2022 World Cup Top Goalscorer Predictions: Who will win the Golden Boot?
- Written by David Bet
Predicting the Golden Boot is one of the most popular markets ahead of every World Cup. Who are you backing? Find here our 2022 World Cup Top Goalscorer betting preview, with free betting tips, predictions, best odds and no deposit free bets!
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It’s what the World Cup is all about - goals. It’s what we remember most, those touches of magic. Maradona’s Goal of the Century versus England. Owen’s replica in 1998.
What’s more, betting on goalscorers is becoming more and more exciting. We expect more goals than ever before this summer and betting on the Golden Boot could be entertaining and profitful.
The bookies are of course going with the usual suspects, but there are some interesting choices that are well worth a punt.
Who Will Win The Golden Boot?
Looking for the best predictions on the Top Goalscorer market? We got you covered! We have selected two players among the favorites and two possible surprises!
And now let's take a look at all the possibile contenders for the Golden Boot title...
World Cup Top Goalscorer Contenders
Harry Kane
Harry Kane (9/1 with Unibet) took the prize in 2018 and is the bookies' #1 favorite to win the Golden Boot in Qatar with the top betting sites in the UK. England has everything to advance at least to the quarterfinals without big opposition, and Kane will take advantage of this. Anyway, the Three Lions have hugely disappointed in the recent Nations League, scoring just a penalty in the first five winless matches before drawing 3-3 against Germany in the final game.
Karim Benzema
Karim Benzema, the 2022 Ballon D'Or, will be a popular pick at 15/1 with Unibet with a chance to start out strong in the group stage against Denmark, Tunisia, and Australia. He finished the 2021/22 campaign with 44 goals in 46 appearances across all competitions for Real Madrid. The Frenchman also socred four goals at Euro 2020 before France suffered a shocking exit against Swtzerland at the last-16 round.
Update: Unfortunately, Benzema suffered an injury and will miss the 2022 World Cup. This will allow Olivier Giroud spearheading the Blues' attack. So, Giroud becomes a very interesting long-shot option.
Kylian Mbappè
Benzema's fellow countryman Kylian Mbappè (9/1 with Bet365) went very close to win the award in Russia when he was only 19 years old. With plenty of international experience under his belt, Mbappe has the potential to become the top goalscorer in Qatar. He is currently tied with PSG teammate Neymar in the race for this season's Ligue 1 Golden Boot, a title he has already won four times. Furthremore, he is also the leader in this season's Champions League top scorer standings.
Neymar
Brazil are the odds-on favorites to win the World Cup and Neymar is their star. The PSG striker finished as the second-highest scorer in CONMEBOL qualifying with six goals to his name. The Seleçao have been drawn in the Group of the death, the Group G containing Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon. Despite that, the best betting sites are expecting Brazil to comfortably advance to the knockout stage by scoring plenty of goals.
Lionel Messi
Leo Messi (13/1 with BetUK) is clearly past his prime and he has never been brilliant in major tournaments, with the exception of the Copa America 2021 when he led his team to win silverware. The Albiceleste have a really favourable group as they will face Poland, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. Messi scored all five goals in a 5-0 thrashing of Estonia in June and has a ridiculous nine goals in his last three games for his country. He also bagged 7 goals in qualifying and we expect him to score at least two goals in group stage.
Lautaro Martinez
Lautaro Martinez (33/1 with SportingIndex) also scored seven goals during Argentina's World Cup qualifying campaign. He is not a set piece or penalty taker, unlike Messi, but arrives with plenty of goalscoring form after netting 25 goals for Inter Milan in 2021/22 and 8 goals so far in the first part of the 2022/23 season.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Just like Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo (20/1 with ThePools) can't be overlooked despite being on the wane of his amazing career. Portugal are likely to advance late in the tournament, scoring a high number of goals, having been drawn with South Korea, Ghana and Uruguay. Anyway, the Portuguese is struggling to find the back of the net with Manchester UTD and has failed to score in eight of his last nine matches in a Portugal jersey.
Romelu Lukaku
Romelu Lukaku (25/1 with Bet365) is another candidate that is struggling with his club. The Belgian has been sidelined for over two months because of a muscual injury and could miss one or two games in Qatar. His condition can't be 100% and we don't expect the former Chelsea striker to shine this time.Memphis Depay
Netherlands could be the surprise package of the World Cup and Memphis Depay (28/1 with Fansbet) will be key to their success going forward. He scored a whopping 12 goals and six assists across ten games in qualifiers. He also picked an injury in September and has not been seen since then. Anyway, unlike Lukaku, Depay is reported to be nearing full fitness.World Cup 2022 Golden Boot: Any Dark Horse?
Vinicius Jr.
Vinicius Jr. (33/1 with Bet365 ) could be a dark horse in this betting market despite not being a penalty taker. The Brazilian youngster has 10 goals in all competitions for Real Madrid this autumn and four goals in six UEFA Champions League games this season shows he can score in big games.
Aleksandar Mitrovic
In the same group, Serbia's Aleksandar Mitrovic (70/1 with BetUK) broke the record for most goals in a single season in Championship with an impressive tally of 43 goals in 44 matches. On top of that, the Fulham started the new season with Fulham in Premier League in great form too, scoring 9 goals in 12 games.
Dusan Vlahovic
Mitrovic's fellow countryman Dusan Vlahovic (100/1 with ThePools) is a goal scoring machine with his country. His average has decreased with Juventus due to a less offensive style of play and injury issues, but Vlahovic could be a contender should Serbia escape the group of death.
Robert Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski (50/1 with William Hill) has scored 12 in 10 games for Barca this season and clearly hasn’t lost his touch since moving from Bayern. His country is not expected to go far in the competition, meaning that the Polish striker needs to score for fun against Saudi Arabia, Mexico and (hopefully) Argentina.
Olivier Giroud
With Karim Benzema out for the tournament because of a nasty injury, Olivier Giroud (100/1 with ThePools) returns among our candidates. The Frenchman has rediscovered goalscoring form since moving to AC Milan. He failed to score in Russia 2018 but this time things could be different.
Elsewhere Sadio Manè is expected to miss the first two group stage games, meaning that he will have few chances to win the Golden Boot.