The Golden Boot: the top scorer of every World Cup
From Just Fontaine's 13 goals in 1958 — an unbeaten record — to recent stars, the top-scorer award has a history of legendary marksmen.
Every World Cup crowns its top scorer, today with the Golden Boot. And none has shone like Just Fontaine: the Frenchman scored 13 goals in a single edition, Sweden 1958, a record still intact more than six decades later.
The list of marksmen is a walk through history: Gerd Müller (10 goals in 1970), Mario Kempes (6 in 1978, with Argentina champions), Paolo Rossi (6 in 1982) and Salvatore Schillaci (6 in 1990), who went from substitute to sensation of the tournament.
More recently there are Davor Šuker (6 in 1998), Ronaldo (8 in 2002), James Rodríguez (6 in 2014, with memorable strikes), Harry Kane (6 in 2018) and Kylian Mbappé (8 in 2022, including a hat-trick in the final).
The trophy itself was formalised by FIFA in 1982 (first as the «Golden Shoe»); before that the top scorer was already recognised, but without an official award.
Beyond each edition, the all-time top scorer at World Cups remains Germany's Miroslav Klose, with 16 goals across four tournaments. Scorers change; the fascination with the goal is eternal.
Source: Wikipedia (FIFA World Cup Golden Boot).