The Race for the World Cup Golden Boot Continues Ahead of the Semi-Finals
After the quarter-finals, the battle for the World Cup Golden Boot has become even tighter. Only four teams remain in the tournament, but several of the world's greatest goalscorers are still keeping the race for the Golden Boot alive.Heading into the four quarter-finals, Messi led the standings with eight goals, one more than Mbappé and Haaland, while Kane was close behind with six. Since England faced Norway in one of the quarter-finals, we already knew that at least one of these four stars would be out of the tournament by the time the round had concluded.
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Kylian Mbappé was far from pleased after missing a penalty
Mbappé Took His Chance and Drew Level with Messi
France and Kylian Mbappé were first in action, and as expected France faced a tough challenge against Morocco in the quarter-finals. Mbappé had a golden opportunity to draw level with Messi as early as the 28th minute when France were awarded a penalty after he was brought down inside the box. Due to an extremely long VAR review, it was difficult for Mbappé to maintain his focus before taking the penalty. After the unusually long wait, he missed the spot-kick when it was finally allowed to be taken. To be honest, it was a very poor penalty from Mbappé, but there was, as mentioned, an explanation.
Mbappé would, however, make amends. In the 60th minute, he received the ball on the edge of the penalty area and curled it into the far corner, the kind of finish that the biggest stars make look so easy. That brought him level with Messi at the top of the scoring chart with eight goals.
France eventually won the match 2-0. The second goal was scored by Ousmane Dembélé, who has now moved onto five goals in the tournament. He is still some way behind Mbappé and Messi, but he is by no means out of the Golden Boot race yet.
Oyarzabal Missed the Chance to Close the Gap
The second quarter-final was played between Spain and Belgium, with the Spaniards winning 2-1. From a Golden Boot perspective, the main question was whether Spain's Mikel Oyarzabal could seize the opportunity to move closer to the top of the scoring chart, but despite Spain scoring twice, neither goal came from Oyarzabal, meaning he missed the chance to close the gap.Before the match, Oyarzabal had four goals but failed to find the net. Instead, it was Fabián Ruiz, who replaced Pedri in the starting line-up, who opened the scoring for Spain with his first goal of this World Cup. Spain's second goal was scored by Mikel Merino in the 88th minute, making it the second consecutive match in which Merino came off the bench to score a late winner for Spain.
It should also be mentioned that Belgium's goal was scored by Charles De Ketelaere, who registered his third goal in two matches. De Ketelaere had a quiet tournament up until the knockout stage, but finally showed why many still consider him one of football's brightest talents and someone who could become one of Belgium's most important players in the years ahead.
Jude Bellingham is the hottest goalscorer at the World Cup right now
Kane Kept Scoreless but Bellingham Closes In Instead
Next came the match in which one of the leading Golden Boot contenders would be eliminated - Kane's England against Haaland's Norway.For the opening half-hour, Norway played very cautiously and allowed England to control possession, but England failed to make much of their dominance. After the "cooling break", in other words the scheduled commercial break, Norway came out looking like a completely different side and took the lead. It was not the usual goalscorer Erling Haaland who found the net, however, but Andreas Schjelderup with a magnificent strike. It felt as though the shot came out of nowhere and that Jordan Pickford should have saved it, but the replay clearly showed that it was perfectly placed and impossible for the England goalkeeper to reach.
England responded in first-half stoppage time when Jude Bellingham scored the equaliser. In the second half, Norway had what they thought was another goal from a corner, but it was ruled out after Haaland pushed Elliot Anderson to the ground just as the corner was taken.
There were no more goals in normal time and the match went to extra time. Just three minutes into the extra period, Jude Bellingham struck again from a rebound off the Norwegian goalkeeper. It was his fourth goal in two matches and enough to send England through.
Neither Harry Kane nor Erling Haaland scored, and with Norway now eliminated, Haaland finishes the tournament on seven goals. Kane remains on six, and after Bellingham's remarkable scoring run over the last two matches, he has also reached six goals, with the two England players now sharing fourth place.
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Julián Álvarez was Argentina's hero this time
Messi Also Failed to Score - but Argentina Still Progressed
The final quarter-final was played between Argentina and Switzerland. Following Mbappé's goal in France's quarter-final, he and Lionel Messi shared the lead in the Golden Boot standings when the match kicked off, but Messi had the chance to move clear at the top once again.Messi had scored in every World Cup match up to this point, in other words in five consecutive games, but against Switzerland he failed to find the net. He can, however, take comfort in the fact that Argentina progressed and that he provided an assist, although qualification was once again far from straightforward for the reigning world champions.
Alexis Mac Allister headed Argentina into a 1-0 lead from a Messi corner in the tenth minute, and at that stage it looked as though Argentina were heading comfortably into the semi-finals.
Defensively solid Switzerland are not a team that can easily be swept aside. Instead of Argentina putting the game beyond doubt, the Swiss gradually worked their way back into the contest during the second half and pushed hard for an equaliser. It arrived in the 67th minute through Dan Ndoye, but just five minutes later came the incident that would ultimately prove to be Switzerland's downfall.
It began when Swiss striker Breel Embolo appeared to be brought down by Leandro Paredes, with the referee even showing Paredes a yellow card. However, after the VAR officials alerted the referee and he reviewed the incident, it became clear that Embolo had simulated the foul. The yellow card was instead shown to Embolo, and since he had already been booked earlier in the match, he was sent off. Switzerland therefore had to play the remainder of the match, including extra time after the score remained 1-1 following 90 minutes, with ten men.
A man down, Switzerland could not hold off Argentina in extra time. Argentina scored through Julián Álvarez for 2-1 before Lautaro Martínez added a third. That meant no more goals for Messi, who missed the opportunity to move clear at the top of the Golden Boot standings.
The Semi-Finals Could Decide the Golden Boot Race
Heading into the semi-finals, the situation is straightforward. Messi and Mbappé share the lead on eight goals. Following Norway's elimination, Haaland has played his final match and finishes on seven goals, while Kane and the in-form Bellingham are both chasing on six. Dembélé is still lurking in the background with five goals, although realistically he faces a difficult task to overtake everyone ahead of him.All four remaining teams are guaranteed two matches, as the losing semi-finalists will also contest the third-place play-off. The race for the World Cup Golden Boot is therefore very much alive and remains completely open.
These are the semi-finals to look forward to:
- France vs Spain - Tuesday 21:00 CEST (14:00 local time), at Dallas Stadium (AT&T Stadium), Arlington, Texas
- England vs Argentina - Wednesday 21:00 CEST (15:00 local time), at Atlanta Stadium (Mercedes-Benz Stadium), Atlanta, Georgia