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Chris Wright, Toe Poke writer
With the first knockout round of the tournament now complete, the Golden Boot race is hotting up nicely at the 2023 Women’s World Cup as the competition reaches the quarterfinal stage.
After the group stage produced an impressive 126 goals (with only two nations failing to find the net), the round of 16 delivered 19 more to take the total for the tournament to 145 goals in just 56 matches.
Spain accounted for more than a quarter of those round-of-16 goals thanks to their devastating 5-1 rout of Switzerland, though Japan still remain the highest-scoring team after a 3-1 victory over Norway increased their overall haul to 14 goals, one more than La Roja.
Japan also boast the World Cup’s top goal scorer in Hinata Miyazawa, as the 23-year-old attacking midfielder now has five goals to her name after notching against Norway. However, no fewer than seven players still active at the tournament who have scored three goals, so there are plenty of players still on Miyazawa’s tail.
With as many as three matches left for every player still in the tournament — quarterfinal, semifinal and final/third-place playoff — the Golden Boot is still very much up for grabs.
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How Golden Boot award is decided
As always, the Golden Boot award will be bestowed upon the individual player who scores the most goals at the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Should multiple players finish level at the top of the standings, the award will be decided using tiebreakers.
Should two or more players finish with the same number of goals, the Golden Boot will go to the player with the most assists. If that still isn’t enough to separate them then the award will go to the player with the lowest total minutes on the pitch (ergo, the highest goals-per-minute rate).
Any goals scored in penalty shootouts will not count towards the total.
The 2023 Golden Boot contenders
Japan star Miyazawa is enjoying a brilliant run of form at the 2023 World Cup so far and is out in front in the Golden Boot race with five goals in four games, one more than her closest competition.
Red hot France striker Kadidiatou Diani has now scored four goals in Les Bleues‘ last two games to occupy the Silver Boot position alongside Jill Roord of Netherlands, who also has four goals after scoring three times in the group stage and once again in her country’s 2-0 win over South Africa in the round of 16. Germany striker Alexandra Popp also scored four goals, though she will be unable to add to her total in the wake of her side’s underwhelming group-stage exit.
Just behind them, seven players who are still active at the 2023 World Cup have scored three goals apiece. Hayley Raso (Australia), Eugenie Le Sommer (France), Amanda Ilestedt (Sweden) and Spanish trio Aitana Bonmatí, Jennifer Hermoso and Alba Redondo are all very much still in the running for the Golden Boot.
Lauren James of England also has three goals, but her red card against Nigeria rules the Chelsea midfielder out of the Lionesses’ quarterfinal against Colombia and possibly the rest of the tournament even if England reach the final, depending on the decision of FIFA’s disciplinary panel.
There are a further eight active players in the competition with two goals: Steph Catley (Australia), Linda Caicedo and Catalina Usma (Colombia), Mina Tanaka and Riko Ueki (Japan), Esmee Brugts (Netherlands) and Rebecka Blomqvist and Fridolina Rolfo (Sweden) though admittedly they now have a lot of ground to make up in a short space of time.
Diani could have an ace up her sleeve, however, as she is the joint-leader in assists with three so far, along with England’s James and Japan’s Tanaka (who has scored two goals). That could yet be a deciding factor in the destination of the Golden Boot award.
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Japan captain relishing ‘dream stage’ of World Cup quarterfinal
Japan captain Saki Kumagai and Moeka Minami speak ahead of Japan’s World Cup quarterfinal against Sweden.
Women’s World Cup Golden Boot history
The Golden Boot was first awarded at the inaugural 1991 Women’s World Cup in China, where USWNT forward Michelle Akers scored 10 goals to take the plaudits with an impressive tally that has never been bettered at a Women’s World Cup.
Megan Rapinoe of the United States is the reigning Women’s World Cup Golden Boot winner after scoring six goals as the USWNT emerged triumphant at the 2019 tournament in France. Her teammate Alex Morgan also scored six goals at the 2019 World Cup and also equalled Rapinoe’s assist count of three, so Rapinoe was ultimately awarded the Golden Boot because she had spent less time on the pitch (428 minutes, to Morgan’s 490).
Rapinoe claiming the award also meant that the U.S. joined Brazil and Germany as the only nations to have had their players win Golden Boots at two different Women’s World Cups.
The only time the award has been shared was in 1999, when Brazil’s Sissi and China’s Sun Wen both scored seven times. Sun’s goals powered China to the final, and she scored in the penalty shootout after that match ended 0-0, but it was hosts the United States who emerged victorious.
Women’s World Cup player trophies
The 2023 Women’s World Cup Golden Boot trophy itself is a lifelike cast of a football boot in silver metal with a thin golden coating, affixed to a sturdy frosted glass base. There are also silver and bronze versions given to the second and third-highest scoring players at the tournament respectively.
As well as the Golden Boot, a number of other individual awards will be handed out at the conclusion of the 2023 World Cup.
The Golden Ball is awarded to the best overall player of the tournament, as decided by media representatives selecting from a shortlist drawn up by the FIFA technical committee, as well as the Silver and Bronze Ball for the second and third best players on show.
Rapinoe also took this prize home in 2019, with teammate Rose Lavelle coming third in the vote behind England’s Lucy Bronze. Unsurprisingly, Rapinoe ended the year by winning the Ballon d’Or, too.
The Golden Glove award is also awarded to the best overall goalkeeper at the tournament, and is decided by FIFA’s Technical Study Group. By winning this prize at both the 2011 and 2015 tournaments, former U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo is the only player to win twice in any individual award category at a Women’s World Cup.