Golden Boot Odds: Oliver Giroud Great Pick to Win the Award

With the 2022 World Cup down to the final four teams of the semifinals, the Golden Boot contenders have been whittled down. The Golden Boot goes to the player with the most goals in the entire World Cup. If there is a tie, the first tie-breaker is the least amount of penalties scored, with the next tiebreaker being assists.

As the tournament moves into the semifinals, the top three goalscorers for the tournament are still in play. France’s Kylian Mbappe has five goals, and his teammate Olivier Giroud has four. Argentina’s Lionel Messi also has four goals, while top scorers for Morocco and Croatia have two each.

Let’s take a look at the updated FIFA World Cup Props odds for players to walk away with the Golden Boot next weekend and their chances to be top scorer. Keep in mind, all four teams have two games left, though some superstars are typically left on the bench in the third-place game.

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Odds of the Golden Boot Betting Favorites

Kylian Mbappe -207

Mbappe is clearly the favorite, as he already leads the tournament in scoring. He also has the advantage over Messi in a tie as the French attacker has scored all five goals in the run of play with no penalties. Messi, meanwhile, has two penalties converted thus far for Argentina.

Mbappe has a pair of two-goal games in the World Cup thus far. He has also handed out a pair of assists which could give him a tie-breaker advantage over teammate Olivier Giroud.

Mbappe will be the main focus of the France attack in the semifinals against Morocco and again in the championship should they make it. He and Giroud have combined for nine of France’s 11 goals in Qatar, and that trend is likely to continue.

Lionel Messi +280

Messi is second favorite to Mbappe in both the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball. He has yet to win the Golden Boot at the World Cup, but he did win the Golden Ball in 2014 when Argentina finished runner-up.

Messi has four goals in this World Cup, two on penalties. He has scored in both knockout round games with a first-half goal against Australia and a penalty kick against Netherlands. The Croatian defense locked down Brazil’s superstars and will look to do the same to Messi and his teammates in the semis.

If Argentina is going to continue to score, Messi will be involved. He has two assists so far in Qatar to go with his four goals and that could end up coming into play in the tie-breaker scenario. If you like Argentina to win. Messi at +280 is the bet for you.

Olivier Giroud +600

This is actually a pretty good spot to back Giroud. He’s one goal behind teammate Mbappe and doesn’t have any assists, however, he scored the game-winner against England and is the main target in the box for France.

Giroud would need at least two goals over the next two games to pass Mbappe, but he can win a tiebreaker with Messi since he doesn’t have a goal from a penalty kick in the tournament. Giroud is a veteran who knows where to find the space in the box and if Morocco keys on Mbappe, he can sneak a goal like he did against England.

Julian Alvarez +7000, Andrej Kramaric +11000, Youssef En-Nesyri +13000

This is the next wave of players to bet on as all three players head into the semifinals with two goals scored, but all are capable of a multi-goal game to get right back in the running. Alvarez scored for Argentina in the round of 16 against Australia and in the group stage. Kramaric scored both his goals for Croatia in the group stage, and En-Nesyri scored the quarterfinal winner for Morocco.

These three are the only other players with more than one goal in the tournament still in play. Two of them would need to pull semifinal upsets, but keep in mind they can add goals in the third-place game as well.

I have read enough, I need to place my bet now. What to do?