Top goalscorer predictions: Expect Mbappe to lead from the front

Kylian Mbappe failed to score a single goal at Euro 2020 as France limped to a round-of-16 exit but the 25-year-old is a justified favourite to top the charts in Germany this summer.

A hat-trick in the World Cup final two years ago sealed the Golden Boot for Mbappe in Qatar and he is now third on France’s list of all-time top goalscorers with 46 in 77 appearances. He also leads the way in goals-per-game at 0.6.

At the age of 25, Mbappe is just 11 goals adrift of 37-year-old leading scorer Olivier Giroud and has played 54 fewer games for his nation. Barring any major disaster, Mbappe will almost certainly surpass Giroud’s record at some point and he could make inroads to the top spot in Germany.

The outbound PSG player is heading to Germany after another fantastic individual season in which he has scored 44 goals in 47 competitive appearances for his club, while he has notched ten goals in 11 international outings since the start of 2023.

Les Bleus may have a relatively punishing group to navigate through, but if anybody can make a mockery of that it’s the best attacker in world football.

That being said, Golden Boot winners are often made in the group stage as strikers from top teams fill their boots against the whipping boys of the competition, so looking at the difficulty of each team’s group-stage opponents presents some interesting options.

One particularly appealing bet is Romelu Lukaku, who will lead the line for a Belgium side who are heavy favourites to top Group E ahead of Ukraine, Romania and Slovakia.

Lukaku was joint-second in the standings at both Euro 2020 and the 2018 World Cup - both with four goals - and is one of the leading international goalscorers.

He has notched 83 times in 114 appearances for the Red Devils and is showing no signs of slowing down, scoring an incredible 15 goals in ten appearances since the start of 2023 and topping the scoring charts in qualifying.

The 31-year-old heads to Germany after a decent individual season which has seen him top 20 goals for Roma, so he could make a strong start in the race for the top-scorer award.

Second in the list of top scorers in Euro 2024 qualifying was Cristiano Ronaldo, who remains a leading figure in Portugal’s team despite being 39 years old and is a contender to secure a second successive European Championship Golden Boot.

Age has been no barrier to his continued prowess in front of goal in the Saudi Pro League and he will head to Germany having scored more than a goal per game for Al Nassr this season.

He disappointed in the Qatar World Cup, but Ronaldo holds the record for most goals scored in the European Championship finals (14), most goals scored in qualifying (41) and matches scored in (ten).

He won the Golden Boot at Euro 2020 and hit double figures for his nation in 2023, while the Selecao have arguably the easiest group of any team as they face Turkey, Czech Republic and Georgia.