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What is the Golden Boot award?
The first official Fifa World Cup award for the player to score the most goals in the competition went to Paolo Rossi in 1982. It was at that time known as the Golden Shoe, renamed as the less bathetic Golden Boot in 2010. The Golden Shoe now usually refers to the top scorer in Europe across all club competitions.
The Golden Boot goes to the player credited with the most goals (not including own goals, since you ask). If there is a tie, the award goes to the player with the most assists. If there is still a tie, the winner is the player who played the fewest minutes – that is to say, the player with most goals per minutes played. The second- and third-placed players are given the Silver and Bronze Boot respectively.
In 2010, Thomas Müller, David Villa, Wesley Sneijder and Diego Forlán were tied on five goals. Müller won on the basis of assists, with the others ranked on the basis of minutes played. This meant that Forlán, in fourth place, got nothing, and had to console himself with the Golden Ball for the best player of the tournament.
Hot prospects in 2018 must include Lionel Messi, Pichichi winner in the Spanish league, Cristiano Ronaldo, top scorer in the Champions League, and Mohamed Salah, top scorer in the Premier League. Harry Kane is there too.
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