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The FIFA World Cup is the most prestigious tournament in the game of football. The best players around the world battle it out for honors in their national colors every four years.
Ever since its introduction in 1930, the World Cup has grown to become a global festival and winning it ranks high on the to-do list of world-class players.
However, not everybody has been able to step up to the plate on the biggest stage. Oftentimes, an iconic display at the World Cup could be the difference between enjoying a legendary ranking post-retirement or not.
Throughout the World Cup's near 100-year history, some players have stamped their authority and written their names into football's hall of fame.
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One of the most prestigious individual accolades at the FIFA World Cup is the Golden Boot given to the highest goalscorer in the tournament.
The award was officially handed out for the first time in 1982. Since then, some of the most legendary forwards to grace the game have won the award.
Notable Golden Boot winners like Ronaldo Nazario, Harry Kane and Miroslav Klose are considered to be among the best strikers of their generation. Hence, their top-scorer gongs were not entirely surprising.
However, there are some other players who unexpectedly finished as the highest goalscorer at the FIFA World Cup owing to their low profile or playing in a deeper position.
Here are the five most unexpected Golden Boot winners at the FIFA World Cup .
#5 Davor Suker (Croatia) - 1998
Davor Suker proved himself at a young age in La Liga with Sevilla and Real Madrid and had a high profile heading into the 1998 World Cup.
However, few would have backed the then 30-year-old to make a mark in France. For starters, he was the talisman of a Croatian side that were making their maiden appearance at the World Cup since gaining independence.
Despite having some talented players, they were not expected to make much of an impact at the World Cup. Croatia, however, tore the pre-tournament odds to shreds in an eventual third-place finish.
Suker was the star of the show. He scored six goals in seven games, scoring in every match Croatia found the back of the net.
They won the hearts of fans the world over with their underdog story at France '98.
Davor Suker was the unexpected winner of the Golden Boot at the 1998 World Cup and also won the Silver Ball as the tournament's second best player behind Ronaldo Nazario.
#4 Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria) - 1994
Like Davor Suker, including Hristo Stoichkov's name as a surprise winner of the World Cup Golden Boot is not necessarily an indictment of his ability but a function of the team he represented.
Stoichkov was one of the stars at the 1994 World Cup and guided an unfancied Bulgaria to a shock semifinal appearance.
For his efforts, he was named the Bronze Ball winner and was also the joint top goalscorer alongside Oleg Salenko (more on him later) with six goals from seven games.
He outscored some truly great forwards at the tournament like Gabriel Batistuta, Romario, Roberto Baggio and Bebeto. This saw him win the Ballon d'Or in 1994.
The highly tempestuous Stoichkov is regarded as one of the greatest players in Barcelona's history. He was a key member of the famed 'dream team' under Johan Cruyff.
He was adept at taking set-pieces and also highly technical, although his frequent disciplinary issues sometimes took the shine off his abilities on the field.
#3 Salvatore Schillaci (Italy) - 1990
Salvatore Schillaci was the surprise star of the 1990 World Cup on home soil with Italy. He only made his international debut a few months before the commencement of the tournament and was a surprise addition to the squad.
Schillaci started Italy's first game of the tournament on the bench. He replaced Andrea Carnevale and scored the game-winner in a 1-0 victory over Austria.
From the third match onward, Schillaci was a guaranteed starter for his nation and his partnership in attack with Roberto Baggio proved to be effective.
In total, the then Juventus star scored six goals from seven matches to win the Golden Boot. He was also named the Player of the Tournament, ahead of proven players like Lothar Matthäus and Diego Maradona.
He also finished second in the Ballon d'Or voting behind the German star. However, the 1990 World Cup proved to be the peak of Salvatore Schillaci's career and he failed to hit the same heights again.
He scored just seven goals in 16 matches for Italy, with six of them coming in that magical tournament on home soil.
#2 James Rodriguez (Colombia) - 2014
Unlike the other names on this list, James Rodriguez is not a traditional forward, instead concerning himself with the creation of goals from his attacking midfield position.
The Colombia international entered the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil with a relatively modest profile. He was just 22-year-old and had just finished his maiden season with Monaco after four years with Porto.
Radamel Falcao's absence through injury put extra pressure on James Rodriguez's young shoulders but he discharged his duties well enough to make a mark on the tournament.
Despite his undoubted potential, it would have taken a brave punter to bet on Rodriguez to finish as the 2014 FIFA World Cup's highest goalscorer.
For starters, there were bonafide world-class forwards like Lionel Messi, Neymar, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo present in the tournament. Furthermore, Rodriguez's position as a midfielder was also a detracting factor while Colombia's modest pedigree also weighed against him.
However, the Cucuta native defied all expectations and put out one of the all-time great individual performances to guide his nation to the quarterfinal for the first time in their history.
He started the tournament with a bang, scoring three goals and providing five group stage assists to help his nation top their group. He continued his fine form by scoring both goals in the round-of-16 victory over Uruguay.
The opening goal was an exquisite volley that was voted as the goal of the tournament and also won the 2014 Puskas award.
James Rodriguez's tournament came to an end in a 2-1 defeat to Brazil in the quarterfinal. He, however, signed off with a goal in the loss, bringing his tally to six goals from just five matches, scoring in all five games.
For his efforts, Rodriguez earned a mega move to Real Madrid that summer, although his career has not hit the trajectory that many predicted.
#1 Oleg Salenko (Russia) - 1994
Oleg Salenko was the joint-winner of the 1994 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot and odds are that the majority of the people reading this piece have never heard of him.
Salenko incredibly represented three nations in his career. He started off with the USSR Under-20 team (finishing as the top scorer at the 1989 World Youth Championship). A cap was also earned for Ukraine in the country's first international fixture following the breakup of the former Soviet Republic.
He teamed up with Russia at the 1994 World Cup where he finished as the tournament's joint-top scorer alongside Hristo Stoichkov. His tally was boosted massively when he became the first man to score five goals in a single World Cup game.
This piece of history was created when Russia defeated Cameroon 6-1 in a deadrubber group stage game, with Salenko scoring five of the goals.
That happened to be Salenko's last game on the international stage and brought his World Cup total to six goals.
He made history as the first man to win the FIFA World Cup Golden Boot with a team that was eliminated at the group stage and is the only man to win a Golden Boot at the Under-20 World Cup and FIFA World Cup.
Also See: Six greatest players who never received an international cap
