Every Golden Boot Award Winners in World Cup History

Cameron Kelly Updated: Jun 01 2026 16:58

The World Cup Golden Boot is awarded to the tournament's leading goal scorer and remains one of the most prestigious individual honors in soccer.

While the award was officially introduced as the Golden Shoe in 1982 before being the Golden Boot in 2010, it recognizes the top World Cup goalscorer.

Legends like Ronaldo, Miroslav Klose, Harry Kane, and more all earned the distinction after producing memorable performances on soccer's biggest stage.

Brazil has the most World Cup Golden Boot winners, with Brazilian players taking home the top scorer award five times.

Full List of World Cup Golden Boot Winners

Year	Country	Player	Goals
2022	France	Kylian Mbappe	8
2018	England	Harry Kane	6
2014	Colombia	James Rodriguez	6
2010	Germany	Thomas Muller	5
2006	Germany	Miroslav Klose	5
2002	Brazil	Ronaldo	8
1998	Croatia	Davor Suker	6
1994	Russia / Bulgaria	Oleg Salenko / Hristo Stoichkov	6 (tied)
1990	Italy	Salvatore Schillaci	6
1986	England	Gary Lineker	6
1982	Italy	Paoli Rossi	6
1978	Argentina	Mario Kempes	6
1974	Poland	Grzegorz Lato	7
1970	West Germany	Gerd Muller	10
1966	Portugal	Esebio	9
1962	Hungry, Soviet Union, Brazil, Brazil, Yugoslavia, Chile	Florian Albert, Valentin Ivanov, Garrincha, Vava, Drazan Jerkovic, Leonel Sanchez	4
1958	France	Just Fontaine	13
1954	Hungary	Sandor Kocsis	11
1950	Brazil	Ademir	9
1938	Brazil	Leonidas	7
1934	Czechoslovakia	Oldrich Negedly	5
1930	Argentina	Guillermo Stabile	8

How Are World Cup Golden Boot Ties Decided?

If two or more players finish the World Cup with the same number of goals, there are a series of tiebreakers to determine the Golden Boot winner.

The criteria includes:

Most assists during the tournament.
Fewest minutes played among the tied players.

Who Will Join the List of World Cup Golden Boot Winners Next?

With the 2026 World Cup right around the corner, the stage is set for soccer's next top scorer.

The Golden Boot has been won by some of the greatest goalscorers in soccer history. As each new World Cup brings a new stars, fans around the world will be watching to see who can add their name to the prestigious list.