The 2022 World Cup Final has come and gone with Argentina triumphing over France. Heading into the showdown both have two goal-getters vying for 2022’s Golden Boot.
It was a fitting end to the tournament that whoever lifts the trophy on Sunday will likely rely on the Golden Boot winner. Kylian Mbappe was one of France’s stars at the 2018 World Cup scoring four goals en route to their success but he did not make it into the top three, bettered by Antoine Griezmann with assists the first tiebreaker.
Four years on, Mbappe went into the World Cup final on five goals, with no player managing more but again assists could count against him. He is joined on five goals by Lionel Messi, who secured the first World Cup for Argentina in 36 years.
By scoring in the final Messi become the first man to score in four successive World Cup knockout stage matches in the same tournament, having already netted in the last 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals. Mbappe went one better than his PSG teammate by netting a hat-trick and sealing the boot for himself.
2022 World Cup Golden Boot pre-tournament favourites
Below is the final top 10 standing of the 2022 World Cup.
2022 World Cup top scorers
| Position | Player | Goals | xG | Minutes Played |
| 1st | Kylian Mbappe | 8 | 5.26 | 597 |
| 2nd | Lionel Messi | 7 | 6.62 | 690 |
| 3rd | Olivier Giroud | 4 | 3.43 | 423 |
| 4th | Julian Alvarez | 4 | 2.64 | 467 |
| 5th | Marcus Rashford | 3 | 1.61 | 137 |
| 6th | Goncalo Ramos | 3 | 1.57 | 153 |
| 7th | Alvaro Morata | 3 | 1.36 | 183 |
| 8th | Enner Valencia | 3 | 2.27 | 256 |
| 9th | Bukayo Saka | 3 | 0.64 | 293 |
| 10th | Richarlison | 3 | 2.11 | 326 |
Players with the same amount of goals are ranked by fewer minutes played. Stats correct as of 08:00, 19/12/22.
Recap: 2018 World Cup top scorers
| Position | Player | Goals | xG | Minutes Played |
| 1st | Harry Kane | 6 | 3.82 | 573 |
| 2nd | Denis Cheryshev | 4 | 1.58 | 304 |
| 3rd | Cristiano Ronaldo | 4 | 2.93 | 360 |
| 4th | Romelu Lukaku | 4 | 3.18 | 476 |
| 5th | Kylian Mbappe | 4 | 2.27 | 534 |
| 6th | Antoine Griezmann | 4 | 3.78 | 570 |
| 7th | Yerry Mina | 3 | 0.75 | 300 |
| 8th | Diego Costa | 3 | 2.65 | 320 |
| 9th | Artem Dzyuba | 3 | 1.77 | 333 |
| 10th | Edinson Cavani | 3 | 2.24 | 343 |
Players with the same amount of goals are ranked by fewer minutes played.