xtratime Logo

  XtraTime Web desk:  The race to emulate 'The Infiltrator', ‘Golden Head’, ‘The Black Panther’, Der Bomber, El Matador, O Fenômeno and fellow adidas Golden Boot recipients is wide open. A trivia-themed look at the leading four contenders: Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku, Cristiano Ronaldo and Diego Costa.   Harry Kane Goals: 5 Appearances: 2 Fixtures Round of 16: Colombia Quarter-finals: Sweden or Switzerland England record Goals 18 Caps: 26 Gary Lineker owns the England records for most goals at a World Cup – six at Mexico 1986 – and most goals overall in the competition (ten). How many of those accolades will the former Tottenham Hotspur and England striker lose to the current one? Another treble would make Kane just the fifth player to score multiple hat-tricks in the World Cup after Sandor Kocsis, Just Fontaine, Gerd Muller and Gabriel Batistuta. Kane requires one goal to equal Diego Maradona’s record for goals as captain in the World Cup.    Romelu Lukaku Goals: 4 Apperances: 2 Fixtures Round of 16: Japan Quarter-finals: Brazil or Mexico Belgium record Goals: 40 Caps: 71 Lukaku needs one goal to outrank Marc Wilmots and become Belgium’s outright leading marksman in the World Cup. If the Manchester United striker scores twice more in Russia he will set a new Benelux record for the most goals in a World Cup. Arch-rivals the Netherlands boast three players who registered five goals at one edition of the tournament: Johan Neeskens in 1974, Rob Rensenbrink in 1978 and Wesley Sneijder in 2010. Wilmots stands as Belgium's best for netting in the most successive World Cup appearances (three). Lukaku has scored in his last two run-outs.    Cristiano Ronaldo Goals: 4 Appearances: 3 Fixtures Round of 16: Uruguay Quarter-finals: France or Argentina Portugal record Goals: 85 Caps: 153 Ronaldo requires two more to equal nine-goal Eusebio as Portugal’s leading marksman in the World Cup. If Ronaldo finds the target in the knockout phase he will become just the seventh player to score World Cup goals over 12 years apart after Uwe Seeler, Pele, Diego Maradona, Michael Laudrup, Miroslav Klose and Ivica Olic. The Portugal No7’s header against Morocco came 11 years and 363 days after his maiden goal in the competition – just two days shy of the milestone. If Ronaldo bags a brace against Uruguay he will equal Maradona's record for most World Cup goals in the armband before Kane gets the chance.   Diego Costa Goals: 3 Apperances: 3 Fixtures Round of 16: Russia Quarter-finals: Croatia or Denmark Spain record Goals: 10 Caps: 23 Costa requires two goals to equal the record for a Spain player at a World Cup, set by Emilio Butragueno in 1986 and equalled by David Villa in 2010. Since Geoff Hurst hit a hat-trick in the Final in ’66, only two men have scored more than twice in a knockout match. Czechoslovakia’s Tomas Skuhravy did it against Costa Rica at Italy 1990, and encouragingly for the Costa the other was a Spaniard. Emilio Butragueno, indeed, incredibly bagged four goals against Denmark, who had established themselves as one of the Trophy favourites, in the Round of 16 at Mexico 1986. Only three No19s have scored more goals in a World Cup than Costa has in 2018: Vava got four in 1962 (he finished as the joint-leading marksman), Igor Belanov got four in 1986, and Salvatore Schillaci got six in 1990 to seize the adidas Golden Boot.   The outsiders Denis Cheryshev (3 goals) Philippe Coutinho (2 goals) Artem Dzyuba (2 goals) Eden Hazard (2 goals) Luis Suarez (2 goals) Lionel Messi (1 goal) Neymar (1 goal)   Trivia Mario Kempes and Paolo Rossi both failed to score in their first-phase groups at Argentina 1978 and Spain 1982, yet both ended up with the adidas Golden Ball.