WORLD CUP 2022
World Cup 2022: which leagues have most goal scorers in Qatar?
The powerful English Premier League boasts some of the world’s greatest net botherers but other domestic competitions are providing international target men.
As we pause for two days ahead of the quarter finals in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, we get a chance to look back on the entertainment that has been laid on for us on the pitch, as the pressure mounts on players to perform. And that applies most to the men responsible for beating those huge goalkeepers standing in their way.
We’ve had goals a-plenty in various games in the tournament so far. The early big wins for Spain (7-0 over Costa Rica), France (4-1 over Switzerland) and England’s 6-2 Iran bashing couldn’t be ignored. Then there were the incredible underdogs victories we witnessed too in the groups, with the most impressive that of Saudi Arabia and Japan (both winning 2-1 against Argentina and Germany respectively.
In the round of 16, the Netherlands, France and England all scored three in their respective wins over the USA, Poland and Senegal. Then there was Brazil’s samba flair knocking a stylish four past South Korea, before Portugal’s Gonçalo Ramos (replacing Cristiano Ronaldo) netted a superb hat-trick as half those picked out by the Swiss goalkeeper.
Premier League has provided most goals in Qatar
OK, so leagues don’t actually score the goals but we were interested to check out where the players doing the net bulging are normally plying their professional trade. As you can see below, it’s the English Premier League powerhouse leading the way (for the purposes of this we continue to class Cristiano Ronaldo as part of that), with the four other big European leagues following in behind.
It is, though, nice to see some of the smaller international leagues making their mark, and, although not shown on the table below, Wales’ Gareth Bale has the MLS represented, after slotting home his penalty against, ironically, the USA.
If you love sporting data, SofaScore.com is the place for you.
Who are the 2022 World Cup top scorers?
A balanced team is always what a manager strives to have across the competition but, as we all know, it’s usually the strikers who get most of the attention, and are often crucial to their side’s success. And even if their team doesn’t go on to lift the famous trophy in Qatar, the individual Golden Boot award can still be theirs.
As we get to the business end there is maybe no surprise that the likes of Kylian Mbappé (France) and Lionel Messi (Argentina) are in the mix for the Golden Boot, but with his aforementioned hat-trick, Portugal’s Gonçalo Ramos is likely to get the nod once again in the quarters.
Also on three goals and still in with a chance of adding to that tally are Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka (both England), Olivier Giroud (France) and Richarlison (Brazil).
Who’s your money on?