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The 2022 FIFA World Cup is underway in Qatar, but you can still make futures bets and individual bets. One of those bets is for the Golden Boot winner. The Golden Boot goes to the player who scores the most goals, and a tie is broken by the player with the most non-penalty goals and then the player with the most assists.

The Golden Boot winner has been on a team that has at least made the quarterfinals in every World Cup. England’s Harry Kane won the award in 2018 with six goals as England lost in the semifinals and played in the third-place game. James Rodriguez had six goals in the 2014 World Cup, and the leaders all had five in 2010, with Thomas Muller winning the award on the most assists tiebreaker.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the contenders and the FIFA World Cup Betting favorites for the 2022 Golden Boot.

Golden Boot Contenders Picks to Bet On | FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

The Favorites

Kane is the favorite to repeat, but keep in mind that no player has ever won two World Cup Golden Boots. The England striker is +800 to take home the award in Qatar. England has a tough group with rivalry games against Wales and the United States, but they get to start with Iran, and Kane could get off to a good start there.

Kane has 51 goals for the Three Lions, two behind Wayne Rooney’s record. He could break that record in the group stage and be on his way to another Golden Boot.

The next favorite is striker Kylian Mbappe from France at +850. The French are the defending champions and will be without a handful of injured stars like Paul Pogba and Karim Benzema. If France is going to make a run this year, Mbappe and Olivier Giroud are going to have to carry the load.

France plays Denmark, Tunisia, and Australia in the group play. Mbappe was the best young player in the 2018 World Cup with three goals, and he’s gotten better every year while playing with PSG. France and England will face each other in the quarterfinals if they both win their groups and round of 16 games.

The Contenders

A couple of big names on teams expected to go far in Qatar come in next. Argentina’s superstar Lionel Messi, in what is likely his final World Cup, is +1100, while Brazil striker Neymar is +1200.

Messi scored one goal at Russia 2018 and four in Brazil 2014 when he was voted as the Best Player in the tournament but didn’t win the Golden Boot. Messi didn’t score in South Africa 2010 and had one goal in his World Cup debut in Germany 2006 for six total World Cup goals.

Group C is a relatively kind draw for Argentina, with games against Mexico, Poland, and Saudi Arabia. Messi needs to get a couple in the group stage to boost his chances of winning the Golden Boot for the first time.

His PSG teammate Neymar scored twice in Russia 2018 group stage as Brazil crashed out in the quarterfinals. Brazil made the semifinals on home soil in 2014 before getting crushed by Germany and taking fourth place.

Neymar scored four goals in that tournament and added four more as Brazil won the 2016 Olympics gold medal. Brazil will face Serbia, Cameroon, and Switzerland in Group G, giving Neymar ample opportunities for goals in the group stage.

Others

A few others who had odds are injured. Karim Benzema and Memphis Depay are hobbled and may miss out on the whole World Cup, but they are sure to miss enough games to not get Golden Boot.

Argentina’s Lautaro Martinez is +2000 behind teammate Messi. Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku is +2200, and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo is +2300. Both have struggled lately, but if you like their teams to make a deep run, they will need those players to score plenty of goals to get there.

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