FIFA Club World Cup has been held annually since its relaunch in 2005, featuring the six continental champions and one host nation club.
The inaugural competition was held in 2000 before it was suspended between 2001 and 2004 due to the collapse of FIFA’s marketing partner.
The competition brings together the top football clubs from around the world.
It features the winners of each of the six continental football confederations: the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the Confederation of African Football (CAF, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
The tournament will, however, be held every four years with 32 teams, similar to the men’s FIFA World Cup from 2025.
The changes have started with the ongoing 2025 competition in the United States (U.S).
Top players have featured in the Club World Cup, with some making history as top scorers and golden boot winners.
FIFA Club World Cup First Edition Golden Boot Winners
Nicolas Anelka and Romario were the golden boot winners in the 2000 edition with 3 goals.
Anelka was playing for Real Madrid while Romario was at Vasco da Gama.
Four players won the golden boot in 2005 relaunched edition with 2 goals each.
These were Amoroso (Sao Paulo), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Mohammed Noor (Al Ittihad) and Alvaro Saborio (Saprissa).
In subsequent editions, Mohamed Aboutrika of Al Ahly, Washington of Urawa Red Diamonds, and Wayne Rooney of Manchester United were among the top scorers, each netting three goals.
Denilson won the golden boot of the in the 2009 edition with Pohang Steelers after scoring 4 goals.
Mauricio Molina of Seongnam netted 3 in 2010 to finish top.
In 2011, Adriano and Lionel Messi jointly won the award with 2 goals each.
Cesar Delgado (Monterry) and Hisato Sato (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) each scoring 3 goals in 2012 to win the award.
Four Players Top Again
The 2013 edition was a replica of the 2005 edition with four players leading the scoring charts with 2 goals.
Cesar Delgado won the award again alongside Dario Conca (Guangzhou Evergrande), Ronaldinho (Atletico Mineiro) and Mouhcine lajour (Raja Casablanca).
Real Madrid dominated the charts in 2014 with Gareth Bale and Sergio Ramos scoring 2 goals alongside Gerardo Torrado of Cruz Azul.
Highest Goals in Single Edition
Luis Suarez is the player who has scored the highest number of goals in a single edition.
He scored 5 goals in 2015 with Barcelona.
Christiano Ronaldo scored 4 goals in 2016 to clinch his first golden boot.
Ronaldo won it again in 2017 with 2 goals alongside Mauricio Antonio (Urawa Reds) and Romarinho (Al Jazira).
Also Read: 10 Players in the Race to Win the 2025 Ballon d’Or
Bale and Lukaku Featured
In 2018, Gareth Bale and Rafael Santos Borre (River Plate) topped the charts with 3 goals.
Baghdad Bounedjah (Al Sadd) and Hamdou Elhouni (Esperance) scored 3 goals to clinch the award in 2019.
Andre-Pierre Gignac scored three goals in the next edition, securing a historic victory for Tigres and winning the award.
There was another 2005 moment when four players scored 2 goals and won the golden boot in 2021.
This included Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea), Yesser Ibrahim (Al Ahly), Abdoulaye Diaby (Al Jazira) and Raphael Veiga (Palmeiras).
Also Read: Players Who Have Scored 5 Goals in One Premier League Match
Last Edition
Julian Alvarez topped the charts when Manchester City won the Club World Cup in 2023.
He scored two goals, a tie with Karim Benzema of Al Ittihad and Ali Maaloul of Al Ahly.
All Time Top Scorers
Ronaldo tops the charts with 7 goals in 8 appearances.
Bale and Benzema are second with 6 goals each.
Messi, Suarez and Delgado came in third with 5 goals.
Messi and Suarez have scored one goal each in group stage of the 2025 edition increasing their total to 6.
Players with four goals include Pedro, Denilson, Salem Al-Dawsari, Tsukasa Shiotani,Mohamed Aboutrika and Hussein El Shahat.
Follow our WhatsApp Channel and X Account for real-time news updates.
