MOSCOW, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The 2018 FIFA World Cup looks to be one of the most open tournaments in years, with no clear favorite to lift the title in the Luzhniki Stadium on July 15th. Similarly, there is no obvious frontrunner to win the coveted Golden Boot award for the competition's top goalscorer.
2014 saw Colombia midfielder James Rodriguez scoop the crown with six goals in Brazil. This was despite the fact that his side failed to progress past the quarterfinals, and he probably would have scored even more if Colombia had reached the last four.
This highlights the basic fact that the further a country gets in Russia, the better chance one of their players has of winning the Golden Boot, and there are several clear candidates.
All eyes will be on Argentina's star man Lionel Messi as he seeks to win that elusive first major tournament with his country. Messi ended last season with 45 goals for FC Barcelona, but the 18 assists he provided show that he is more than just a goalscorer and that may count against his chances of winning the Golden Boot.
Argentina are blessed with a plethora of attacking stars, such as Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, Angel Di Maria and Paulo Dybala, meaning Messi may find himself dropping deeper to create chances for his teammates rather than scoring them himself. Should he be successful in doing this, Aguero or Higuain may be a better bet to be the tournament's top goalscorer.
Elsewhere, Brazil's talisman Neymar is fit after missing much of the second half of the season though injury, and as he showed in a recent friendly against Austria, he has the talent to score brilliant goals. He needs to put the disappointments of 2014 behind him and with Brazil expected to go a long way in Russia, Neymar has to be among the favorites for the Golden Boot, along with team-mate Gabriel Jesus, who also scored against Austria.
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo will carry the weight of Portugal's chances in Russia and as the leader of a largely defensive side, and his country's penalty taker, he too has a chance to be the World Cup's top scorer, although those hopes could be curtailed if his Portugal side fails to progress in the competition.
The same has to be said of England's Harry Kane, a complete striker who travels with the weight of expectation on his shoulders and as part of a squad which will realistically struggle to get beyond the quarterfinals. Kane may also find himself taking corners as he did in the 2016 European Championships.
FC Barcelona have in recent months been looking enviously at Atletico Madrid's French international striker Antoine Griezmann, who scored six times for his country during qualifying and will form part of an exciting attacking trio alongside Kylian Mbappe and Oliver Giroud. Perhaps the biggest drawback for Griezmann could be if the three share the goals between them, which is likely given his generous nature as a player.
A good run from reigning world champions Germany could see Thomas Muller or Timo Werner scoring plenty, with Werner's 21 goals for RB Leipzig giving plenty of reasons for faith in the quicksilver 22-year-old.
Other candidates include Uruguay's Luis Suarez, whose supreme poaching ability allied to his country's relatively benign group stage means he has to be a candidate for the Golden Boot, as long as he doesn't suffer any of the disciplinary issues which have dogged his career and Uruguay go far enough in the tournament.
16 goals in qualifying also mean Robert Lewandowski has his chances if Poland progress, while Colombia also have two top strikers in Carlos Bacca and Radamel Falcao, assisted of course by the hero of 2014, James Rodriguez.
