Pocock so dominated at the breakdown.
Just Brilliant .
The Mighty Green MEN made a dark November very BRIGHT .
Thanks .
3rd in the rankings. “How sweet this moment is”
Even if Australia get hammered next we we still won’t be third in the rankings, the gap is too big between us and the Aussies.
Correct
Ya I realise that now. Those at RTÉ 2fm told me differently
That was an Incredible victory, arguably a better victory than the win against the All Blacks considering the 2nd half circumstances and the missing players from the start.
An epic match! Battered by injuries and still found the wherewithal to come from behind to win. Aussie grand slam in tatters. My heart bleeds…. not.
They’ll take it out on the Poms. Didn’t deserve to win tonight after our first half.
Hopefully
Wohooo!! Guess we bet them with their own style
Fantastic mix of young and less young. Can’t wait 6N. England and France at home. Big thanks to Joe, Andy and coaching staff.
Love this team!!!! What a win. Injuries are a serious concern though
Brilliant match the boys in Green are on fire. Congratulations to all who played hope the injuries received are not too serious especially Rob Kearney.
What a Man Rory Best.
That was one of the best Irish performances I’ve seen….they knew there would be a backlash after the break, they soaked up the pressure of 2 scores, and when it was necessary, went out and finished the game with am Earl try in the corner. ….very proud. ….a world beating performance.
Amazing as well considering Aussies rested so many lads last week to be fresh for this. None of our injuries bar Jordi murphy seem to serious at this stage as well.
If we didn’t have all those injuries we could have won by a cricket score.
Exactly!!!
Well, if ever our depth was going to be questioned, it was going to be in a game against a better ranked team, an improvised back line, with two backs having seven caps between them. That was an incredible win. Our pack is just fantastic. So happy right now.
What a win. Such heart and passion shown there with all the injuries and reshuffling around the backline. All 23 were superb there today, an excellent November series and lots of players blooded for the 6 Nations in February. Well done Rory and the boys.
What was done here with so many inexperienced kids is just brilliant – The squad standard is scary and will have no need to fear anyone. it’s potentially only a beginning – but what a start. I’m sure there is a crazy talented winger or two out there just waiting to be sprung on us and maybe a fullback or two ( thanks Rob for being a hero of mine for so long)
The aussies really did butcher it. Twice they had easy run ins but messed it up thankfully. Joe should really have had a Centre on bench considering Payne wasn’t 100% and Kearney also.
We’re the first team to beat the All Blacks, Oz and SA in a year since England in 2003. Joe Schmidt & the boys deserve great credit for that. I was fearful of England in the 6N but not anymore after this series. COYBIG, you’ve done us proud.
Brilliant game and great atmosphere at the Aviva , the pack were on fire today , Furlong , Stander , Van Der Flier and Jackson had world class performances today . Beating Springboks , The All Blacks and The Wallabies all in the space of a few months is incredible. Hopefully we get no injures and a few players recover and we’ll be in flying for the six nations
I think its fair to say Ringrose makes the grade in an Ireland shirt and once again Furlong went on the rampage!
Huge character shown by all 23 players. And a great victory in the face of such adversity. But if we know Joe he will have picked out a number of areas we can improve upon and win the 6N.
Rory Best for the Lions captaincy??
Great win, great year. Congratulations, am gonna go put some money on Ireland for the 6N before the odds drop thru the floor!
Bring on the six nations. England and France at home. . GREAT CHANCE !