FIFA Golden Boot RACE – FIFA WC Top Scorers LIST: The intensely competitive fight for the 2022 World Cup Golden Boot is in full swing.
Some of the game’s sharpest goal scorers are showcasing their talent on the World’s Grandest Stage.
Kylian Mbappe currently leads the charts with five goals. Lionel Messi, Richarlison, and Alvaro Morata have scored three goals each. With hattrick against Switzerland, Cristiano Ronaldo replacement Goncalo Ramos made his way to the top scorers list.
1. Kylian Mbappe | France | 5 goals
Mbappe is emerging as France’s talisman at this year’s World Cup. He was France’s chief tormentor during Les Bleus’ opening two group games, having opened his account in a 4-1 victory over Australia before bagging a match-winning brace against Denmark.
The PSG forward then banged in another brace as France put Poland to the sword with a 3-1 victory in the round of 16.
Needless to say, France’s megastar has his eyes firmly set on scooping the highly sought after prize that is the World Cup Golden Boot.
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2. Goncalo Ramos | Portugal | 3 goals
Cristiano Ronaldo replacement and Benfica wonderkid, Goncalo Ramos announced himself to the world by scoring the first hat-trick of the FIFA World Cup 2022 as Portugal annihilated Switzerland 6-1 on Tuesday to power into the quarter-finals.
First, he dispatched a venomous strike into the top left corner. He received a pass from Joao Felix, took a touch to turn, and let fly. He then tapped home a classic centre-forward’s goal at the near post, before completing his hat-trick with a clever stab over the goalkeeper.
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3. Lionel Messi | Argentina | 3 goals
Lionel Messi opened his World Cup account with a well taken-penalty against Saudi Arabia, however, it wasn’t enough to prevent them from suffering a surprise defeat in their opening game.
And it had to be him to dig Argentina out of a hole against a dogged Mexico side in a do-or-die clash, as Messi breaks the deadlock with a beautiful goal outside the box.
The Argentine international bagged his country’s opening goal in the encounter against Australia. Messi’s love affair with goals continued in Qatar scoring his 3rd goal in his 1000th appearence.
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4. Alvaro Morata | Spain | 3 goals
Morata scored 1 goal in Spain’s rout of Costa Rica in their opening fixture, which he followed with an important goal off-the bench against Germany, flicking Jordi Alba’s cross past Manuel Neuer. He found his 3rd goal of the tournament against Japan with a header off Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross.
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5. Enner Valencia | Ecuador | 3 goals
Enner Valencia opened his account in this year’s World Cup with a brace against hosts Qatar, helping Ecuador to a 2-0 win. He could’ve had a hattrick if not for VAR overruling a goal.
He continued his impressive scoring run with a tap-in against the Netherlands to equalise for Ecuador immediately after the 1st half.
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6. Cody Gakpo| Netherlands | 3 goals
Gakpo scored a crucial header to help defeat Senegal 2-0 in Netherlands’ opening match. He followed it with an absolute stunner from his weak foot to open the scoring in the draw against Ecuador. The PSV forward scored for the third consecutive game to give his side the lead against Qatar with a well-placed finish in their 2-0 victory against the hosts.
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7. Bukayo Saka | England | 3 goals
Bukayo Saka opened his World Cup account in style with a brace against Iran. Two cracking finishes in each half from the winger helped England to a 6-2 victory in their opening match.
The Arsenal youngster smashed England’s third goal against Senegal to continue his hot streak in Qatar.
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8. Marcus Rashford | England | 3 goals
Rashford came off the bench to score a stunning solo goal in England’s 6-2 rout of Iran in their opening game of this World Cup.
Against Wales, Rashford scored a brace to help guide England to a 3-0 victory. The first of his two goals was the pick of the bunch, a thunderbolt of a free-kick (also the 1st direct free-kick of this tournament). His second was England’s 100th goal in their entire World Cup history.
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9. Olivier Giroud | France | 3 goals
Giroud’s brace against Australia helped France to victory in their opening match. He is also now the country’s joint-top goalscorer along with Thierry Henry and could overtake the former Arsenal player to make history soon.
The AC Milan striker opens the scoring against Poland in the Round of 16 with a sweet finish into the bottom corner to become France’s all-time record goalscorer.
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10. Richarlison | Brazil | 3 goals
Richarlison started as the number 9 in Brazil’s four-man attack, but couldn’t impose himself in the game as much, thanks to the resilience of the Serbian defence. However, his goal off the rebound off the Serbian keeper after Vini. Jr’s goal put the Brazilians 1-0 ahead in the game.
For his second goal, it was a ridiculous strike as he controlled Vini Jr’s ball into the box mid-air and struck a powerful overhead kick to power Brazil to a 2-0 lead.
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11. Robert Lewandowski | Poland | 2 goals
Lewandowki broke his World Cup duck in the group stage game against Saudi Arabia and scored a consolation goal for Poland after stoppage time drama in the Round of 16 but it was all France on the big night as his side were heftly beaten 3-1.
12. Rafael Leao | Portugal | 2 goals
Rafael Leao has played an impact-sub role for Portugal at the World Cup. He opened his account with a superbly-taken goal in Portugal’s thrilling 3-2 win over Ghana in their group opener.
The AC Milan’s jet-heeled winger bagged his second goal of the tournament with another sumptuous finish to cap off Portugal’s resounding 6-1 victory over Switzerland in the round of 16.
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13. Bruno Fernandes | Portugal | 2 goals
Fernandes has been an integral player for Portugal at this year’s World Cup. He was brilliant in Portugal’s 3-2 triumph over Ghana, registering two assists.
He then followed it up with another effective display against Uruguay, where his brilliant goal-bound cross went straight into the back of the net to open the scoring, before sending the keeper the wrong way with his classic hop from the penalty spot to fire Portugal into the last 16 of the World Cup.
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14. Kai Havertz | Germany | 2 goals
Kai Havertz came off the bench against Costa Rica and pulled them out of a rut by scoring the second and the third goals for the team after they were trailing 2-1 in a do-or-die game.
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15. Niklas Füllkrug | Germany | 2 goals
Niklas Füllkrug chose the perfect moment to score his first ever goal for Germany as he equalised against Spain, while he got his second international goal against Costa Rica to increase the lead to two goals.
16. Ferran Torres | Spain | 2 goals
Spanish forward Ferran Torres bagged himself a brace in a clinical win in their opening fixture. Torres was in exceptional form in Spain’s opening encounter as he netted a penalty and then scored a brilliant goal to take his goal-scoring tally to 2.
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17. Mehdi Taremi | Iran | 2 goals
While Iran couldn’t do much against England’s domination, their frontman Taremi managed to get a brace against 2018’s semi-finalists. A rousing finish off the cross-bar and a penalty helped the striker reduce the deficit marginally.
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18. Aleksandar Mitrović | Serbia | 2 goals
The all time leading goalscorer for Serbia scored a goal in a 3-3 draw against Cameroon before scoring his second goal for the tournament against Switzerland. That goal helped the Serbians equalize minutes after Xherdan Shaqiri opened the scoring.
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19. Breel Embolo | Switzerland | 2 goals
Breel Embolo was one of the players on the scoresheet in Switzerland’s 1-0 against Cameroon. He then helped his side level the score against Serbia in the final group game.
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20. Ritsu Doan | Japan | 2 goals
Japan’s Ritsu Doan was one of the scorers in one of the shocks of the 2022 World Cup as the Samurai Blue defeated Germany 2-1. Doan once again came up clutch in a big game to equalise against Spain in the final group game.
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21. Andrej Kramaric | Croatia | 2 goals
Kramarić scored two well-taken goals in either half against Canada to help Croatia win 4-1, thereby bringing them closer to securing qualification to the Round of 16 and topping their group.
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22. Cho Gue-sung | South Korea | 2 goals
Cho Gue-sung scored a quickfire brace for Korea in the second half to bring them level against Ghana on the second matchday, however, it wasn’t enough as Ghana scored immediately after and won the match.
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23. Mohammed Kudus | Ghana | 2 goals
Mohammed Kudus doubled Ghana’s lead against Korea in the 34th minute on second matchday, giving them a two goal cushion in the first half. He then went on to score the go ahead goal in the second half following a spirited comeback from Korea.
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24. Salem Al-Dawsari | Saudi Arabia | 2 goals
Al-Dawsari scored a stunning goal against Argentina to help Saudi Arabia come back and shock everyone with a 2-1 win. He followed it with a well-taken finish to reduce the deficit against Mexico, which didn’t mean much for his side but ruined the Mexicans’ hopes of qualifying past the group stage.
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25. Vincent Aboubakar | Cameroon | 2 goals
Aboubakar opened his world cup account with a brilliant chip against Serbia to help Cameroon come back from 2 goals down to draw. He followed it with an excellent header in injury-time against Brazil.
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26. Giorgian de Arrascaeta | Uruguay | 2 goals
De Arrascaeta scored Uruguay’s first goal of the World Cup with a tap-in to give them a crucial lead against Ghana. He then finished Luis Suarez’s excellent flick with a well-taken volley to double their lead.
27. Julián Álvarez | Argentina | 2 goals
Young Manchester City forward scored his first World Cup goal in a must win game against Poland.A cracking finish from Álvarez into the top corner helped Argentina secure the win and qualification to the next round.
The youngster bagged his second World Cup goal in the round of 16 match against Australia. He doubled La ALbiceleste’s lead to give them a cushion in the knockout match.
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28. Pepe, Raphael Guerreiro | Portugal | 1 goal
39-year-old Portuguese skipper, Pepe, rippled the net with a thumping header from a Bruno Fernandes corner in their hefty round of 16 victory against Switzerland. With that goal, he became the oldest player to score in knockout rounds of FIFA World Cup finals history.
Raphael Guerreiro hammered home Portugal’s fourth goal in the same game with a well-struck pile-driver into the roof of the net.
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29. Manuel Akanji | Switzerland | 1 goal
Akanji sneaked in at the far post to pull one back for the Swiss in their disappointing 6-1 round of 16 defeat at the hands of Portugal.
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30. Casemiro, Neymar, Vinicius Jr, Lucas Paqueta | Brazil | 1 goal
Casemiro unleashed a fine half-volley into the far corner to score a late match-winning goal against Switzerland to book his country an early ticket to the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup after a resilient Swiss defence made the Selecao work hard for three points in Doha.Vinicius Junior opened the scoring against South Korea in the round of 16. Neymar doubled the lead before half-time, moving to just a goal away from being Brazil’s all time top goalscorer. West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta gave Brazil a four goal advantage before half-time against South Korea. - Getty
31. Kim Young-gwon, Hwang Hee-chan, Paik Seung-ho | South Korea | 1 goal
Young-gwon exploited Portugal’s failure to clear a corner to volley in a crucial equaliser for South Korea on matchday 3.
Hee-chan excellently slotted Son Heung-min’sthrough ball into the net to give South Korea a crucial lead against Portugal.
Paik Seung-ho scored against Brazil in the round of 16 tie and cut South Korea’s deficit to 3 in the 76th minute.
32Daizen Maeda | Japan | 1 goal
Maeda bundled home from close range to put Japan 1-0 ahead in their last-16 tie against Croatia just before halftime, after a well-worked short corner routine dropped perfectly for him. Unfortunately, the Asian side couldn’t hold onto the lead, and ended up losing 3-1 on penalties.
33. Ivan Perisic | Croatia | 1 goal
Perisic powered a smart header into the bottom corner from a sensational Dejan Lovren cross to level things up at 1-1 in their round of 16 tie against Japan. That goal proved crucial as Croatia advanced into the quarter-finals on penalties.
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34. Davy Klaassen, Frenkie de Jong, Memphis Depay, Daley Blind, Denzel Dumfries | Netherlands | 1 goal
Davy Klaassen scored immediately after coming on against Senegal in Netherlands’ opening match to help guide the Dutch to victory.
De Jong doubled the Netherlands’ lead against hosts Qatar by scoring off a rebound from point-blank range and securing the win for them.
Depay opened his account at the FIFA World Cup 2022 with a goal against USA in the round of 16, becoming Netherlands’ second all time top goalscorer in the process.
Blind doubled the lead for Netherlands against USA with a late goal in the first half. Dumfries helped the Dutch restore the two goal cushion against USA in the round of 16 with a late strike.
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35. Timothy Weah, Christian Pulisic, Hagi Wright | USA | 1 goal
Weah took 36 minutes to score against Wales in USA’s first World Cup game since 2014, therefore achieving something his father the great George Weah couldn’t in his entire international career.
Pulisic opened the scoring for USA against Iran on the final matchday, scoring his first World Cup goal and 22nd overall for the Americans.
Hagi Wright scored for the USA in the round of 16 against Netherlands, cutting the deficit in half in 76th minute.
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36. Boulaye Dia, Famara Diedhiou, Bamba Dieng, Ismaila Sarr, Koulidou Koulibaly | Senegal | 1 goal
Dia, Diedhiou and Dieng each scored a goal to help Senegal secure a hard-fought 3-1 win against World Cup hosts Qatar, thereby improving their chances of qualifying to the next stage of the game.
Sarr scored from the spot against Ecuador in a crunch tie on matchday 3 to give Senegal the lead. Koulibaly scored the go-ahead goal for Senegal against Ecuador in the 70th minute, to help them qualify for the next round of games.
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37. Moises Caicedo | Ecuador | 1 goal
Moises Caicedo scored the equalizer against Senegal in the decisive fixture on matchday 3 in the 67th minute, continuing his brilliant form. However, it wasn’t enough as the Senegalese scored the match-winning goal soon after, thereby eliminating his side from the World Cup.
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38. Piotr Zielinski | 1 goal | Poland
Zieliński scored Poland’s first goal at the FIFA World Cup 2022, opening the scoring against Saudi Arabia in the 39th minute.
Robert Lewandowski doubled Poland’s lead against Saudi Arabia, opening his tally for the current World Cup.
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39. Alphonso Davies | Canada | 1 goal
It had to be him to score Canada’s first ever goal in World Cup finals. Davies scored with a power header from close-range to give the Canadian’s a dream start against Croatia, but the Maple Leafs couldn’t hold on, and collapsed to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of experienced Croats.
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40. Cristiano Ronaldo, João Félix, Ricardo Horta | Portugal | 1 goal
The leading men’s all-time goalscorer scored his 118th goal for Portugal after scoring a second-half penalty, following a foul on him in the penalty box, therefore also becoming the first player to score in 5 World Cups. João Félix and Rafael Leão followed with two important goals to help the Portuguese all the way through against Ghana.
Horta opened the scoring in Portugal’s final group match against South Korea, finishing Diogo Dalot’s cutback from 6 yards.
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41. André Ayew, Osman Bukari, Mohammed Salisu | Ghana | 1 goal
Ghana captain André Ayew’s 24th international goal in his 110th appearance and Osman Bukari’s late strike weren’t enough to help the African side get something out of their game against Portugal.
Mohammed Salisu opened the scoring for Ghana in their 3-2 victory over South Korea on the second matchday.
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42. Jack Grealish, Jude Bellingham, Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden, Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane | England | 1 goal
While Bukayo Saka stole the headlines with a brace, Bellingham, Sterling, and Grealish, each scored a goal apiece in England’s 6-2 rout of Iran in their World Cup opener, the latter two coming off the bench to do so.
Phil Foden opened his World Cup account mere seconds after Rashford’s goal to double England’s lead in their 3-0 victory over Wales.
Jordan Henderson opened England’s account in the round of 16 fixture against Senegal with a composed finish to find the back of the net.
Harry Kane doubled the Three Lions’ advantage just at the stroke of half time to open his account in Qatar.
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43. Adrien Rabiot | France | 1 goal
Adrien Rabiot scored from a well-taken header as France came back from behind to win 4-1 against Australia in their World Cup opener.
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44. Craig Goodwin, Mitchell Duke, Matthew Leckie | Australia | 1 goal
Australia’s Craig Goodwin scored the fastest goal in this edition of the World Cup giving Australia a shocking lead against reigning champions France.
Mitchell Duke opened the scoring against Tunisia in Socceroos’ second group stage game at the FIFA World Cup 2022.
Matthew Leckie scored one of the most important goal in Australia’s history to help them defeat Denmark and make it to the Round of 16.
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45. Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio, Gavi, Carlos Soler | Spain | 1 goal
Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio, Pablo Gavi, and Carlos Soler each scored a goal in Spain’s 7-0 rout of Costa Rica. Gavi’s goal means he is the third youngest scorer in the tournament’s history.
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46. Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister | Argentina | 1 goal
The rising Benfica star curled in a spectacular second goal to ensure three points for Argentina in a make-or-break against Mexico. The Argentine sensation also became La Albiceleste youngest World Cup goal-scorer since Lionel Messi.
Mac Allister chose the perfect moment to score his first goal for Argentina, giving them a crucial lead against Poland immediately after the second half with a well-taken finish from a cutback.
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47. Andreas Christensen | Denmark | 1 goal
Christensen headed home from close range to bring Denmark level against France but his effort went it vain as the Danes’ fell to a 2-1 defeat.
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48. Saleh Al-Shehri | Saudi Arabia | 1 goal
Al-Shehri’s excellent finish helped Saudi Arabia do the unthinkable and defeat favourites Argentina by 2 goals to 1.
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49. Takuma Asano, Atumo Tanaka | Japan | 1 goal
Takuma Asano’s well-taken finish in the dying embers of the 2nd half helped the Japanese upset European giants Germany in their opening game.
Atumo Tanaka scored the go-ahead goal for Japan against Spain in an early 2nd-half rampage by the Samurai Blue.
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50. İlkay Gundogan, Serge Gnabry | Germany | 1 goal
Gündoğan, like Lionel Messi, gave his side the lead with a penalty against Japan. However, the Japanese came back to defeat Germany in the 2nd half.
Füllkrug chose the perfect moment to score his first ever goal for Germany as he equalised against Spain with a cracking finish in the 83rd minute.
Serge Gnabry fired Die Mannschaft ahead in the 10th minute against Costa Rica in a must-win game, with the assist coming from David Raum.
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51. Xherdan Shaqiri, Remo Freuler | Switzerland | 1 goal
Xherdan Shaqiri scored his first goal of this World Cup against Serbia in their most crucial game of the tournament yet, with a spot in the Round of 16 at stake. His goal gave the Swiss the lead.
Remo Freuler fired the Swiss ahead at the start of the second half following a slick team move, taking his team closer to securing a spot in the Round of 16.
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52. Gareth Bale | Wales | 1 goal
Gareth Bale is once again in the limelight after scoring a goal in Wales’ opener against USA to help them secure a point.
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53. Michy Batshuayi | Belgium | 1 goal
Batshuayi opened his and Belgium’s account at the Qatar World Cup with a thunderous finish helping them churn out a hard-fought victory against a well-drilled Canada.
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54. Roozbeh Chesmi, Ramin Rezaeian | Iran | 1 goal
Chesmi’s long-range piledriver and Rezaeian’s ice-cold chip in the dying minutes of injury time helped Iran secure an important win against 10-man Wales, giving them hope of qualifying to the Round of 16.
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55. Mohammed Muntari | Qatar | 1 goal
Muntari made history as he scored Qatar’s first-ever World Cup goal to temporarily reduce the deficit against Senegal 4 minutes after coming on as a substitute. However, he couldn’t prevent them from facing another loss.
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56. Keysher Fuller, Yeltsin Tejeda, Juan Pablo Vargas | Costa Rica | 1 goal
Keysher Fuller scored Costa Rica’s first goal at the FIFA World Cup 2022, opening the scoring against Japan in the 81st minute to secure an important win.
Yeltsin Tejeda scored Costa Rica’s only second goal of the tournament against Germany in a vital fixture to equalize against the 2014 champions.
Juan Pablo Vargas put Costa Rica ahead after getting the slightest of touches in what was a shambolic display by Germany inside their own area.
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57. Abdelhamid Sabiri, Zakaria Aboukhlal, Hakim Ziyech, Youssef En-Nesyri | Morocco | 1 goal
Abdelhamid Sabiri scored Morocco’s first goal at the FIFA World Cup 2022, opening the scoring against an underwhelming Belgium in the 73rd minute.
Zakaria Aboukhlal extended Morocco’s lead over Belgium in the added time to give Morocco a two goal cushion over the European side.
Hakim Ziyech scored the opening goal for the Atlas Lions in their fixture against Canada. The Chelsea forward capitalized on Canada’s defensive mistake to give his side a crucial lead.
Youssef En-Nesyri doubled Morocco’s lead against Canada with a thumping strike in the 23rd minute to give his side some breathing space.
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58. Marko Livaja, Lovro Majer | Croatia | 1 goal
Livaja and Majer both scored on either side of Andrej Kramarić’s to help Croatia finish their 4-1 rout of matchday 2 opponents Canada.
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59. Jean-Charles Castelletto, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting | Cameroon | 1 goal
Castelletto and Bayern Munich talisman Choupo-Moting were all part of the action in Cameroon’s stunning comeback against Serbia to draw 3-3
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60. Strahinja Pavlović, Sergej Milinković-Savić, Dusan Vlahović | Serbia | 1 goal
Pavlović and Milinkovic-Savic helped give Serbia a two-goal cushion against Cameroon, however, the African side came back to draw against them in the 2nd half.
Dusan Vlahović got his first start of the World Cup and scored the go-ahead goal for Serbia against Switzerland in a must-win game.
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61. Wahbi Khazri | Tunisia | 1 goal
Khazri exploited a defensive mistake to give Tunisia an important lead against France and more importantly hope for qualifying to the next round.
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62. Henry Martín, Luis Chávez | Mexico | 1 goal
Martín showed his impeccable poaching instincts to give Mexico an important lead against Saudi Arabia following a flick from a corner.
Chávez one-upped Marcus Rashford with an absolute beauty of a free kick into the far corner from 30 yards to bring Mexico closer to their qualification dreams, but sadly it was all in vain as Saudi Arabia pulled a goal back in injury-time.