World Cup 2022: What makes a Golden Boot winner?

Thomas Muller (left) successful 2010, James Rodriguez (centre) successful 2014 and Harry Kane (right) successful 2018 are the past 3 winners of the Golden Boot

The World Cup Golden Boot - it is the idiosyncratic prize that goalscorers question supra each others. The accidental to carve your sanction into shot immortality.

BBC Sport has analysed each of them to spot what makes a Golden Boot victor successful football's biggest tourney and whether those qualities alteration america to marque a prediction of who mightiness triumph it successful Qatar.

From Stabile to Kane

From 1930 to 1978, determination was nary authoritative rubric for being the apical scorer astatine a World Cup. That changed for the tourney successful Spain successful 1982, erstwhile it was branded, somewhat incongruously, arsenic the aureate shoe. It wasn't until 2010 that they gave the grant a much fitting football-themed rebrand.

From Argentine Guillermo Stabile successful Uruguay successful 1930 to England's Harry Kane 4 years agone successful Russia, 27 players person won the grant crossed 21 tournaments...

Nobody has matched the goals haul of France's Just Fontaine astatine a azygous World Cup, and it is improbable anyone ever will.

Fontaine scored 13 times successful Sweden successful 1958. This came from conscionable six games and included a hat-trick successful an opening 7-3 triumph implicit Paraguay and 4 successful the 6-3 third-place play-off triumph implicit West Germany. Yes, contempt his monumental effort that summer, France didn't adjacent marque the final.

The fewest goals required to triumph the Golden Boot is four, which saw six players stock the grant successful 1962 - the archetypal of lone 2 occasions successful which the honour has officially gone to much than 1 subordinate astatine a azygous tourney on with the 1 divided betwixt Russia's Salenko and Bulgaria's Hristo Stoichkov astatine USA 1994.

In 2010, 4 players - Thomas Muller (Germany), David Villa (Spain), Wesley Sneijder (the Netherlands) and Diego Forlan (Uruguay) - each scored five, but the footwear went to the German guardant courtesy of his 3 assists.

This was successful enactment with a regularisation brought successful aft the 1994 World Cup, stipulating that players tied for astir goals volition beryllium separated by who scored the fewest fig of penalties, past the subordinate with the astir assists and finally, if required, who played the fewest minutes.

No aureate oldies

Winning Golden Boots is not an aged man's game. Only 1 subordinate implicit 30 erstwhile the tourney successful which they top-scored began has ever claimed the prize, that being the superb Davor Suker of Croatia, who was lone 5 months past his 30th day erstwhile helium netted six times astatine France '98.

The youngest Golden Boot victor is Hungary's Florian Albert, 1 of 1962's six winners, who was 20 years, 8 months and 15 days aged astatine the commencement of the tourney successful Chile.

Germany's Thomas Muller was conscionable 14 days older astatine the commencement of the 2010 World Cup successful South Africa, successful which helium netted 5 times. He'll beryllium astatine Qatar too, aiming to go the archetypal two-time victor of the award.

Brazil pb the way

As the World Cup's astir palmy broadside with 5 trophy wins, it makes consciousness that Brazil would person the astir Golden Boot winners, those being Leonidas (1938), Ademir (1950), Garrincha and Vava (both 1962) and Ronaldo (2002).

Germany person 3 wins, portion Argentina, England, Hungary, Italy and Russia (all two) are the lone different nations with much than 1 winner.

Brazil is besides the state wherever astir Golden Boot winners play their nine football, with four. However, the past of those accolades came mode backmost successful 1962.

It is illustrative of the shifting wealth and powerfulness successful football, and the quality and willingness of players to question retired caller challenges overseas, that the archetypal 15 Golden Boot winners played their nine shot successful the state of their birth, but six of the 12 winners from 1978 onwards person played abroad.

Only 4 of the winners person done truthful successful a location World Cup. With each owed respect to Qatar and their starring forwards Akram Afif and Almoez Ali, it's improbable we'll spot a location victor this time.

Experience and form

Experience is simply a precious commodity erstwhile it comes to winning a Golden Boot.

Not since Stabile has a subordinate won the grant having not antecedently played for their country. Italy's Schillaci (1990) and Thomas Muller (2010) had 1 and 2 caps respectively earlier announcing themselves connected the planetary signifier successful the grandest of fashions.

The astir caps a victor has had going into a palmy World Cup is Ronaldo, with 57 successful 2002.

Schillaci, Muller and Salenko had ne'er scored for their state earlier mounting a precocious successful their respective tournaments.

On average, though, Golden Boot winners person netted 11 times for their country. Hungary's Sandor Kocsis (1954) and Ronaldo (2002) had the astir with 37.

As you'd expect, astir Golden Boot winners were successful signifier for their nine starring into a World Cup. Only 3 players from 1966 onwards person scored little than treble figures for their clubs successful the play starring up to the tourney - and among those, Paolo Rossi successful 1982 was banned for 2 years and Ronaldo successful 2002 was heavy impacted by injury.

The astir goals successful a league play earlier a World Cup is the 38 scored by Bayern Munich and West Germany successful the 1969-70 Bundesliga campaign.

In addition, lone 2 Golden Boot winners person played for clubs that finished extracurricular the apical 4 of their respective league successful the play earlier the World Cup.

In the tourney itself...

It's not rocket subject that the further a federation goes successful the tournament, the much opportunities a subordinate volition person to score.

Only 1 Golden Boot victor failed to get retired of the radical signifier with his squad - Salenko with Russia successful 1994. He is an anomaly successful that 5 of his six goals successful the USA came successful 1 game.

Pick a winner...

So, does each of this accusation alteration america to enactment guardant a prediction for who volition instrumentality the Golden Boot successful Qatar this winter?

Using the data, we are looking for a guardant who plays for a squad apt to marque it to the quarter-finals, truthful we've narrowed it to those from the apical 8 favourites to triumph the tournament.

They person to beryllium 30 years of property oregon younger, ideally astir 24-25, and volition apt beryllium based successful Europe astatine a nine successful the apical 4 of their respective league.

They should person astatine slightest 22 caps and 11 goals for their state going successful to the tourney and beryllium successful decent goalscoring signifier for their club.

Here are the players who travel closest to fitting the measure successful unsmooth bid of astir suitable...

Index and Golden Boot winners graphic supplied by Raj Dhunna