Europe's heavyweight hitmen vie for Golden Boot
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UEFA Euro 2024 will be a showcase for some of the world’s best strikers and they will all endeavour to leave Germany with the Golden Boot, the award given to the player who leads the tournament in goals.
While players that fill the net are usually some of the best known in the game, occasionally someone lesser known will pop up and get among the goals at a major competition.
At Euro 2020, Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who has the most goals in European Championship history, tied for the tournament lead in goals with Czechia striker Patrik Schick.
Both forwards scored five goals, but Ronaldo was awarded the Golden Boot on a tiebreaker due to also having an assist during the competition.
Schick might not have won the award, but he did provide one of the highlights of the tournament during his two-goal performance in Czechia’s opening victory over Scotland.
With a goal already on the board, Schick crossed half and launched a looping ball over Scottish keeper David Marshall’s head from 49.7 yards away, the longest goal in the history of the competition.
A second former Golden Boot winner will also be in the field as France’s Antoine Griezmann scored six goals to lead the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament in scoring.
Here are some Golden Boot threats at EURO 2024:
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CRISTIANO RONALDO – PORTUGAL
Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo
The 39-year-old Portuguese striker is the European Championship’s all-time leading scorer with 14 goals across five competitions.
The Euro 2020 Golden Boot winner also tied for the lead in goals at the 2012 competition, but lost that award to Spain's Fernando Torres on a tiebreaker.
Ronaldo led the Saudi Professional League with 35 goals this season playing for Al-Nassr.
He finished second in scoring during qualifying for the Euro 2024 tournament with 10 goals.
KYLIAN MBAPPE - FRANCE
The 25-year-old has been as consistent a goal scorer at the club and international level as there is in the game.
Mbappe has led Ligue 1 in scoring as a member of Paris Saint-Germain in every season since 2018-19, including the most recent campaign, which he topped with 27 goals
He also scored a hat trick in the final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup to cap off an eight-goal tournament performance that helped him capture the Golden Boot in Qatar.
Mbappe found the net nine times for France in qualifying for Euro 2024.
HARRY KANE – ENGLAND
England Harry Kane
The 30-year-old made a £100m move to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga this season and continued the high-scoring ways that made him a valuable asset.
Kane led the league with 36 goals in his first year playing in Germany.
He captured the scoring title in the Premier League three times as a member of Tottenham (2015/16, 2016/17 and 2020/21), before transferring out of England.
Kane is England’s all-time top scorer, he found the net four times during the Euro 2020 tournament and twice at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The London native had eight goals for England during qualifying for Euro 2024.
ROMELU LUKAKU - BELGIUM
Romelu Lukaku Belgium
The 31-year-old set the record for goals during qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament with 14, including a four-goal performance against Azerbaijan in Belgium’s final match.
He surpassed the previous mark of 13 goals jointly held by Northern Ireland's David Healy and Poland's Robert Lewandowski.
Lukaku is Belgium’s all-time leading scorer and will be appearing in his third European Championship for the country.
He scored four times as Belgium advanced to the quarter-finals of the Euro 2020 tournament.
ALVARO MORATA – SPAIN
Alvaro Morata Spain
The 31-year-old has six goals for Spain in the European Championship as he is set to make his third tournament appearance.
He scored 15 times for Atlético Madrid during La Liga play this season.
Morata played in six Euro 2024 qualifying games for Spain and scored four times.
ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI- POLAND
Robert Lewandowski Poland
The 35-year-old will be making his fourth appearance at the European Championship and has been one of the world’s most renowned strikers for years.
He posted 26 goals this season for Barcelona in all competitions.
Lewandowski scored three times for Poland during qualifying for the tournament.
The Warsaw native has scored five goals in European Championship play and has two goals at the FIFA World Cup.
JUDE BELLINGHAM - ENGLAND
Jude Bellingham
The 20-year-old could be the most in form player in Europe and enters the tournament after a successful debut season at Real Madrid.
He scored 19 times during league play as Real Madrid captured their 36th La Liga title.
Bellingham had four more markers to help Madrid storm to their 15th Champions League title.
While he enters the tournament with only three international goals to his name, he will play a bigger role for England than he has in the past coming off of his club success this season.