| There are many things about soccer that make fans | | | | Fontaine standing third in the list of all time World Cup |
| all over the world go crazy supporting it but the | | | | goal scorers, no mean feat for just one tournament. |
| most important thing for most soccer fans is goals. | | | | Second top goal scorer was the West German goal |
| Goals win matches and winning matches is what the | | | | grabber supreme Gerd Muller, who bagged 14 goals in |
| Fifa World Cup is all about. There have been many | | | | two tournaments. Muller, otherwise known as |
| great goals scored at World Cups throughout the | | | | ‘Der Bomber’ was the top scorer in Mexico |
| years but the importance of being the top goal | | | | 1970 when 10 goals, including two hat tricks saw |
| scorer in a tournament is an extremely prestigious | | | | Germany take third place after an agonising extra |
| award and Fifa recognises this by offering the Golden | | | | time Semi-final defeat to Italy. Muller bounced back in |
| Boot to the tournaments highest goal grabber. No | | | | 1974 when West Germany hosted the tournament |
| footballer has won this award twice but some of the | | | | and won the trophy for the second time. Football had |
| most famous in world soccer have walked away | | | | changed in the four years and goals were notably |
| from the tournament as the top marksmen. It is also | | | | tighter to come by at the 1974 World Cup. Muller had |
| interesting to note that the top goal scorer usually | | | | to settle for four strikes this time around but given |
| doesn’t play for the nation that wins the World | | | | that the fourth strike was the one which gave West |
| Cup. Mario Kempes in 1978 and Ronaldo in 2002 | | | | Germany a 2-1 victory over Netherlands, Muller would |
| bucked this trend but personal glory is obviously no | | | | not have been upset about not being top goal scorer. |
| guarantee of team success at the World Cup. | | | | The only soccer player who has scored more goals |
| The top goal scorer at any individual World Cup is | | | | at World Cups that Gerd Muller is Ronaldo from Brazil, |
| Just Fontaine from France, who in 1958 at the World | | | | who was top scorer when Brazil triumphed in 2002. |
| Cup in Sweden scored 13 goals in six games. It is | | | | Ronaldo has scored fifteen goals in a total of four |
| easy to work out the mathematics that this is an | | | | World Cups but his tally of 8 in Japan and South |
| average of more than two goals per game and | | | | Korea, with a goal in every game apart from the |
| Fontaine scored 3 in his first match against Paraguay | | | | quarter final has been most impressive. There were |
| and then four in his last match, the third and fourth | | | | major doubts about Ronaldo’s fitness and health |
| play off against Germany. Scoring in every match | | | | amidst the controversy over his appearance at the |
| that France played at the tournament, Fontaine and | | | | France 1998 World Cup final but the two goals that |
| his French team mates were unfortunate to come up | | | | defeated Germany 2-0 gave Ronaldo his place at the |
| against Brazil in the semi finals that were coming to | | | | forefront of world soccer once again. |
| the peak of their powers. Fontaine scored in the 9th | | | | The road to the 2010 World Cup is well underway |
| minute to level the game at 1-1 but Brazil triumphed | | | | and you can guarantee that many players around the |
| 5-2 with an emerging starlet scoring a hat-trick in 23 | | | | world will be carrying dreams of finishing the top goal |
| second half minutes. Fontaine was outshone by a | | | | scorer at South Africa. Winning the Golden Boot for |
| player who would go onto eclipse virtually every | | | | World Cup goals is a tremendous achievement but |
| other football who ever lived, Pele. The 1958 World | | | | most players would swap it all for their nation to life |
| Cup is probably most remembered for the debut of | | | | the World Cup. |
| Pele on the world soccer scene but the 13 goals sees | | | | |