The World Cup will be starting on November 20, 2022, with fans, pundits, and players alike eagerly awaiting all the action that is bound to unfold. The COVID-19 pandemic led to the 2020 Euros being moved a year later, trailing the World Cup by just a year. Will the top scorers in the Euros continue their form into the World Cup, or will the tournament in Qatar symbolize a change of the goal-scoring guard?
The top European Championship goalscorer is considered to be one of the most prestigious awards for individual players in the world at an international level. One of the few international awards to trump this award, in terms of prestige, is the World Cup top goalscorer award.
Who were the top goalscorers in Euros 2021?
Cristiano Ronaldo and Patrick Schick registered 5 goals for Portugal and Czech Republic respectively while Karim Benzema, Emil Forsberg, Romelu Lukaku and Harry Kane registered 4 goals for France, Sweden, Belgium, and England respectively. It’s interesting to note that from this list of top Euros’ goalscorers, two players (Forsberg and Schick) won’t be travelling to Qatar.
So, the list of top goalscorers for 2021 Euros that will be going to the World Cup is:
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Karim Benzema
- Romelu Lukaku
- Harry Kane
And who are the favourites to win top goalscorer for the World Cup?
Sports betting websites have released odds for the tournament long in advance. These odds display calculated probabilities for which team they think will win the tournament outright, who they think will score the most goals, record the most assists, and so on.
According to this list of World Cup top goalscorer favourites according to bookmakers in Canada, the favourites to win the World Cup goalscorers are:
- Harry Kane
- Kylian Mbappé
- Karim Benzema
- Lionel Messi
- Neymar
Differences between Euros Top Scorers & World Cup Top Scorer Favourites
What’s clear from the two lists, is that the bookmakers don’t necessarily make their calculated probabilities based on past form in other international competitions. It can therefore be argued that, based on these calculations, just because some goalscorers performed at the Euros doesn’t mean they will perform at the World Cup.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the joint top scorer in the Euros, doesn’t make the list of World Cup goalscorer favourites. Harry Kane on the other hand, who has been underperforming for the English national team in recent games, is dubbed as the favourite to pick up the award. While Romelu Lukaku, who scored the same number of goals as Kane in the Euros, does not feature on the list either.
Of course, one needs to take into account the fact that the World Cup includes more nations than just those in Europe. Neymar has a had rip-roaring start to Ligue 1 this season, so his inclusion makes sense, but some may feel that Cristiano is more deserving of a spot in the top 5 favourites than Lionel Messi, for example.
The only people who understand the reasons behind the odds displayed on bookmakers are those working at the bookmakers themselves. And they often get it wrong, as sport is so unpredictable.
