World Cup Top Goalscorer Betting
The Golden Boot market always attracts plenty of interest from punters during the World Cup and this year in Qatar will be no different. Harry Kane is the most recent winner having netted six times in Russia in 2018. With Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup, there are a number of factors that need to be considered when selecting a team to follow and a player to hit the dizzy heights of top goalscorer. Check out our World Cup Betting page for more details.
Top Goalscorer Favourite: Kane at head of market once more
Harry Kane is well fancied to follow up his 2018 Golden Boot, the Englishman is joint-favourite again this time around at 8/1, vying for outright market leadership with France’s Kylian Mbappe.
Neymar is next in the betting at 12/1 with four players level on 14/1 - Karim Benzema, Romelu Lukaku, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
It may well be the last World Cup for the latter pair and so they will be giving their all to end on the ultimate high by winning international football’s top prize.
How to win World Cup Top scorer
In recent years six goals have usually been enough to secure Golden Boot honours at the World Cup.
In fact, eight of the last 11 winners have finished on exactly that number of goals, with the only outliers being Thomas Muller and Miroslav Klose’s five at the 2010 and 2006 World Cups respectively and Ronaldo’s eight in 2002.
Top Goalscorer: Group stages to be key
As always in major tournaments, the group stages will be crucial to the chances of the Golden Boot winner. Harry Kane netted four of his six goals at Russia 2018 in group games so targeting a player who has a potentially soft section is crucial this time around.
The Netherlands have arguably the easiest group, with Senegal, Ecuador and Qatar their opponents and as a result Memphis Depay may be worth considering.
Outside bet: Depay to make hay
The Dutchman has scored 21 goals for his country in his last 21 games over 2021 and 2022 and will be their penalty taker at the tournament, if he is fit.
The FIFA rankings of the other three teams in Group A are 18, 44 and 49, indicating that perhaps the Netherlands, who are ranked eighth, should be able to make hay against inferior opposition.
If they win Group A the Dutch also face a winnable tie against the runners-up from Group B which is likely to be one of United States or Wales, meaning they and Depay could thrive again.
Outside bet: Messi could prove too strong
Lionel Messi finally secured his first international trophy by winning the Copa America last year, finishing as joint-top scorer with four goals.
In total, the 35-year-old netted nine times in 16 appearances for his country in 2021 and will also benefit from a relatively weak group in this year’s World Cup.
Argentina face Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Poland in their section and arguably the greatest player of all time looks likely to give his opponents plenty to worry about.
At 14/1 the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner is well worth considering to take home Golden Boot honours in what may be his final major international tournament.
