Early Era Golden Boot Award Winners
Soccer World Cup Statistics – Goals & Top Scorers 1930 to 1958
Aug 22, 2009
The Golden Boot award has now been given to each World Cup top scorer since the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930. It was first introduced in 1982 but retrospectively awarded to each player with the most World Cup goals in each tournament since 1930.
Uruguay 1930 World Cup Golden Boot Award: Guillermo Stábile, Argentina, 8 Goals
Guillermo Stábile did not play in Argentina’s opening group game. Making his debut in the second match against Mexico due to first choice striker Roberto Cherro suffering an anxiety attack, he scored a hat trick to cement his place in the team. Two more in the next group game against Chile helped Argentina to progress into the semi-finals.
Argentina took apart the USA in the semi-final, a 6-1 victory with Stábile racking up two more World Cup goals. Argentina suffered defeat in the first World Cup Final, losing 4-2 to Uruguay, Stábile scoring once. With only thirteen teams competing in the first World Cup the number of matches was limited, Stábile getting his eight World Cup goals in only four matches to retrospectively receive the Golden Boot award.
Italy 1934 World Cup Golden Boot Award: Oldrich Nejedly, Czechoslovakia, 5 Goals
Sixteen teams competed in the Italy 1934 finals, a straight knockout competition without group stages. Players would have only four games, barring replays, to rack up their goals.
Nejedly scored in the first round win against Romania and added another in the quarter-final 3-2 victory against Switzerland. Czechoslovakia beat Germany 3-1 in the semi-finals with Nejedly recorded as having scored twice. The Czechs were unable to overcome Italy in the final, with Nejedly not finding the net in the 2-1 defeat.
As such, Oldrich Nejedly was originally credited with four goals, sharing his World Cup goals tally with Angelo Schiavio (Italy) and Edmund Conen (Germany). However, in 2006 FIFA officially credited Nejedly with all three goals in the match against Germany, this hat trick giving him five goals and making him the World Cup top scorer and Golden Boot winner for 1934.
France 1938 World Cup Golden Boot Award: Leonidas da Silva, Brazil, 7 Goals
Leonidas da Silva, affectionately known as the ‘Black Diamond’, scored a hat trick in Brazil’s first round win against Poland, the game finishing 6-5 after extra time. The quarter-final tie against Czechoslovakia ended in a draw, again after extra time, Leonidas scoring Brazil’s only goal with former Golden Boot winner Oldrich Nejedly scoring for the Czechs. A replay two days later saw the Brazilians come out on top, Leonidas scoring once in the 2-1 win.
Leonidas was rested for the semi-final against Italy, perhaps unwisely, Brazil suffering a 2-1 defeat against the team who would go on to win the tournament. Leonidas scored twice in the third place match against Sweden, Brazil winning 4-2, his seven World Cup goals securing the Golden Boot for 1938.
Brazil 1950 World Cup Golden Boot Award: Ademir, Brazil, 7 Goals (or 9?)
World Cup competition recommenced in 1950 after the cancellation of two tournaments due to World War II. Brazil, as hosts, opened the tournament with a 4-0 Group 1 win against Mexico, flamboyant striker Ademir scoring twice. Another followed against Yugoslavia helping Brazil advance into the final round group, the winner of which would win the tournament.
Ademir scored a sensational four goals in the opening final group game against Sweden, Brazil winning 7-1. A clear-cut 6-1 victory against Spain followed, with unclear records as to who exactly scored. Brazil’s first goal had originally been labeled as an own-goal, and their fifth credited to Jair.
FIFA have since credited Ademir with both goals, taking his tally to nine, but much debate still remains. However, seven goals would still have been enough to secure the Golden Boot.
Switzerland 1954 World Cup Golden Boot Award: Sandor Kocsis, Hungary, 11 Goals
The eleven goals scored by Sandor Kocsis in 1954 is the second highest all-time World Cup goals tally, beaten only by Just Fontaine in 1958. Hungary demolished both Korea (9-0) and West Germany (8-3) in Group 2, Kocsis scoring three against Korea and four against the Germans, becoming the first player to score two hat tricks in a World Cup.
Hungary then went on to beat Brazil 4-2 in the quarter-finals, Kocsis scoring twice, before knocking out the World Cup holders Uruguay in the semi-final. Kocsis scored twice in extra time, Hungary again winning 4-2. The final was a rematch with West Germany, the Germans this time containing Kocsis and overturning a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2, a shock upset known ever since as ‘The Miracle of Bern’.
Sweden 1958 World Cup Golden Boot Award: Just Fontaine, France, 13 Goals
Frenchman Just Fontaine holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup finals tournament. A hat trick in the opening group game against Paraguay, followed by two against Yugoslavia and one against Scotland, saw Fontaine enter the quarter-finals with six World Cup goals.
France trounced Northern Ireland 4-0, aided by two Fontaine goals, before losing 5-2 to Brazil in the semis. Fontaine netted once, but the French could not cope with the 17-year-old Pelé, who scored a hat trick in the second half. The third place match tied France with defending champions West Germany, Fontaine scoring four goals to help France win 6-3.
With thirteen World Cup goals in 1958, Fontaine set a Golden Boot record which has yet to be matched. Neither the Golden Boot winners of the Sixties and Seventies, such as the great Eusebio and Gerd Muller, nor the modern day Golden Boot stars have been able to match this record.
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