This year’s World Cup will be missed by the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Gareth Bale, yet there are still star names that could set the competition alight with goals.
Here we have covered 10 stars who could win the Golden boot including their betting odds.
*odds are for informational purposes and are subject to change. Odds are correct as of 09/06/2018 at 18:00 CEST.
- Lionel Messi 9/1
Messi is no stranger to scoring goals, sometimes impossible ones also. This may be his last World Cup and with a winner’s medal still missing in his cabinet, he could single handedly attempt to win this competition for the Argentines.
- Antoine Griezmann 12/1
Greizmann has gradually become one of the most prolific strikers in the world and no wonder Lionel Messi seems eager to play with him. He was top scorer at Euro 2016 and has continued to bang the goals for club and country; he can lead France to glory by scoring the most goals in this competition.
- Christiano Ronaldo 14/1
Fresh from winning a historic third consecutive Champions League title, the Portuguese national team seems to lack goals when he doesn’t play and he will be looking to outscore others and perhaps earn a move away from Real Madrid where he is currently unhappy.
- Harry Kane 16/1
Kane scored the highest number of goals in Europe in 2017 and could still achieve that feat in 2018. He was made England captain partly because he always seems to bring goals with him. After getting a new contract, he will be looking to get the World’s attention yet again by leading this competition with goals.
- Romelu Lukaku 16/1
Lukaku has scored 7 goals in his last seven games for Belgium and he comes into the World Cup as the undisputed first choice striker for Belgium. If offered quality service from his midfield he can win the Golden Boot this summer.
- Robert Lewandoski 33/1
Lewandoski is one of the world’s leading attackers and has proved many times over in the German Bundesliga that a half chance is enough for him to get a goal. Poland heavily relies on him and he will be looking to score the goals that take them beyond the group stage.
- Edison Cavani 25/1
PSG’s record goal scorer would be combining with Luis Saurez to help fire Uruguay beyond the semifinal stage they reached at the 2010 World Cup and after outscoring everyone in France this season, he looks prepared for that task.
- Luis Suarez 25/1
Remains one of the most prolific attackers in Europe, and although his season was not as good as we have come to expect, he is still well placed to finish as top scorer at this World Cup.
- Timo Werner 14/1
Strikers are rare in Germany and Werner has really hit the ground running since he helped the Germans win the Confederations Cup. The RB Leipzig striker will most likely be starting ahead of Mario Gomez and he should be spoilt with quality from a star-studded German midfield.
- Mohamed Salah 40/1
Salah has been tipped by Philippe Coutinho to shine at this World Cup and who wouldn’t especially after watching him break the Premier League’s goalscoring record this season. He may not be fit to start the first game, but Egypt are in one of the simplest groups and he could star leading the scorers chart from the group stage.
Others not on the list who could easily feature in the top goal scoring charts – Neymar 10/1, Grabriel Jesus 16/1, Sergio Aguero 25/1, Diego Costa 25/1 and Thomas Muller 33/1.