The start of the European Championship is approaching, the football temperature is rising. Next month, Germany will be the epicenter of the best football - the new, 17th edition of the continental championship starts on Friday.
The title is defended by Italy, and Germany, England, France, Spain, Portugal will try to dethrone it... The best European selections in one place guarantee excellent football, and in order to fulfill expectations, world-class strikers must also do their job - because football is played and watched for goals.
And when it comes to strikers, it will be interesting to see who ends up being the top scorer in the competition. The race for the Golden Boot of the European Championship is sometimes as interesting as the race for the title.
There are many candidates, among them are some of the best strikers today. The trophy is being defended by Cristiano Ronaldo and Patrik Schick, who each scored five times at the previous Euro. Apart from them, other footballers will compete for the Golden Boot.
HARRY KANE
The captain of England did very well last season in the Bayern jersey, where he arrived from Tottenham. He did not crown the season with a title, but he scored 32 goals in 36 matches in the Bundesliga, which is the best debut performance of a football player in the strongest German championship. Also, last season, Kane scored eight goals more than any other footballer from the "league of five". He also broke the record in the Champions League - he had eight goals and four assists, which is the best performance of an English player in this competition.
Kane arrives at the Euro as the best goalscorer in the history of the English national team (63 goals) and the player with the most goals in the biggest competitions (12). During the qualifiers for the upcoming European Championship, he scored a goal or assisted in every match in which he was a starter.
England will play against Serbia at the start (Sunday, 21:XNUMX), while the rivals in the group are Slovenia and Denmark - it was against the Danes three years ago that Kane scored the goal that launched "Albion" into the final.
KILIAN MBAPE
Mbappe became a Real Madrid player, which finally ended a soap opera, so the 25-year-old superstar can now devote himself to representative duties.
Interestingly, Mbappe did not score a goal at the previous European Championship. He played four games, and the French were eliminated by Switzerland in the round of 2022. However, he shone at the World Cup in Qatar XNUMX - he scored eight goals, led the "tricolors" to the final, so it is expected to be the same this summer in Germany.
Mbappe played the last season in Paris Saint-Germain as expected - he scored 47 goals in 44 games in all competitions. A number that encourages French fans before the matches with Austria, the Netherlands and Poland in the group, and then possibly later in the knockout phase.
In the qualifiers for Euro Mbappe scored nine goals in eight matches. Kylian is not the only star of France and coach Didier Deschamps' only asset. Ali is certainly the biggest star.
ROMEL LUKAK
The Roma forward scored 115 goals in 85 games for the national team, which makes him the best scorer in the history of the Belgian national team. Out of those 85 goals, Lukaku scored 11 in the biggest competitions, but there is no need to talk about how much he struggled at the World Cup in Qatar and how many chances he missed in the match against Croatia when Belgium ended their appearance at the championship. Also in his career he scored only two goals in the knockout phase for the national team in major competitions.
He was the scorer 14 times in the qualifiers for the Euro, so he broke the record for the number of goals in one qualifying cycle. He scored goals every 39 minutes, which gives the fans of the "devils" cause for optimism before the matches in the group with Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine.
CRISTIANO RONALDO
The top scorer of the previous Euro with five goals and the top scorer in the history of continental championships - the Al-Nasra forward scored 14 goals in five championships. He played 25 games, assisted six times, and scored at least one goal in each of the five championships he played in. The championship in Germany will be his sixth in the national team jersey.
Since moving from Manchester United to Al-Nasr, many have questioned Ronaldo's game. Although he no longer plays in top European clubs, the Portuguese is in goal-scoring form, and last season he scored 35 goals in the Saudi Arabian league and broke the record for the number of goals scored in one season in this championship.
He scored 10 goals in the Euro qualifiers. Portugal is in a group with Turkey, the Czech Republic and Georgia, so Ronaldo has a chance to improve his record at the continental championships.
PATRICK SHICK
The representative of the Czech Republic marked the previous European Championship - along with Ronaldo, he was the top scorer (5), and his goal from the center against Scotland in the group stage is remembered.
In the jersey of the national team, he scored 38 goals in 19 matches. Along with Milan Baroš, he is the best scorer of the Czech Republic at the European championships. But Baroš played twice as many games (10 versus five).
Schik comes to the tournament after a great season with Bayer Leverkusen, with whom he won the Bundesliga and the German Cup, and reached the Europa League final. The attacker had problems with injuries during the season, but scored 33 goals in 13 games. And he was a starter in only 18 matches.
ALVARO MORATA
In the previous season, Morata scored 27 goals in 15 games in La Liga. With this, the Atletico Madrid striker equaled his own record from the 2016/2017 season for the number of goals in one season. Then, as a member of Real, he scored 15 times in La Liga.
During his career, Morata played 10 games in European championships. With Thierry Henry, Patrik Kluivert, Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimović, he is in fifth place on the all-time list of Euro scorers with six goals each.
Along with Hoselu, he was the best scorer of the "fury" in the qualifiers (4 goals each). Spain is in a group with Albania, Croatia and Italy.
ĐANLUKA SKAMAK
In 16 games in the Italian jersey, Skamaka scored only one goal, but analysts believe that the "Azure" striker could join the race for the best scorer at the Euro.
In the previous season, in the Atalanta jersey, he scored 19 goals, and ended the season by winning the Europa League, so he comes to Germany with a lot of confidence.
RASMUS HOYLUND
In the qualifiers for the European Championship, Hojlund scored seven goals. He shot 23 times towards the goal, and 13 times into the frame of the goal, which is the best performance in the qualifications in the Danish selection.
He had a bad start to the season at Manchester United, and then in the period from December to February, he was the scorer in six matches in a row in the Premier League. He was also the scorer in the last two matches of the season in the Premier League, so if he manages to keep that form then he could be involved in the race for the best scorer at the Euros.
Bonus video:
