World Cup 2014: Golden Boot winers teams & players

World Cup 2014: Golden Boot standings

Brazil's Neymar takes his tally so far to four goals.

• Neymar (Brazil) 4

• Messi (Argentina) 4

• Müller (Germany) 4

• Robben (Holland) 3

• Van Persie (Holland) 3

• Benzema (France) 3

• E Valencia (Ecuador) 3

• Shaqiri (Switzerland) 3

• Rodríguez (Colombia) 3

James Rodríguez has three for Colombia now.

• Mandzukic (Croatia) 2

• Cahill (Australia) 2

• Gervinho (Ivory Coast) 2

• Suárez (Uruguay) 2

• A Ayew (Ghana) 2

• Dempsey (USA) 2

• Perisic (Croatia) 2

• Martínez (Colombia) 2

• Bony (Ivory Coast) 2

• Musa (Nigeria) 2

• Gyan (Ghana) 2

Clint Dempsey: two goals so far for USA.

• Armero (Colombia) 1

• Aránguiz (Chile) 1

• Gutiérrez (Colombia) 1

• Olic (Croatia) 1

• Marchisio (Italy) 1

• Balotelli (Italy) 1

• Vargas (Chile) 1

• Sturridge (England) 1

• Cavani (Uruguay) 1

• Campbell (Costa Rica) 1

• Duarte (Costa Rica) 1

• Ureña (Costa Rica) 1

• Alonso (Spain) 1

• Honda (Japan) 1

• De Vrij (Holland) 1

• Oscar (Brazil) 1

• Oribe Peralta (Mexico) 1

• Sanchez (Chile) 1

• Valdivia (Chile) 1

• Beausejour (Chile) 1

• Mehmedi (Switzerland) 1

• Seferovic (Switzerland) 1

• Ibisevic (Bosnia-Herzegovina) 1

• Hummels (Germany) 1

• Brooks (USA) 1

• Feghouli (Algeria) 1

• Fellaini (Belgium) 1

• Mertens (Belgium) 1

• Lee (South Korea) 1

• Kerzhakov (Russia) 1

• Jedinak (Australia) 1

• Depay (Holland) 1

• Quintero (Colombia) 1

• Rooney (England) 1

• Ruiz (Costa Rica) 1

• Giroud (France) 1

• Matuidi (France) 1

• Valbuena (France) 1

• Sissoko (France) 1

• Dzemaili (Switzerland) 1

• Xhaka (Switzerland) 1

• Costly (Honduras) 1

• Götze (Germany) 1

• Klose (Germany) 1

• Odemwingie (Nigeria) 1

• Origi (Belgium) 1

• Slimani (Algeria) 1

• Halliche (Algeria) 1

• Djabou (Algeria) 1

• Son (South Korea) 1

• Brahimi (Algeria) 1

• Koo (South Korea) 1

• Nani (Portugal) 1

• Jones (USA) 1

• Varela (Portugal) 1

• Villa (Spain) 1

• Torres (Spain) 1

* Mata (Spain) 1

• Fer (Holland) 1

• Depay (Holland) 1

• Matip (Cameroon) 1

• Fred (Brazil) 1

• Fernandinho (Brazil) 1

• Márquez (Mexico) 1

• Guardado (Mexico) 1

• Hernández (Mexico) 1

• Godín (Uruguay) 1

• Okazaki (Japan) 1

• Cuadrado (Colombia) 1

• Samaris (Greece) 1

• Samaras (Greece) 1

• Rojo (Argentina) 1

• Dzeko (Bosnia-Herzegovina) 1
• Pjanic (Bosnia-Herzegovina) 1

• Ghoochannejhad (Iran) 1

• Ronaldo (Portugal) 1

• Vertonghen (Belgium) 1

• Slimani (Algeria) 1

• Kokorin (Russia) 1

• Vrsajevic (Bosnia-Herzegovina) 1


Do Golden Boot winners help win the World Cup?

In 1958, France's Just Fontaine scored 13 goals to win the Golden Boot – the prize given to the tournament's top goalscorer. But despite Fontaine's award, his team-mates went home empty-handed after France lost to eventual champions Brazil. Since then, defences have grown tighter and more sophisticated, and Golden Boot winners now score fewer goals. Last time out, Thomas Müller of Germany won the award with just five. The tournament as a whole has also seen a decline in goals. In 1954, the average number of goals per match was 5.38. For the the most recent World Cup, it was almost half that, at 2.27. To what extent do top goalscorers ensure a team's World Cup victory?
Average goals per match in each tournament

Golden Boot winners

Group matches
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Third place match
Final
Bittersweet victory

Just six of the 25 Golden Boot winners won the World Cup in the same tournament. In 1962, two of the six joint top scorers, Garrincha and Vava, were team-mates with Brazil. Until 1994, Fifa crowned multiple Golden Boot winners if several players were tied. Starting in 1998, the governing body introduced tiebreak rules, counting assists, to ensure that only one player received the award.
Golden Boot winner
Golden Boot winner and World Cup champion

2010

5 goals

thomas müller

2006

5 goals

miroslav klose

2002

8 goals

ronaldo

1998

6 goals

davor suker

1994

6 goals

oleg salenko

hristo stoichkov

1990

6 goals

salvatore schillaci

1986

6 goals

gary lineker

1982

6 goals

paolo rossi

1978

6 goals

mario kempes

1974

7 goals

grzegorz lato

1970

10 goals

gerd müller

1966

9 goals

eusebio

1962

4 goals

garrincha

vava

leonel sanchez

valentin ivanov

florian albert

drazen jerkovic

1958

13 goals

just fontaine

1954

11 goals

sandor kocsis

1950

8 goals

ademir

1938

7 goals

leonidas

1934

5 goals

oldrich nejedly

1930

8 goals

guillermo stabile
Which Golden Boot winners scored the goals that mattered?

Not all goals are created equal. Ronaldo's 79th-minute goal against Germany in the 2002 World Cup final gave Brazil a 2-0 lead, but it didn't change history. Brazil only needed the go-ahead goal that Ronaldo had scored in the 67th minute to win the match. So what are the goals that matter? The Guardian has defined an "impact goal" as a game-tying goal or a go-ahead goal. Of the eight goals Ronaldo netted in 2002, only 50% affected his team's result.
Impact goal
Goal

Round
Impact goals
PCT Impact goals

salvatore schillaci
Third place (1990) 100%

leonidas
Third place (1938) 86%

paolo rossi
Champions (1982) 83%

oldrich nejedly
Second place (1934) 80%

valentin ivanov
Quarter-finals (1962) 75%

grzegorz lato
Third place (1974) 71%

davor suker
Third place (1998) 67%

hristo stoichkov
Fourth place (1994) 67%

mario kempes
Champions (1978) 67%

gerd müller
Third place (1970) 60%

miroslav klose
Third place (2006) 60%

florian albert
Quarter-finals (1962) 50%

garrincha
Champions (1962) 50%

leonel sanchez
Third place (1962) 50%

ronaldo
Champions (2002) 50%

just fontaine
Third place (1958) 46%

thomas müller
Third place (2010) 40%

ademir
Second place (1950) 38%

guillermo stabile
Champions (1930) 38%

eusebio
Third place (1966) 33%

gary lineker
Quarter-finals (1986) 33%

oleg salenko
Group stage (1994) 33%

drazen jerkovic
Fourth place (1962) 25%

vava
Champions (1962) 25%

sandor kocsis
Second place (1954) 18%

World Cup's all-time goalscorers


Golden Boot winners sometimes go on to challenge for the overall World Cup goals record. Of the top 20 all-time leading goalscorers, the vast majority scored in multiple World Cups. Pelé scored 12 goals and is one of only two players who have scored in four tournaments. The current record holder is Ronaldo, with 15 goals, but Germany's Miroslav Klose could be overtake him this summer. Klose will be playing in his fourth tournament and is just one goal short of Ronaldo's mark.
Goals in tournament
Scored in multiple tournaments

Which all-time goalscorers scored the goals that mattered?

Pelé is widely considered to be the greatest player of all time, but only 42% of his goals helped determine the outcome of a match. In contrast, Italy's Paolo Rossi proved critical in the World Cup, with eight of his nine goals being game-tying or go-ahead goals.

Tournaments
Impact goals
PCT Impact goals

paolo rossi
1978, 1982 89%

grzegorz lato
1974, 1978, 1982 70%

christian vieri
1998, 2002 67%

roberto baggio
1990, 1994, 1998 67%

gary lineker
1986, 1990 60%

helmut rahn
1954, 1958 60%

gerd müller
1970, 1974 57%

uwe seeler
1958, 1962, 1966, 1970 56%

vava
1958, 1962 56%

jürgen klinsmann
1990, 1994, 1998 55%

ronaldo
1998, 2002, 2006 53%

gabriel batistuta
1994, 1998, 2002 50%

just fontaine
1958 46%

jairzinho
1966, 1970, 1974 44%

miroslav klose
2002, 2006, 2010 43%

pelé
1958, 1962, 1966, 1970 42%

eusebio
1966 33%

karl-heinz rummenigge
1978, 1982, 1986 33%

teofilo cubillas
1970, 1978, 1982 30%

sandor kocsis
1954 18%


We acknowledge that our analysis ignores the fact that any goal, game-tying or go-ahead, affects a team emotionally. And without emotion, what's the point of football?