After what has been a sensational World Cup group stage full of surprise twists, it’s time to focus on the knockouts. Plenty of familiar faces have reached the round of 16, including reigning champions USA, European title holders England, and tournament powerhouses Japan.
There are some history-makers joining them as well — Jamaica, South Africa, and Morocco have all reached the knockout rounds for the first time ever. We’ve also seen some shock early exits as two-time champions Germany, Olympic gold medallists Canada, and the iconic Brazil are headed home after failing to qualify.
What a ride it’s been already and we’re only just getting started. So before the World Cup action kicks up a notch, let’s take a look at who are the top scorers so far in the tournament.
Who are the top goal scorers at the 2023 World Cup?
Hinata Miyazawa — Japan (4)
Japan are on fire right now and many are backing them to go the whole way. As champions in 2011 and runners-up in 2015, the Japanese are no strangers to dominating on the world stage. This year, they are certainly in the conversation to snatch the trophy and Hinata Miyazawa is currently leading the scoring board.
The 23-year-old midfielder has found the back of the net four times so far — a brace against both Zambia and Spain. Miyazawa is one of the two current top scorers in the World Cup so far.
Alexandra Popp — Germany (4)
Germany may be out but Alex Popp enjoyed a stellar personal performance, as expected. The captain is the joint-highest scorer of the tournament so far, having bagged in all three group stage matches.
Lauren James — England (3)
Lauren James is on fire for the Lionesses right now and a lot of eyes are on her as England prepare to take on Nigeria. She opened up her World Cup portfolio against Denmark before striking two scorchers against China to secure her side’s place in the knockouts.
Embed from Getty ImagesAry Borges — Brazil (3)
Ary Borges kicked off her maiden World Cup campaign with a stunning display against Panama. The 23-year-old bagged the first hat-trick of the tournament to make it a personal performance to remember. Sadly, Brazil were handed an early exit. But Borges will have a campaign to look back at and be proud of.
Kadidiatou Diani — France (3)
Lyon’s newest signing also bagged herself a hat-trick during the highest-scoring game of the tournament. A whopping nine goals were thrown onto the scoresheet as Panama gave France a good battle before eventually bowing out of the competition. Diani scored twice from the spot and another from open play.
Embed from Getty ImagesSophie Haug — Norway (3)
Norway struggled to get off the mark at first, failing to score in their first two World Cup matches. However, the floodgates opened against the Philippines in a 6-0 win, with Sophie Román Haug scoring three of the goals.
Amanda Ilestedt — Sweden (3)
Amanda Ilestedt opened her account when she scored a 90th-minute winner for Sweden in their opener against South Africa. She followed up with a brace during her side’s 5-0 thrashing of Italy in their second match.
Jill Roord — Netherlands (3)
Jill Roord is the last of the players who have scored three goals so far this World Cup. She got off the mark with a big opening strike against the USA, before notching a brace in the Netherlands’ hefty 7-0 win over Vietnam to round off their group stage run.
