South Africa 2010 was the lowest scoring World Cup since it changed to a 64-game format but, with the players on show at this summer's event, we could be treated to a goal-fest
Messi, Ronaldo and Suarez will simply need to overcome the pressure for the goals to flow. Can they deliver? We look at who will be top scorer
The World Cup in Brazil represents a huge opportunity for the hosts to regain the trophy in front of their own fans and, after a disappointing 2010 campaign in South Africa, hopes are high in the home of the five-time winners. As problems mount off the field, with Brazilians unhappy at finances instead being pushed into funding tourists' summers at the tournament, there is growing pressure on the players to produce performances that will at least temporarily pacify the frustrated inhabitants.
With that, the expectations of some 200 million Brazilians this summer are rising. In turn, what is required of the eighth most expensive player of all time is significantly increased. Brazil no longer have a frontline bursting with the kind of talent they had when Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho were at their disposal. Rather, almost all of their hopes rest on the shoulders of young Neymar.
The Barcelona forward endured a rather tough season, with sky-high expectations rocketing further when rumours emerged that the club had paid rather more than the original €57m reported. Nothing short of the main man at Santos prior to his move, Neymar had to submit to the main event that is Lionel Messi at the Camp Nou in his debut season. He had a mixed campaign, but while a return of nine goals and eight assists in 26 La Liga appearances does not repay the full transfer fee, he certainly has not lost his goalscoring touch. That the only hat-trick he scored for Barcelona came against Celtic in the UEFA Champions League when Messi was out injured hints further that Neymar enjoys being centre stage. He will have the eyes of the world on him and the hopes of his countrymen pinned on his shoulders this summer, so in the race for the Golden Boot, Neymar is naturally one of the frontrunners.
Team-mate Messi is favourite to be the tournament's top scorer and is 7/1 with Sky Bet. There is a widespread feeling that the past Ballon d'Or winner has had a poor season, and maybe by his (extraordinarily high) standards this campaign has not quite been as impressive for the Argentine. However, 28 goals in 29 league starts and the third-best Champions League goal tally, despite only making seven appearances, hardly makes for a poor return. In fact, this calendar year, he is by some distance the top scorer in Europe's top five leagues, scoring 20 goals in 20 appearances, and with the highest WhoScored rating (8.46) in 2014 he comes into the competition in form. With Iran among those teams he will face, this could finally be the international competition at which Messi answers his critics.
Cristiano Ronaldo is second only to Messi in terms of rating this year (8.41) and with 13 league goals he has enjoyed a more than decent 2014 so far. It has been a long and testing season for the Portugal captain, though, so fatigue might start to get the best of him. He has played more than 66 hours of football for his club alone this season. On top of that, he almost single-handedly dragged his country through the World Cup play-offs with all four of their goals against Sweden, and as a result the best player on the planet has succumbed to a hamstring injury in recent weeks. He overcome that injury to play and score a penalty to help Real win the Champions League and after a brief rest between that victory over Atletico and the start of the World Cup, he will certainly score goals in Brazil. But his tally may be hampered by how far an otherwise fairly average Portugal side can go in the competition.
Italy are oft stated to be lacking in the goalscorer department, but ahead of this summer's World Cup their strikers seem to have hit form at just the right time. Ciro Immobile (14) is second in the goalscoring charts in the top five European leagues this calendar year, while Mattia Destro (10) is not far behind. It speaks volumes about the quality available to Cesare Prandelli that Luca Toni and Antonio Di Natale (13 each) are joint-third this year along with Ronaldo but both are considered too old to be selected. Immobile and Destro are not yet guaranteed a place in Prandelli's final squad, but should they make it onto the plane - and then the pitch in Brazil - they could well get goalscoring chances, with Italy having averaged 18.3 shots per game at Euro 2012.
Luis Suarez is another one to keep an eye on having shared the Golden Shoe this season with Ronaldo. The main (or only realistic) criticism of the Uruguayan has been that most of his goals have come against the Premier League's 'lesser' teams, so in a tough World Cup group, questions remain as to whether Suarez - if he is fit- can do it on the big stage.
Bosnia's qualifying campaign was a roaring success, with Edin Dzeko netting 10 of his side's 30 goals. The Manchester City striker is the Premier League's joint top scorer this year with Suarez and Daniel Sturridge (12), and in a group including Iran and Nigeria, the World Cup debutants have a chance to progress beyond the first round, with Dzeko's goals firing them forwards. He is an outsider for the Golden Boot but not an altogether ridiculous shout.
England's goalscoring hopes will be pinned on Sturridge, Wayne Rooney and possibly Raheem Sterling, too. Sterling came into form in the second part of the campaign and he could well prove Roy Hodgson's secret weapon at the World Cup this summer. Rooney, though, led England's scoring charts in qualifying as England netted an incredible 31 goals in just 10 games. Take out the 22 goals scored against Moldova and San Marino, though, and you realise the Golden Boot will probably be beyond England's players, who are far from the worst team at the tournament but are unlikely to blow away anyone good enough to qualify for the competition.
All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com, where you can find yet more stats, including live in-game data and unique player and team ratings.
