That’s the way you start a World Cup. Enner Valencia scored two goals in the first half of the 2022 inaugural match against Qatar to stake himself out to an early lead in the Golden Boot race.
RELATED: Highest goal scorer in the World – All time highest goal scorer
If not for a VAR decision to erase a goal after just four minutes for offside, Valencia could’ve had a hat-trick as Ecuador was explosive to start the tournament and Qatar had no answer.
RELATED: FIFA World Cup 2022 Table and Standings
The Golden Boot is arguably a more important prize than the Golden Ball, which is presented to the best player in the tournament — the tournament MVP — regardless of goals scored. A Silver Boot and a Bronze Boot are also awarded to second and third place in the top scorer table.
World Cup 2022 top goal scorer – FIFA top scorers
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals (Penalties) | Assists | Matches | Minutes Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 5 (3) | 3 | 6 | 480 |
| Kylian Mbappe | France | 5 (0) | 3 | 6 | 477 | |
| 3. | Julian Alvarez | Argentina | 4 (0) | 0 | 6 | 290 |
| Olivier Giroud | France | 4 (0) | 0 | 5 | 383 | |
| 5. | Goncalo Ramos | Portugal | 3 (0) | 1 | 3 | 152 |
| Alvaro Morata | Spain | 3 (0) | 1 | 4 | 183 | |
| Richarlison | Brazil | 3 (0) | 1 | 4 | 326 | |
| Marcus Rashford | England | 3 (0) | 0 | 5 | 137 | |
| Enner Valencia | Ecuador | 3 (1) | 0 | 3 | 257 | |
| Bukayo Saka | England | 3 (0) | 0 | 4 | 293 | |
| Cody Gakpo | Netherlands | 3 (0) | 0 | 5 | 454 | |
| 12. | Harry Kane | England | 2 (1) | 3 | 5 | 313 |
| Bruno Fernandes | Portugal | 2 (1) | 3 | 4 | 357 | |
| Niclas Fullkrug | Germany | 2 (0) | 1 | 3 | 66 | |
| Vincent Aboubakar | Cameroon | 2 (0) | 1 | 3 | 141 | |
| Neymar | Brazil | 2 (1) | 1 | 3 | 271 | |
| Robert Lewandowski | Poland | 2 (1) | 1 | 4 | 360 | |
| Wout Weghorst | Netherlands | 2 (0) | 0 | 4 | 62 | |
| Rafael Leao | Portugal | 2 (0) | 0 | 5 | 83 | |
| Kai Havertz | Germany | 2 (0) | 0 | 2 | 102 | |
| Giorgian de Arrascaeta | Uruguay | 2 (0) | 0 | 2 | 108 | |
| Mehdi Taremi | Iran | 2 (1) | 0 | 2 | 180 | |
| Ritsu Doan | Japan | 2 (0) | 0 | 4 | 218 | |
| Ferran Torres | Spain | 2 (1) | 0 | 3 | 219 | |
| Mohammed Kudus | Ghana | 2 (0) | 0 | 3 | 250 | |
| Aleksandar Mitrovic | Serbia | 2 (0) | 0 | 3 | 263 | |
| Salem Aldawsari | S. Arabia | 2 (0) | 0 | 3 | 270 | |
| Cho Gue-sung | S. Korea | 2 (0) | 0 | 4 | 276 | |
| Breel Embolo | Switzerland | 2 (0) | 0 | 3 | 327 | |
| Andrej Kramaric | Croatia | 2 (0) | 0 | 6 | 420 | |
| Youssef En-Nesyri | Morocco | 2 (0) | 0 | 6 | 457 |
