World Cup 2022 odds: Four best Golden Boot bets to make now

By Jason McIntyre
FOX Sports Betting Analyst

Last week we broke down a couple of World Cup futures bets, and this week we tackle the potential Golden Boot winner — the leading scorer for the tournament.

When it comes to the Golden Boot, you’re really betting on players on teams that will go the furthest, thus giving their stars the best chance to accumulate goals. That being said, no Golden Boot winner has won the World Cup since Ronaldo did it with Brazil in 2002 when he scored eight goals. The last two winners have scored six goals each — Harry Kane (England, lost in semifinals) and James Rodriguez (Colombia, lost in quarterfinals).

Since the World Cup will be here before we know it, and more importantly, these odds will change, here are four guys to consider now — with odds courtesy of FOX Bet.

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Harry Kane (England): +700 at FOX Bet (bet $10 to win $80 total)

I really like England’s chances of winning the World Cup, as recently outlined in my futures piece. And if England goes deep, Kane will be the one leading the way for The Three Lions.

Kane has a knack for scoring with England — 49 goals in 69 games — and he's poised to become the all-time leading scorer in the country’s history. If England makes a run, Kane has a great chance to top Wayne Rooney’s mark of 53 goals.

The only reason not to bet on Kane is that England is loaded with talent up front. Speedy Raheem Sterling, veteran Marcus Rashford, and budding star Bukayo Saka — not to mention super subs Phil Foden and Jack Grealish — are all capable of finding the back of the net as defenses focus on Kane.

Kylian Mbappe (France): +800 at FOX Bet (bet $10 to win $90 total)

He has a strong argument as the best player in the world right now. Messi is still playing soccer, but Mbappe is in better form. This isn't that different from a Giannis-LeBron debate in the NBA.

Mbappe is going to score, and France will make a run (tied with Brazil for the best odds to win the Cup). The only reason not to bet him is France has two other electric forwards with a penchant for scoring — Antoine Griezmann and Karim Benzema. If somehow one of those two is left off the roster or suffers an injury, you will want to hammer Mbappe to win the Golden Boot.

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Lautaro Martinez (Argentina): +3300 at FOX Bet (bet $10 to win $340 total)

Betting on someone from Argentina that isn’t Lionel Messi? Crazy, right? But hear me out. The 24-year-old Inter Milan forward has been on a tear, finishing in the Top 8 in scoring in the loaded Serie A the last two seasons.

With Argentina legend Messi turning 35 in June, Sergio Aguero turning 34 in June and Angel Di Maria already 34, young legs will be pivotal to Argentina’s chances at a World Cup run. Enter Martinez, who has scored 19 goals in just 37 matches for his country.

Sadio Mane (Senegal): +6600 at FOX Bet (bet $10 to win $670 total)

If you read last week’s piece on longshot teams to make a run and like Senegal as much as I do, you may want to throw a couple of bucks on Sadio Mane.

He has been on an incredible run with Liverpool (fifth in the EPL in goals with 14), and Senegal seems poised to sneak out of Group A and advance. Mane was recently the Player of the Tournament in the Africa Cup of Nations and is currently tied for the most goals scored in Senegal’s history.

His number here presents some betting value and is worth a sprinkle.

Jason McIntyre is a FOX Sports betting analyst, and he also writes about the NFL and NBA Draft. He joined FS1 in 2016 and has appeared on every show on the network. In 2017, McIntyre began producing gambling content on the NFL, college football and NBA for FOX Sports. He had a gambling podcast for FOX, "Coming Up Winners," in 2018 and 2019. Before arriving at FOX, he created the website The Big Lead, which he sold in 2010.

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