It’s not Paul the octopus and it’s not Homer Simpson. Much more precise than that: the scoring statistics. There is born the curious prediction of the next world champion that some never imagined.
It is worth saying that the trend continued longer than expected, so the illusion is completely valid.
The data is clear: the Pichichi of the Eurocup prior to the World Cup was later crowned world champion. And it was not once, twice or three times: it happened in 2010, 2014 and 2018.
Let’s review: in 2010 the scorer was the Spanish David Villa who, with 5 goals; four years later it was Mario Gómez who scored 3 goals in 2012 and for Russia 2018 it was Antoine Griezmann who arrived with his 6 celebrations in the 2016 tournament.
Who would get the honor in Qatar 2022? It’s not in any bet! Cristiano Ronaldo, 37, scored 5 goals but was declared the top scorer over Czech Patrick Schick because he provided an assist.
The Portuguese himself, when asked what he would do after being crowned in Doha, said: “I’m retiring from football.” Will he comply? If it is by background, it would be the dream retirement in the dream career.
