The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup is set to be a thrilling tournament as Australia and New Zealand take on co-hosting duties for the first time.
Alongside the battle for team glory, there are also a some key individual awards on offer, as the biggest stars in women’s football take centre-stage in the sport’s premier competition.
The Golden Boot is a notable and, if recent history is anything to go by, competitive prize: recent tournaments have seen the award won by a low-key final goal tally.
The past three Golden Boots have been secured with a maximum of six goals scored. Will anyone get close to Michelle Akers’ single-tournament record this year?
MORE: All the Women’s World Cup awards for the 2023 edition
Women’s World Cup top goal scorers 2023
Updated as of Monday, July 31
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals (Penalties) |
Assists | Matches | Minutes Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hinata Miyazawa | Japan | 4 (0) | 1 | 3 | 165 |
| 2. | Ary Borges | Brazil | 3 (0) | 1 | 2 | 161 |
| Alexandra Popp | Germany | 3 (1) | 0 | 2 | 173 | |
| Sophie Roman Haug | Norway | 3 (0) | 0 | 2 | 163 | |
| Amanda Ilestedt | Sweden | 3 (0) | 0 | 2 | 180 | |
| 6. | Mina Tanaka | Japan | 2 (0) | 3 | 3 | 147 |
| Riko Ueki | Japan | 2 (0) | 1 | 3 | 123 | |
| Sophia Smith | USA | 2 (0) | 1 | 2 | 180 | |
| Jennifer Hermoso | Spain | 2 (0) | 1 | 3 | 270 | |
| Alba Redondo | Spain | 2 (0) | 0 | 3 | 99 | |
| Frida Rolfo | Sweden | 2 (0) | 0 | 2 | 127 | |
| Lindsey Horan | USA | 2 (0) | 0 | 2 | 180 | |
| Linda Caicedo | Colombia | 2 (0) | 0 | 2 | 180 | |
| Hayley Raso | Australia | 2 (0) | 0 | 3 | 250 | |
| Steph Catley | Australia | 2 (2) | 0 | 3 | 270 |
- 1 goal: 54 players
- Own goals: 5 players
There have been 91 total goals scored in 38 matches at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, including five own goals.
Women’s World Cup Golden Boot 2023 odds
*Odds updated as of July 29
| Player | Nation | SkyBet | Unibet |
| Alexandra Popp | Germany | 9/2 | 6.00 |
| Sophia Smith | USA | 11/2 | 7.00 |
| Ary Borges | Brazil | 6/1 | 7.00 |
| Jennifer Hermoso | Spain | 9/1 | 10.00 |
| Alba Redondo | Spain | 16/1 | — |
| Alex Morgan | USA | 20/1 | 14.00 |
| Lea Schuller | Germany | 20/1 | 16.00 |
| Esther Gonzalez | Spain | 25/1 | 16.00 |
| Eugenie Le Sommer | France | 25/1 | 18.00 |
| Bia Zaneratto | Brazil | 33/1 | — |
Women’s World Cup Golden Boot 2023 contenders
Heading into the tournament, USWNT veteran Alex Morgan was originally tipped, but she still hasn’t scored and missed a penalty in the opening win over Vietnam. Australia star and Chelsea striker Sam Kerr was another favourite, but she has been hampered by a pre-tournament injury and missed the first two matches.
We have a surprise early leader in Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa after she scored twice in Japan’s 4-0 rout of Spain in their final group match. Brazil’s Ary Borges leads a chasing pack of strikers all one behind her though with Alexandra Popp, Sophie Roman Haug and Amanda Ilestedt also in hot pursuit.
The USA, Germany and Brazil have traditionally produced the Golden Boot winner in previous World Cups, but the list of betting favourites for 2023 includes star names from Sweden (Ilestedt), Spain (three contenders including Jenni Hermoso) and France (Eugenie Le Sommer).
MORE: Who has played in most Women’s World Cups?
Golden Boot tiebreakers
FIFA rules over Golden Boot tiebreakers come into play if more than one player has scored the same amount of goals at the end of the tournament.
In that instance, assists will be used as the first tiebreaker and that will be followed by minutes played with the player compiling her goals in the fewest minutes ranking higher.
Most goals scored in a single Women’s World Cup
| Year | Player | Country | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Michelle Akers | USA | 10 |
| 1991 | Heidi Mohr | Germany | 7 |
| 1999 | Sun Wen | China | 7 |
| 1999 | Sissi | Brazil | 7 |
| 2003 | Birgit Prinz | Germany | 7 |
| 2007 | Marta | Brazil | 7 |
Women’s World Cup Golden Boot winners
Across eight editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, no player has won the Golden Boot on more than one occasion.
USA’s Michelle Akers holds the record for most goals in single a tournament, scoring 10 at the inaugural 1991 World Cup.
Brazilian legend Marta, who is the all-time top scorer in Women’s World Cup history, won the Golden Boot in 2007, but Germany wound up winning the tournament that year.
Megan Rapinoe won the the Golden Boot (top scorer) and the Golden Ball (MVP) at the last World Cup in 2019, and also went on to win the Ballon d’Or as the top player in the women’s game after leading her team to a World Cup trophy in that same competition.
| Year | Host | Player | Nation | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | China | Michelle Akers | USA | 10 |
| 1995 | Sweden | Ann Kristin Aarones | Norway | 6 |
| 1999 | USA | Sun Wen / Sissi | China/Brazil | 7 |
| 2003 | USA | Birgit Prinz | Germany | 7 |
| 2007 | China | Marta | Brazil | 7 |
| 2011 | Germany | Homare Sawa | Japan | 5 |
| 2015 | Canada | Celia Sasic | Germany | 6 |
| 2019 | France | Megan Rapinoe | USA | 6 |
Who has scored most Women’s World Cup goals in history?
Marta leads the way at the top of the all-time Women’s World Cup goal list with 17, and she has the chance to build on that in 2023.
| Player | Nation | World Cup goals |
| Marta | Brazil | 17 |
| Birgit Prinz | Germany | 14 |
| Abby Wambach | USA | 14 |
| Michelle Akers | USA | 12 |
| Cristiane | Brazil | 11 |
| Wen Sun | China | 11 |
| Bettina Wiegmann | Germany | 11 |
| Ann-Kristin Aarones | Norway | 10 |
| Carli Lloyd | USA | 10 |
| Heidi Mohr | Germany | 10 |
| Christine Sinclair | Canada | 10 |