World Cup 2022: Will Harry Kane defend his golden boot? 

The World Cup is right around the corner and 32 teams are preparing to step up to the biggest stage in football. And as the teams prepare to battle it out, we’re looking at the odds of who will win the Golden Boot. 

England’s Harry Kane won it during the last world cup, scoring six goals in the tournament. But will he be able to defend it? England should make it out the group stage, where they will face Wales, Iran and USA. But if they top the group stage, their route to the final is a tough one – and pundits are expecting them to be knocked out by the quarter-finals. If this proves true, Harry Kane will likely not be awarded the golden boot. 

Here’s a look at the previous Golden Boot winner. 

1930: Guillermo Stabile (Argentina) – eight goals

1934: Oldrich Nejedly (Czech Republic) – five goals 

1938: Leonidas (Brazil) – seven goals

1950: Ademir (Brazil) – eight goals

1954: Sandor Kocsis (Hungary) – 11 goals

1958: Just Fontaine (France) – 13 goals

1962: Florian Albert (Hungary), Valentin Ivanov (Soviet Union), Garrincha (Brazil) – four goals

1966: Eusebio (Portugal) – six goals 

1970: Gerd Muller (Germany) – 10 goals

1974: Grzegorz Lato (Poland) – seven goals

1978: Mario Kempes (Argentina) – six goals

1982: Paolo Rossi (Italy) – six goals

1986: Gary Lineker (England) – six goals

1990: Salvatore Schillaci (Italy) – six goals

1994: Oleg Salenko (Russia), Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria) – six goals

1998: Davor Suker (Croatia) – six goals

2002: Ronaldo (Brazil) – eight goals

2006: Miroslav Klose (Germany) – five goals

2010: Thomas Muller (Germany) – five goals

2014: James Rodríguez (Colombia) – six goals

2018: Harry Kane (England) – six goals

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There is of course still a good chance England can win the world cup. A team with a mix of experience and youth – and a drive to win. Despite a disappointing appearance at the Nations League, the world cup is the biggest football stage there is. 

The Nations League doesn’t hold much importance to fans – for both winners and losers of the competition, with many football fans seeing it as glorified friendlies. 

But the world cup will see the lions bring everything they have. Under Gareth Southgate, the team genuinely appear happy to be together, and on paper, England have some of the best players in the world. Being abroad we can only hope helps the team as they won’t have the pressure of playing in front of a home crowd. 

And even if England doesn’t make it to the final, with the sort of talent in the team, Harry Kane could easily defend his golden boot title. 

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