2010 FIFA World Cup Awards: History Of the Golden Boot From 1930-2010

The 2010 World Cup ended with Spain being crowned the new World Champions.

Football is a sport where goals win games. There are teams who possess lethal attacking forces, while others possess a very talented individual who just scores lots of goals.

In this article, we'll look at the Golden Boot Winners in the World Cup since its inaugural edition in 1930.

Take note, this is the third article in the series of World Cup Awards written that features the Young Player Award, Golden Ball, Golden Boot, and Yashin Award for Best Goalkeeper.

Uruguay 1930: Guillermo Stábile

Stabile set the bar high in the first World Cup with eight goals, helping Argentina get to the Final.

He scored a hat trick against Mexico in the group stages where they won 6-3 and scored a brace against United States in a 6-1 rout.

He also scored against Uruguay in the Final, but in a losing effort.

Uruguay won the game 4-2.

Italy 1934: Oldřich Nejedlý

Nejedlý scored a hat trick in the semifinals for Czechoslovakia to up his tally to five goals.

In that tournament, five goals were enough to secure Nejedlý top goal scorer, which is absurd because 70 goals were scored in 17 games (4.12 per game).

France 1938: Leônidas da Silva

Leonidas scored seven goals for Brazil to help them finish third in the tournament.

Brazil didn't enjoy much success, but Leonidas can be pleased with his seven goals.

Brazil 1950: Ademir

Brazilian striker Ademir won the Golden Boot with nine goals, helping Brazil get to the finals.

Brazil lost the final to Uruguay, a game in which Ademir failed to find the back of the net.

Switzerland 1954: Sándor Kocsis

In this tournament, Hungary scored 27 goals in five games, and because there wasn't an expansion yet, five games got the team a final berth.

They came in second and Kocsis scored an amazing 11 goals, a then-record.

The Hungarian team went 32 matches unbeaten before losing the finals to West Germany.

Sweden 1958: Just Fontaine

Fontaine holds the record for most goals in a World Cup with an astonishing 13 goals.

He scored four in a game against West Germany and had a hat trick against Paraguay to boost his scoring.

His goals were good individually, but France, his country, finished third.

Chile 1962: Six Different Top Scorers

In this tournament, there were six different goal scorers tied at four goals.

Brazil: Garrincha and Vavá

Chile Leonel: Sánchez

Yugoslavia: Dražan Jerković

Hungary: Flórián Albert

Soviet Union: Valentin Ivano

They all finished tied and the rule for most assists if they are tied the person with most assists wins.

England 1966: Eusebio

Eusebio helped Portugal to their best-ever finish in World Cup history at third.

He scored nine goals for Portugal and is widely regarded as the best striker Portugal ever produced.

Mexico 1970: Gerd Müller

Gerd Müller scored in every game but the third place game Germany played in 1970, for an incredible total of 10 goals.

His finest hours came in the Group stages, where he scored two consecutive hat tricks against Bulgaria and Peru.

Germany finished third in the tournament, losing to Italy in the semis.

West Germany 1974: Grzegorz Lato

Poland were a force to be reckoned with in 1974, and Lato's goals backed that claim.

Poland beat Argentina 3-2, Haiti 7-0, and Italy 2-1, and then went on to finish third beating Brazil in the third place playoffs.

Lato scored seven goals for Poland, including a brace against Haiti and Argentina, then one against Brazil in the third place game.

Argentina 1978: Mario Kempes

Mario Kempes scored two goals in the final against Holland to win the World Cup for Argentina.

It was also enough for him to add to his tally, which totaled six goals and earned him the Golden Boot.

Spain 1982: Paolo Rossi

Paolo Rossi won the Golden Boot, Best Player Award, and the World Cup.

He scored six goals for Italy, with one in the finals to open the scoring, although he did what many players have managed to do and scored a hat trick against Brazil.

Mexico 1986: Gary Lineker

England's own Gary Lineker won the Golden Boot in 1986 despite his country's failure to go past the quarterfinals.

His finest moment came against Poland where he bagged a hat trick.

Italy 1990: Salvatore Schillaci

Salvatore Schillaci scored six goals in seven matches to win the Boot in 1990.

He was outstanding throughout the season, scoring in a run to the final for Italy (the host nation), which was ended by Argentina on penalties, breaking the hearts of him and his country.

He then scored in the third place game.

Due to his proficiency in front of goal he also won the Golden Ball Award, given to the best player.

USA 1994: Hristo Stoichkov and Oleg Salenko

There was a unique race for the Golden Boot award in 1994, but there ended up being two winners, Stoichkov and Salenko.

They both finished with six goals.

Salenko scored all his goals in the group stages, including a record five against Cameroon.

On the other hand Stoichkov helped his team finish fourth in the group stages, where he failed to score against Sweden.

Stoichkov is featured in the picture.

France 1998: Davor Šuker

An unlikely winner of the Golden Boot came in the tournament, and it was Davor Suker.

It was the first-ever tournament for debutantes Croatia, and Suker's goal led them to a highest-ever third-place finish.

South Korea/Japan 2002: Ronaldo

Ronaldo bounced back from losing the World Cup in 1998 by leading his team to World Cup glory by scoring eight goals.

He scored in seven out of eight games including two in the final against Germany.

Germany 2006: Miroslav Klose

Miroslav Klose won the Golden Boot by scoring five goals for Germany, helping them finish third in the competition.

Klose had been among the goal leaders in 2002 with six and got to top the charts four years later.

South Africa 2010: Thomas Müller

Germany's 20-year-old wonderkind was one of the highlights of Germany's World Cup.

He finished with five goals, tied for most with Diego Forlan, David Villa, and Wesley Sniejder, but his three assists gave him win the award.

Muller scored goals against Australia, Argentina, England, and Uruguay.