At the World Cup, lifting the trophy is the ultimate goal for every player involved. However, there are a number of individual awards on offer for the tournament’s standout players.

The Golden Ball is given to the tournament’s best player, whilst the Golden Glove is awarded to the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets. But for any attacking player, their eyes will be on the Golden Boot — the award given to the player who scores the most goals during the World Cup.

The Golden Boot is regarded as the greatest individual accolade a player can win at the World Cup, with many of its previous winners considered footballing royalty. And positively, if an attacker just misses out on the top spot, they still have a chance of winning either the Silver Boot or Bronze Boot for finishing second or third, respectively, in the goalscoring charts.

So, from all the way back to the inaugural 1930 edition to the most recent World Cup in 2022, here are the Golden Boot winners from previous editions of the tournament.

World Cup 1930

Guillermo Stabile (8 goals)

Stabile made an incredible impact on his debut for Argentina, scoring a hat trick in the second group stage game against Mexico. The striker added two more against Chile in the final group game. In the semi-finals, Stabile recorded another brace to help his team into the final. But despite scoring Argentina’s second goal and leading at halftime, they ultimately lost 4-2 to Uruguay.

Still, Stabile will forever be etched into history as the first ever World Cup Golden Boot winner.

World Cup 1934

Oldřich Nejedlý (5 goals)

Nejedlý initially shared the Golden Boot accolade with Conen and Schiavio on four goals. But in 2006, the Czechoslovakian striker was credited with a fifth goal, making him the outright winner of the second ever World Cup Golden Boot. His goals helped his nation to the final of the tournament where they lost 2-1 to Italy, courtesy of a stoppage time winner from Schiavio.

World Cup 1938

Leonidas (7 goals)

Leonidas opened his World Cup account with a stellar hat trick against Poland, before scoring in both the quarterfinal and its replay against Czechoslovakia. After missing the semifinal through injury, which saw Brazil eliminated, Leonidas secured his seven-goal Golden Boot with a brace in the third place playoff against Sweden, which they won 4-2.

World Cup 1950

Ademir (9 goals)

Twelve years after the previous edition, with the outbreak of war leading to a lengthy postponement, another Brazilian stepped forward to star for his country. Ademir recorded nine goals and six assists as part of a deadly attacking trio with Zizinho and Jair. Unsurprisingly, Brazil made it to the final in 1950, but sadly they could not overcome their South American rivals Uruguay on home soil.

World Cup 1954

Sándor Kocsis (11 goals)

Hungarian great Kocsis made history in 1954, becoming the first player to score two hat tricks at a World Cup. His 11 goals also set a new standard, surpassing the record set by Ademir at the previous tournament. Having scored four goals in an 8-3 rout over West Germany in the group stage, Hungary would go on to lose 3-2 to the same opponents in the final. It was the only game that Kocsis failed to score in.

World Cup 1958

Just Fontaine (13 goals)

Just Fontaine’s incredible 1958 haul still sets the standard for an individual World Cup performance. Even though this is the only World Cup that the Frenchman scored at, he remains the sixth-highest scorer in World Cup history at the time of writing. But despite his unparalleled performance, France failed to go all the way, finishing third. Fontaine scored in every match he played, memorably scoring four against defending champions West Germany in the third place playoff.

World Cup 1962

Multiple Winners (4 goals)

After Fontaine’s dominance, the 1962 World Cup shared the spoils between six top attackers. Garrincha and Vava were helped by their World Cup win, fulfilling the maximum six appearances, as did Sanchez and Jerkovic, who settled for third and fourth, respectively, with Chile and Yugoslavia. But further praise must go to Albert and Ivanov, whose teams failed to progress beyond the quarterfinals. Whilst going down in history as joint-Golden Boot winners, they played far fewer minutes than their rivals.

World Cup 1966

Eusebio (9 goals)

Portugal great Eusebio was the clear Golden Boot winner in 1966, and he even did his best to try and stop England going all the way. After a memorable four-goal haul in the quarterfinals, Eusebio provided the lone reply to the Three Lions, as they defeated Portugal 2-1.

World Cup 1970

Gerd Müller (10 goals)

Der Bomber was West Germany’s standout player at the 1970 World Cup, recording back-to-back hat-tricks against Bulgaria and Peru, as well scoring against Italy, England, and Morocco. West Germany, however, could only muster third place despite Müller’s prolificacy.

World Cup 1974

Grzegorz Lato (7 goals)

Lato’s impressive efforts in 1974 helped Poland to secure their best ever finish at a World Cup. This feat would be repeated in 1982. Alongside strike partner Szarmach, they built a formidable duo. Lato concluded his tournament in style, scoring the only goal in the third place play-off against the mighty Brazil.

World Cup 1978

Mario Kempes (6 goals)

The legendary Argentinian striker was integral to the country’s first ever World Cup-winning squad. Kempes scored three braces in the tournament to win the Golden Boot: two against Poland, two against Peru, and two against the Netherlands in the final.

World Cup 1982

Paolo Rossi (6 goals)

Reuters

1982 was quite the year for Rossi. After returning from a controversial match-fixing ban, the Italian striker won both the Golden Boot and Golden Ball, leading his country to World Cup glory over West Germany. His efforts saw him awarded the Ballon d’Or later that year. He remains one of the few players in history to have won these four accolades in one calendar year.

World Cup 1986

Gary Lineker (6 goals)

Diego Maradona may have stolen the headlines for all the wrong reasons, but Gary Lineker still made history as England’s first ever Golden Boot winner. A 25-minute hat-trick against Poland was the highlight of an impressive tournament, with England falling at the quarterfinal stage.

World Cup 1990

Salvatore Schillaci (6 goals)

Schillaci proved an unlikely hero after starting on the bench for Italy in their group stage opener. But as the tournament wore on, his influence grew. The striker’s goals helped Italy to the semifinals where they lost to defending champions Argentina on penalties. Schillaci scored the winner against England in the third place playoff to secure the Golden Boot outright.

World Cup 1994

Hristo Stoichkov and Oleg Salenko (6 goals)

Stoichkov’s key moment in the tournament came in the quarterfinals. His 75th minute goal kick-started an unlikely comeback against the defending champions Germany, delivering a major upset. But it was Salenko’s incredible five-goal haul against Cameroon in the group stage that stole the headlines. It remains the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup match.

World Cup 1998

Davor Šuker (6 goals)

Davor Šuker ensured that Croatia’s first ever World Cup was a memorable one. His goals took his country to the edge of the World Cup final, with his semifinal goal against eventual champions France giving Croatia a temporary lead. After losing to France 2-1, Šuker scored the winner in the third-place finish to round off a wonderful tournament for the debuting nation.

World Cup 2002

Ronaldo (8 goals)

Ronaldo formed a deadly trio with Rivaldo and Ronaldinho in 2002, delivering a fifth World Cup for Brazil. Ronaldo’s highlight came in the final, where he scored the only goals to help Brazil defeat Germany. He scored in every game at the tournament except for the quarterfinal against England.

World Cup 2006

Miroslav Klose (5 goals)

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Miroslav Klose’s five goals fell just short of the Golden Boot at the last tournament. But this time around, five goals were enough to see him beat an impressive chasing pack. Goals against Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Argentina helped Germany finish third in the tournament.

World Cup 2010

Thomas Muller (5 goals)

Whilst there were four players that finished the tournament on five goals, FIFA’s tiebreaker rules saw the Golden Boot officially given to Thomas Müller. The German attacker registered three assists, trumping the one assist recorded by each of his rivals. David Villa won the Silver Boot and Wesley Sneijder was awarded the Bronze Boot. This was decided via the least minutes played. Sadly for Diego Forlan, he had played just two minutes more than Sneijder in the tournament.

World Cup 2014

James Rodriguez (6 goals)

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James Rodriguez scored in every match for Colombia, helping the South American nation achieve their best ever finish at a World Cup. Reaching the quarterfinal stage where they 2-1 to Brazil, Rodriguez still managed to clinch the Golden Boot despite only playing five matches.

​​​​​​​World Cup 2018

Harry Kane (6 goals)

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Harry Kane became just the second English World Cup Golden Boot winner since Gary Lineker with his haul in 2018. The striker surged into a commanding lead in the first two group games, scoring twice against Tunisia and recording a hat-trick against Panama. England eventually fell at the semifinal stage to Croatia.

​​​​​​​World Cup 2022

Kylian Mbappé (8 goals)

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Kylian Mbappé was again the star for France as they reached back-to-back World Cup finals. The Frenchman then became the second player ever after England’s Geoff Hurst to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final. Unfortunately for France, it still wasn’t enough to retain their title, losing on penalties to Argentina.