Since its return in 2005, the FIFA Club World Cup has grown into a global showcase for the best football clubs across continents. Originally launched in 2000 and paused until 2005 due to the collapse of FIFA’s marketing partner, the tournament brings together champions from all six confederations—AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, and UEFA—plus one club from the host nation.
Now held every four years starting from 2025, the tournament has expanded to include 32 teams, following the same format as the FIFA World Cup. The 2025 edition in the United States marks the first in this new setup.
Over the years, several football stars have emerged as top scorers, leaving their mark on the tournament’s history. Here’s a complete breakdown of Golden Boot winners by year:
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2000: Nicolas Anelka (Real Madrid) and Romario (Vasco da Gama) – 3 goals
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2005: Amoroso, Peter Crouch, Mohammed Noor, Alvaro Saborio – 2 goals each
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2006: Mohamed Aboutrika (Al Ahly) – 3 goals
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2007: Washington (Urawa Red Diamonds) – 3 goals
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2008: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) – 3 goals
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2009: Denilson (Pohang Steelers) – 4 goals
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2010: Mauricio Molina (Seongnam) – 3 goals
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2011: Adriano and Lionel Messi – 2 goals each
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2012: Cesar Delgado (Monterrey) and Hisato Sato (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) – 3 goals
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2013: Cesar Delgado, Dario Conca, Ronaldinho, Mouhcine Iajour – 2 goals each
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2014: Gareth Bale, Sergio Ramos, Gerardo Torrado – 2 goals each
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2015: Luis Suárez (Barcelona) – 5 goals (tournament record)
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2016: Cristiano Ronaldo – 4 goals
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2017: Ronaldo, Mauricio Antonio, Romarinho – 2 goals each
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2018: Gareth Bale, Rafael Santos Borré – 3 goals
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2019: Baghdad Bounedjah, Hamdou Elhouni – 3 goals
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2020: André-Pierre Gignac – 3 goals
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2021: Romelu Lukaku, Yasser Ibrahim, Abdoulaye Diaby, Raphael Veiga – 2 goals each
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2023: Julian Alvarez, Karim Benzema, Ali Maaloul – 2 goals each
As for the all-time top scorers, Cristiano Ronaldo leads with 7 goals in 8 appearances. Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema are close behind with 6 goals. Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, and Cesar Delgado follow with 5 goals each, although Messi and Suárez have added one more goal each during the 2025 group stage, bumping their tallies to 6.
Other standout scorers with 4 goals include Pedro, Denilson, Salem Al-Dawsari, Tsukasa Shiotani, Mohamed Aboutrika, and Hussein El Shahat.
With the 2025 Club World Cup still ongoing, fans can expect more names to rise and possibly rewrite the record books in the weeks ahead.
