With the semifinal lineup now set, the Golden Boot race at the 2023 Women’s World Cup is nearing its conclusion.
After the group stage produced an impressive 126 goals (with only two nations failing to find the net), and the round of 16 delivered 19 more, three of the four quarterfinals produced nine goals between them while the other (Australia vs. France) was goalless and required a thrilling penalty shootout to decide the winner.
That takes the running total for the tournament to 154 in just 60 matches — an average of 2.6 goals per game.
Despite Japan‘s round-of-16 exit at the hands of Sweden, Hinata Miyazawa remains the tournament’s top scorer, as the 23-year-old attacking midfielder leaves with five goals to her name.
However, with each of the four teams left competing for the World Cup now guaranteed to play two more matches — their semifinal and either the final or third-place playoff — there is every chance of Miyazawa being overhauled at the top of the goal chart.
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, 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 toward the total.
The 2023 Golden Boot contenders
Miyazawa’s brilliant run of scoring form puts her out in front in the Golden Boot race, with one more goal than her closest competition, even though she was unable to add to her tally in Japan’s final match.
However, Sweden’s Amanda Ilestedt opened the scoring in that quarterfinal, taking her tally for the tournament up to four goals. That is level with three other players — Kadidiatou Diani of France, Alexandra Popp of Germany and Jill Roord of Netherlands — but Ilestedt is the only one of that quartet still active at this World Cup.
Just behind them are eight players who have all scored three goals so far, although only five of those — England’s Lauren James, Australia’s Hayley Raso and the Spain trio of Aitana Bonmatí, Jennifer Hermoso and Alba Redondo — are still in the competition.
Also on three goals are Brazil’s Ary Borges and Norway’s Sophie Román Haug — who both scored hat tricks in the group stage — and France’s Eugénie Le Sommer, but those three have all been eliminated.
James’ red card against Nigeria in the round of 16 incurred a two-match suspension for the Chelsea midfielder, meaning she will miss Wednesday’s semifinal against Australia having already sat out the quarterfinal win against Colombia. So she will likely need to score at least two goals in England’s last match — either in the final or the third-place playoff — to have any chance of winning the Golden Boot.
However, the ace up her sleeve could yet be her three assists, which all came in the 6-1 group-stage win over China and put her joint-top in the assists chart as things stand alongside Diani and Japan’s Mina Tanaka. Hermoso and Bonmati both go into the semifinals with two assists each.
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 the host United States 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 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.
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