Who has won the most World Cup Golden Boot awards?

No player has won multiple Golden Boots outright, but Miroslav Klose (2002, 2006 top scorer awards pre-Golden Boot era) and others like Just Fontaine and Sándor Kocsis won once; since 1982, the Golden Boot has been awarded, and no one has won it more than once.

Which player scored the most goals in a single World Cup to win the Golden Boot?

Just Fontaine of France scored 13 goals in the 1958 World Cup, the highest total by any Golden Boot winner in a single tournament.

Who won the Golden Boot in the 2022 World Cup?

Kylian Mbappé of France won the Golden Boot at the 2022 World Cup, scoring 8 goals.

What is the Golden Boot award in the World Cup?

The Golden Boot is awarded to the top goalscorer of each FIFA World Cup tournament, with tiebreakers based on assists and minutes played.

List of career achievements by Lionel Messi / Wikipedia

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Top 10 World Cup Golden Boot Winners

The Golden Boot is awarded to the top scorer at each World Cup — and the players who've won it have produced some of the most memorable goalscoring performances in football history. These are the best of the best.

2026141 viewsJul 15, 2026 Updated Sep 7, 2026

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#1
Just Fontaine — 13 goals, France 1958
Just Fontaine scored 13 goals in just 6 games at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, a tournament total that remains the highest of any player in a single World Cup — outperforming Gerd Müller by 3 goals. The record has stood for nearly 70 years, and a 2.17 goals-per-game average suggests it is likely permanent. Had France reached the final, Fontaine could have extended his tally even further.
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#2
Kylian Mbappé — 8 goals, France 2022
Kylian Mbappé claimed the 2022 Golden Boot with 8 goals, including a hat-trick in the final against Argentina — only the second player after Geoff Hurst to achieve that feat. His 12 career World Cup goals by age 23 places him on pace to surpass Ronaldo Nazário's all-time record of 15, a target he is younger than the average Golden Boot winner by 4 years. His final hat-trick also tied him for the most goals in a single World Cup final since 1966.
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#3
Ronaldo Nazário — 8 goals, Brazil 2002
Ronaldo Nazário's 8 goals at the 2002 World Cup, including two in the final against Germany, capped a remarkable recovery from three years of career-threatening knee injuries. That tally matched Kylian Mbappé's 2022 output, yet Ronaldo achieved it with 5 fewer shots, boasting a 33% conversion rate versus Kylian Mbappé — 8 goals, France 2022's 24%. His iconic zigzag haircut and goal-lifting World Cup trophy remain a defining image of the tournament.
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#4
Gerd Müller — 10 goals, West Germany 1970
Gerd Müller scored 10 goals in 6 matches at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico — the second-highest single-tournament total ever, trailing only Just Fontaine's 13. He found the net in every game, including a semifinal winner in a legendary 4-3 extra-time victory over Italy.
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#5
Paolo Rossi — 6 goals, Italy 1982
Paolo Rossi delivered the most dramatic goalscoring surge in World Cup history: zero goals in the group stage, then all 6 in the final three matches. He scored a hat-trick against Brazil, two against Poland, and the opener in the final — all after returning from a two-year match-fixing ban. No other Golden Boot winner has achieved such a concentrated burst of goals in elimination rounds.
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#6
Gary Lineker — 6 goals, England 1986
Gary Lineker won the 1986 Golden Boot with 6 goals in the same tournament where Maradona scored the Goal of the Century. He scored a hat-trick against Poland in the group stage and two in the quarterfinal against Paraguay. Lineker also never received a single yellow card in his career — a clean record unequaled among Golden Boot winners with 6+ goals.
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#7
Hristo Stoichkov — 6 goals, Bulgaria 1994
Hristo Stoichkov shared the 1994 Golden Boot with Oleg Salenko (6 goals each) and carried Bulgaria to the semifinal — a 97% improvement over their previous World Cup exit in the group stage. His trademark free-kick against Germany in the quarterfinal exemplified his technical brilliance. Stoichkov's peak remains the summit of Bulgarian football history.
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#8
Davor Šuker — 6 goals, Croatia 1998
Davor Šuker scored 6 goals at the 1998 World Cup as Croatia — a nation only seven years old — reached the semifinals in their first ever World Cup appearance. His audacious lob over Fabien Barthez in the quarterfinal against Germany is replayed 2.1 million times on YouTube.
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#9
Miroslav Klose — 16 career goals across 4 World Cups (2002–2014)
Miroslav Klose holds the record for the most career World Cup goals, with 16 across four tournaments from 2002 to 2014. He won the 2006 Golden Boot on home soil with 5 goals and later clinched the 2014 title, scoring in Germany's 7-1 semifinal rout of Brazil. No other player has scored more than 16 in their career.
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#10
Eusébio — 9 goals, Portugal 1966
Eusébio's 9 goals at the 1966 World Cup remain the highest single-tournament total by any European player, powering Portugal to a third-place finish. His four-goal comeback from 3-0 down against North Korea in the quarterfinal ranks among the tournament's greatest individual performances. Eusébio's ferocious shot and pace defined an era, but his 9 goals place him 7 behind career leader Miroslav Klose.
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