FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017: Top 5 scorers in the history of the tournament

#2. Souleymane Coulibaly- 9 goals in 4 matches

Ivory Coast's Souleymane Coulibaly has the best goals to matches ratio than any top scorer of the FIFA U-17 World Cup

At the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, Ivorian footballer Souleymane Coulibaly produced one of the finest individual performances at any U-17 World Cup by scoring 9 goals in just 4 matches. Coulibaly scored 90% of Ivory Coast’s goals at the tournament. He scored all of their group goals including four goals in a 4-2 win over Denmark and a much-needed hat-trick in a 3-3 draw against Brazil which helped the Ivorians automatically qualify for the round of 16.

In the round of 16, Ivory Coast squandered a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 to France where the striker scored the opening goal of the match. Despite Ivory Coast’s exit, Coulibaly won the Golden Boot. This is the only instance in the 24-team format of the tournament that the Golden Boot winner is from a team which got eliminated in the round of 16. It’s only the fourth instance in the history of the FIFA U-17 World Cup that the Golden Boot winner is from a team that got eliminated in the first knockout stage of the competition, the other two instances being Brazil’s Adriano in 1991, Australia’s Daniel Allsopp in 1995, and Portugal’s Manuel Curto in 2003.

Coulibaly’s performance in the tournament led to top clubs like Real Madrid and Manchester United wanting to sign him in their youth teams. He was eventually signed by Tottenham Hotspur.