The World Is a Ball: Final stretch of the Cup has shirt dispute for artillery as attraction

The Frenchman Mbappé, five goals in the Qatar Cup, wears the number 10. His compatriot Giroud, four goals in the World Cup, the 9. The Argentine Messi, without a doubt, is the most famous number 10 of today. He also has four goals in the competition.

Favorites in the dispute for the Cup’s Golden Shoe, an award given to the top scorer, and great hopes of their national teams in the quest for the FIFA Cup, they are characters in a parallel dispute: that of the top scorer shirt.

As the number 9 shirt is almost always worn by the team’s main striker, it is to be expected that it will end any competition as the one that scores the most goals.

In this century, it was like this in the World Cups of 2002 (Korea/Japan), 2006 (Germany) and South Africa (2010).

In the Asian World Cup, players who wore the number 9 shirt (Ronaldo Fenômeno in front) scored 31 times, followed by those who wore the number 11 (21). In the German tournament, the number 9 scored 21 goals, once again surpassing those wearing the number 11, the closest pursuer (18 goals).

In the African Cup, shirt number 9 triumphed again, only this time with a minimal difference: 21 goals, against 20 for shirt number 11 and 19 for the emblematic shirt that finally decided to appear, number 10.

Worn throughout history by spectacular stars such as Pelé, Maradona, Zidane, Puskás, Ronaldinho Gaúcho, Baggio and Platini, the hugely popular number 10 shirt was discreet in the first two World Cups of the current century, with 15 and 12 goals, respectively.

He improved well in the 2010 tournament (19 goals) and reacted for good in the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, leaving the number 9 and 11 and their respective top scorers behind.

In Brazil, eight years ago, athletes who wore the number 10 shirt (James Rodríguez, Messi, Benzema and Neymar among them) scored 29 goals, six more than those identified with the immediately preceding number.

In Russia, four years ago, shirt number 10 was again the champion of goals (25), followed by number 9 and number 7 (both 16 goals).

This time, however, 9 decided to resurface with force. With 60 of the 64 games played in Qatar, it leads, in a close dispute, the list of top scorers, with 26 goals, just two more than number 10, its main opponent.

Can 9 stay ahead of 10 until the end?

It seems difficult, since their biggest hope for goals is the strong Giroud, owner of great opportunism despite his lack of technique. The Croatian Kramaric has two goals, scored in the 4-1 defeat in Canada, in the already distant group stage, and nothing else.

The Argentine 9 is Julian Álvarez, also two goals, who won the starting position that was Lautaro Marínez during the Cup. The Moroccan number 9, Hamdallah, is a substitute and almost didn’t play in the World Cup.

The scenario is encouraging for shirt number 10 to win the third championship in the “shirt championship”.

He uses the number, in addition to the exceptional Messi and Mbappé, the Croatian Modric, official penalty taker for his country’s national team.

The Moroccan number 10, Zaroury, zero minutes of the Cup so far, should only play if the Africans lose to France in the semifinal, leaving the dispute for third place, when the substitutes have a chance.

It is good to clarify that this is an unofficial dispute, about which possibly no one has spoken or written to this day, and it has no importance, but I think it is interesting and playful to expose which shirts have been the top scorers in World Cups.

Below, the top 5 World Cups from 2002 to 2018 and the complete list of this year’s.

South Korea/Japan-2002

1. shirt 9 – 31 goals
2. Shirt 11 – 21 goals
3. Shirt 10 – 15 goals
4. Shirt 7 – 14 goals
5. Shirt 19 – 10 goals

Germany-2006

1. shirt 9 – 21 goals
2. Shirt 11 – 18 goals
3. Shirts 7 and 10 – 12 goals
4. Shirts 4, 19 and 21 – 9 goals
5. Shirt 20 – 8 goals

South Africa-2010

1. shirt 9 – 21 goals
2. Shirt 11 – 20 goals
3. Shirt 10 – 19 goals
4. Shirt 7 – 12 goals
5. Shirt 14 – 8 goals

Brazil-2014

1. shirt 10 – 29 goals
2. Shirt 9 – 23 goals
3. Shirt 13 – 14 goals
4. Shirt 11 – 13 goals
5. Shirts 7 and 18 – 10 goals

Russia-2018

1. shirt 10 – 25 goals
2. Shirts 7 and 9 – 16 goals
3. Shirt 19 – 11 goals
4. Shirt 11 – 9 goals
5. Shirt 4 – 8 goals

Qatar-2022 (before the semifinals)

1. Shirt 9 – 26 goals
2. Shirt 10 – 24 goals
3. Shirt 7 – 13 goals
4. Shirt 8 – 11 goals
5. Shirt 11 – 10 goals
6. Shirts 19 and 20 – 9 goals
7. Shirts 17 and 21 – 6 goals
8. Shirt 23 – 5 goals
9. Shirts 5*, 13, 14, 15 and 26 – 4 goals
10. Shirts 3, 4, 18 and 24* – 3 goals
11. Shirts 6 and 22 – 2 goals
12. Shirts 2, 16 and 25 – 1 goal
13. Shirts 1 and 12 – 0 goal

_{*One of the goals was against}