Euro 2024 Golden Boot: Eight potential contenders to watch out for in Germany
The race for the Euro 2024 Golden Boot is already being talked about, with these eight stars potential favourites for the trophy
The Euro 2024 Golden Boot is going to be hotly contested, as some of Europe's most deadly strikers will be on show in Germany this summer
With 24 teams battling it out for the prize of being crowned Europe's best, Euro 2024 is set to begin on July 17 and will run for a month in what is expected to be a fiercely competitive tournament.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the last recipient of the Golden Boot at Euro 2020. Will the 39-year-old do so again? FourFourTwo looks at seven other candidates who could rival one of the greatest of all time...
Euro 2024 Golden Boot contenders: 1. Harry Kane (England)
Club: Bayern Munich
Age: 30
Still banging them in at a stuttering Bayern Munich, Harry will relish another chance to bolster his famously tumbleweedy trophy cabinet… which does boast a World Cup Golden Boot, lest we forget.
While most of his England team-mates have flogged it through the winter, a proper mid-season break in the Bundesliga might help him stay club-sharp for the whole tournament, touch wood.
2. Kylian Mbappe (France)
Club: PSG
Age: 25
Moving house can be stressful for the best of us – bring down the personalised Louis Vuitton basketball hoop or just buy a new one? Always tricky.
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The Madrid-bound Mbappe might be a bit preoccupied this summer, then – he looked flat as France flopped three years ago and missed the crucial shoot-out spot-kick against Switzerland, so is due a decent Euros. A golden boot should banish any lingering angst.
3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Club: Al Nassr
Age: 39
Unlike Jordan Henderson (in so many ways), CR7 was pretty confident about keeping his Euros place despite now plying his trade in the contentious petrodollar premier: 10 goals in qualifying certainly backed that up. Portugal got a sweet group draw too, but manager Roberto Martinez does like to rotate mid-tournament, potentially limiting the pouting icon’s top-spot chances.
Start your strop-watch now.
4. Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)
Club: Roma
Age: 30
Now a semi-veteran but still unsure where he’ll be playing from one season to the next, Lukaku could really do with a good tournament to boost his options, longer-term. Hardly a busted flush, he top-scored in qualifying with a mighty 14 and has been in rip-roaring form for Roma in the Europa League.
But can Belgium’s creaky engine room keep cranking out the chances?
5. Antoine Griezmann (France)
Club: Atletico Madrid
Age: 33
He top-scored on home turf at Euro 2016 but Griezmann has morphed into more of a pop-up-anywhere playmaking assist merchant since Mbappe’s emergence; a flaxen-haired Peter Beardsley, internationally at least.
At club level he’s back basking in the main-man glow, recently breaking Atletico Madrid’s all-time goalscoring record and on fine striking form this season, particularly in the Champions League; so either way, expect ‘involvements’.
6. Alvaro Morata (Spain)
Club: Atletico Madrid
Age: 31
Another inmate at the Atletico Madrid home for discarded superstar strikers, Morata often looks mildly haunted by a stop-start career but he’s the not-false nine Spain need nowadays, in these post-tiki-taka times.
Italy and Croatia won’t offer much change at the group stage but he’ll probably score four against Albania and lead the Golden Boot list almost by accident. A decent outside punt.
7. Rasmus Hojlund (Denmark)
Club: Manchester United
Age: 21
This could be quite the end-of-season redemption story, given that Hojlund apparently represented everything wrong with Manchester United’s post-Fergie recruitment, pre-Christmas.
Even then he was racking up goals in Europe, for club and country, and Denmark meet-ups must have felt particularly hygge compared to the turmoil at Old Trafford. Expect him to have a lovely time at the Euros: especially that England game.
8. Scott McTominay - Scotland
Club: Manchester United
Age: 27
A healthy-odds each-way rank-outsider, McTominay scored a magnificent seven in qualifying, more than Erling Haaland, Robert Lewandowski, even Oli McBurnie.
Manchester United’s cowboy-jawed midfielder is always a good bet for last goalscorer with that never-say-die spirit, and he’ll be the go-to guy if Scotland need a late goal, which let’s face it, they almost certainly will. Maybe he’s just fitter than everyone else.
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