Euro 2024 is set to begin and with it comes the race to win the Golden Boot.
The Golden Boot is the award given to the tournament’s top goalscorer and there have been some illustrious winners down the years. From Cristiano Ronaldo to Marco van Basten, the list of European Championships Golden Boot winners is a who’s who of the game’s greatest and the latest edition of the tournament will be no exception with plenty of elite players heading to Germany.
Check back here throughout the tournament to see who is leading the race for the Euro 2024 Golden Boot.
Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane head to the tournament fresh from winning the Ligue 1 and Bundesliga Golden Boots, respectively, and are among the most lethal marksmen in Europe, so it’s no surprise to see them the favourites. England have another threat in the form of Jude Bellingham, who was La Liga’s third-highest goalscorer this season with 19 goals.
Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, was the winner at Euro 2020 and also scored 10 goals in qualifying. He might be 39 years old and playing in Saudi Arabia, but the five-time Ballon d’Or winner needs no second invitation on the big stage.
Romelu Lukaku was the top scorer during qualifying with 14 goals and will be vital to Belgium’s chances.
The group stage is where the big nations will lay down a marker at Euro 2024, signalling to the rest that they mean business. Groups B and D are particularly close to call, with the former containing Spain, Italy and Croatia — alongside Albania — while France and the Netherlands occupy the latter alongside dark horses Poland and Austria.
Across those teams alone, you have the likes of Morata, Mbappe, Griezmann, Giroud, Robert Lewandowski and Memphis Depay. Their goals will be key to the chances of their nations as they battle toward the knockout rounds.
Harry Kane is another to keep an eye on, with his five-goal showing at the 2018 World Cup group stage en route to the Golden Boot still a fond memory for England fans.
As mentioned in the odds above, Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane, Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku and Jude Bellingham are the big favourites for the Golden Boot. However, there are plenty of other contenders.
Alongside Mbappe, France have the likes of Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud who have great records at major tournaments and will be essential to their success. Spain’s greatest hope is captain Alvaro Morata, who has 34 goals in 71 caps to date. And as for hosts Germany, Leroy Sane, Kai Havertz and Niclas Fullkrug will carry their main attacking threats.
All of that is without mentioning England’s other big attacking players like Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden, who head into the tournament following stunning seasons at club level with Arsenal and Man City.
If there is more than one player with the same number of goals at the European Championships, the tie-breaker goes to the player who has contributed the most assists — a rule brought in for Euro 2008. If there is still more than one player level, the next tie-breaker is least minutes played.
For example, Cristiano Ronaldo and Patrik Schick both finished Euro 2020 on five goals, with Ronaldo taking the award thanks to posting one assist, while Schick didn’t manage any. At Euro 2012, Fernando Torres won the Golden Boot with three goals and an assist, which tied him with Germany’s Mario Gomez but with 93 minutes less played.
As the number of games at the European Championships has increased, so has the benchmark for winning the Golden Boot. That said, Michel Platini still holds the record for most goals scored at a single tournament, netting nine times in just five matches as he led France to the trophy on home soil in 1984. Platini is one of seven players to win the European Championships Golden Boot on home soil in a list that also includes Alan Shearer (1996) and Patrick Kluivert (2000).
Cristiano Ronaldo is the top scorer in European Championships history, with 14 goals to date. That leaves him at least five clear of his nearest rival Platini, who scored all nine of his goals in one edition of the tournament. Alan Shearer and Antoine Griezmann are the next closest with seven goals each.
