Soccer
World Cup stories: Michael Owen names his top three forwards ahead of the tournament
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Michael Owen has named his three favourites to win the Golden Boot award at this summer's FIFA World Cup, and none of the names should come as a surprise.
Owen, who scored at two World Cups during a glittering playing career that included winning the 2001 Ballon d'Or, believes a fellow England international is among the top three forwards heading into the tournament, to be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
"I would say Harry Kane for sure," said Owen, who now represents Casino.org, a leading platform helping players find UK casino brands. "I think he is having another brilliant season for Bayern Munich, has played well for England in their qualifying and will be leading the line for England at the World Cup, coming in with great form and confidence.
"He is our talisman and he is up there for sure."
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The retired Three Lions legend also included two La Liga-based stars in his top trio, one of whom will be going for back-to-back top goal scorer honours after topping the charts at Qatar 2022.
"Second I would say is Kylian Mbappé, he will be France's main striker as they look to go one better than runner-up from the last World Cup. He is set to light up this year's World Cup for sure.
"And if I can put him as a forward, then [Lamine] Yamal from Spain I am very excited about watching on the world stage, for sure. He impresses me when I watch him and for Spain, he will be a huge threat."
While Owen believes Kane, Mbappé and Yamal are the leading candidates to score the most goals in North America, he hasn't ruled out another player making a name for himself by filling the nets. The former Liverpool and Real Madrid man believes the larger field of teams in this year's tournament creates an opportunity for a relatively unknown player to step up.
"With the extra games now in the tournament, you can definitely see a unexpected wild card player [or] striker who has not well known to us in Europe to win the Golden Boot for sure," he said. "The format is different, so it is possible than a player can score enough goals to win it.
"A player not mentioned about is [Erling] Haaland, so we know him from the Premier League, so he will be playing in his first World Cup so could be one to watch."
Owen's Ballon d'Or from 25 years ago was the last to be won by an English player, but he backs Kane to be in the conversation for the next edition of the award after a dominant campaign for club and country — especially if the Bayern Munich striker is among the top scorers this summer.
"He sure is going to go close, I think, and has had another brilliant year for Bayern Munich," Owen said. "Scored goals for fun and another Bundesliga title.
"Then for England, he continues to break records as the leading goal scorer, and with Champions League a possibility for him to win, plus another good tally of goals in the World Cup, he could well win this, which would round off a brilliant year for him for sure."
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