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The 2022 FIFA World Cup’s first round of group-stage games are complete, and there are still more questions than answers about which team will ultimately win international football’s biggest prize.
Along with the debate over which team will win the tournament, arguments are being made about which player will win the World Cup Golden Boot award.
Olivier Giroud equals Henry as France all time topscorer: 51 goals.
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Special player ?? pic.twitter.com/b5Ax8PbE8X
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 22, 2022
The opening round of group-stage games saw six players score twice to begin the World Cup.
Spain’s Ferran Torres, France’s Olivier Giroud, England’s Bukayo Saka, Brazil’s Richarlison, Ecuador’s Enner Valencia, and Iran’s Mehdi Taremi all scored twice to open the competition.
A few assumptions can be made from the six players that scored twice to open the tournament. For starters, Valencia and Taremi are highly unlikely to win the Golden Boot award.
Ecuador’s Valencia and Iran’s Taremi won’t play enough games to score the goals necessary to win the Golden Boot. Ecuador may have won their opener against a dreadful Qatar, but it is unlikely the team will reach the knockout rounds.
Taremi’s Iran was poor against England to open the tournament. The two goals scored by Taremi (one from a penalty) could be their own goals of the tournament. Valencia is 33/1 to win the Golden Boot and Taremi is 100/1 to be the top scorer.
Richarlison currently looks like the strongest candidate to win the Golden Boot. The Brazilian scored twice in the Selecao’s 2-0 win against Serbia. He leads the Golden Boot odds race at 5/1.
Saka, Giroud, and Torres all have the opportunity to be top scorer. Like Richarlison, they are likely to play a large number of matches. The more matches teams play, the more chances players have to score goals.
While the previously mentioned players have the chance to win the Golden Boot award, France’s Kylian Mbappe could steal the show.
The France striker scored against Australia to help the team to a 4-1 win. Mbappe is 8/1 to win the top goalscorer award.
In 2018, Harry Kane won the World Cup Golden Boot award with six goals. England reached the semifinals of the tournament and also played in the third-place playoff. Kane had seven games to score goals.
Four years earlier, James Rodriguez scored six goals in five World Cup games. In 2010, David Villa, Thomas Muller, and Diego Forlan all scored five goals.
The trio played at least six games in the World Cup. History shows the more games a player plays, the more goals they score.
