Euro 2020 Top Goalscorer And Golden Boot Betting: What Is The Difference?

Who will score the most goal has been a big topic for speculation before every major international tournament and on a number of occasions it has thrown up some surprises.  Will this summer’s delayed Euro 2020 to be similar?

Quite often, the Golden Boot winner at international tournaments depends on a lot of different factors and while it might appear easy to predict, there are variables and permutations that can influence this.

No doubt, there will be fans who are already thinking about placing bets and weighing up who to choose, having studied the form and the fixtures though there are a few important things that might be worth considering first.

Difference Between Golden Boot & Top Goalscorer

From a betting perspective it is certainly important to be aware of the difference between these the golden boot and the top goalscorer market.

In 1994, when the USA hosted the World Cup, this was the last tournament in which there could be numerous ‘Golden Boot’ (top goalscorer) winners, because, after this, assists were incorporated to ascertain the difference.

From a betting perspective, you can stake money on the Golden Boot market, however, there is only one winner. In the event that there is a tie between a number of players, it is then worked out on assists and then if this is tied, it is the player who played the least minutes.  Therefore, you can bet on the Golden Boot and end up picking a player that ends up as joint top goalscorer but your bet doesn’t win.

For the top-goalscorer market, in the event of a tie you will win even if your player doesn’t win the golden boot. In this scenario dead-heat rules apply. This is where the amount that is paid out is governed by the odds being divided by the number of tied places. If you have an each-way bet and there is a tie for first or second place, the same rules apply here. It means the amount that you could have won when you placed the bet will be less if there is a tie for top-goalscorer.

The positive of betting on the Golden Boot winner over top-goalscorer is that if there is a tie for the position and your player wins the Golden Boot then you get paid out at full odds whereas dead heat rules are applied to the top goalscorer markets.

Generally, the odds for the Golden Boot market are better than the top goalscorer market, because this is deemed as being harder to win, especially if you do not envisage there being a tie.  Of course, if placing an each-way bet this can only be done on the top goalscorer market not the Golden Boot market.

In fact, 2012 is useful to point out the difference between top goalscorer and the Golden Boot.  Only Fernando Torres won the Golden Boot yet five players were tied for top goalscorer.

If you backed Fernando Torres as the Golden Boot winner you would have won at full odds but if you backed any of the other four you would have lost.  Conversely if you backed any of the four non-Golden Boot winners for top goalscorer you would have been paid out at one fifth the odds (odds divided by five due to dead heat rules).  If you backed Torres, however, via the top goalscorer market you would have also been paid out at 1/5 odds, a lot less than the Golden Boot market.

History of the Golden Boot

Dating as far back as 1960, the European Championship has thrown up a number of surprises and tantalising action over the decades and has borne witness to some great individual performances and goals.

What is also interesting is that some tournament Golden Boot winners have scored very few and others have scored a lot. Who can forget the impressive nine-goal haul from France’s Michael Platini in 1984?

The first-ever tournament Golden Boot winner; essentially top goalscorer at this point in time, was shared by no less than five different players. These included Francois Huette (France), Valentin Ivanov and Victor Ponedelnik (both Soviet Union), and Milan Galic and Drazan Jerkovic (both Yugoslavia), who all scored two goals each.

Two goals were also enough to win the top goalscorer award for the next two tournaments, which was shared in the following edition. In 1964, Ferenc Bene and Dezso Novak (Hungary), as well as Jesus Maria Pereda (Spain) took the joint mantle, while in 1968, Dragan Dzajic (Yugoslavia) finished with a brace of goals.

For the next three tournaments, West Germany dominated the individual top scorer awards, with Gerd Muller (1972 – four goals), Dieter Muller (1976 – four goals), and Klaus Allofs (1980 – three goals) all etching their names into the tournament record books.

Following Platini’s unprecedented performance in 1984, Marco van Basten burst onto the scene for the Netherlands in 1988 recording five goals, while in 1992 the accolade was shared by four players. Henrik Larsen (Denmark), Karl-Heinz Riedle (Germany), Dennis Bergkamp (Netherlands), and Thomas Brolin (Sweden) all dispatched three times.

To date, Alan Shearer remains the only English player to have won the award, in 1996 when the hosts of the tournament reached the semi-finals as the former Southampton, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United striker recorded a five-goal haul.

At the turn of the new millennium, Savo Milosevic (Yugoslavia) and Patrick Kluivert (Netherlands) scored five goals apiece, while Milan Baros (Czech Republic) found the net on five occasions at Euro 2004.

When Spain won the tournament in 2008, their striker David Villa also scooped the award with four goals, while as many years later, Euro 2012 threw up a clutch of big names. Mario Mandzukic (Croatia), Mario Gomez (Germany), Mario Balotelli (Italy), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Alan Dzagoev (Russia), and Fernando Torres (Spain), all scored three each as Spain retained the trophy.

At Euro 2016, meanwhile, when Portugal won the tournament for the first time, the clear winner was Antoine Griezmann (France) with an impressive six goals.

Golden Boot Winners since 1996

# Golden Goal criteria not in place at this time, both tied for the award

* Tied on three goals with five players and tied with with Mario Gómez on goals and assists, Torres wins the golden boot thanks to playing less minutes than Gómez.

Limited To Strikers?

As you will have seen, throughout history, the leading goalscorers are mainly strikers, which makes sense when you consider that for many decades the 4-4-2 formation was more in vogue. However, over the last decade, 4-3-3 has become more popular and we have seen more and more midfielders and wingers challenge for the golden boot award.

Certainly, Griezmann at Euro 2016 could be considered as more of a winger and while a central striker will always have shorter odds to win, the trend of the wider attacker could well continue at Euro 2020, with many talents waiting in the wings.

For teams who possess players in a deeper role who can find pockets of space to rifle a shot, or indeed those who can score from long-range, we could well see a shock, however, these types of goals are generally very few and far between at international tournaments. Though, don’t rule it out!

Euro 2020 Golden Boot Candidates

With the next edition of the tournament being eagerly anticipated, there will no doubt be quite a few players who may stand out as favourites with punters to win the Golden Boot award, so let’s take a look at some of those who might be in with a chance.

With Euro 2020 having a completely new format, that includes more teams and a round of 16, we could well see the Golden Boot award won by a greater amount of goals, due to the fact that there are more potential matches. Attacking football, in general, has become more popular in recent years as well, especially at club level, which might mean fans could be in for a goal glut this time round.