The 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ is drawing ever nearer – with just 22 days to go! Between now and the start of the World Cup, we will take a closer look at a different statistic from the history of the tournament each day.

22 – Davor Suker was the 22nd player to claim the adidas Golden Boot as top goalscorer at a FIFA World Cup™, as he helped propel Croatia to a memorable third-placed finish at France 1998.

Even though it was only the 16th edition of the tournament, a whopping six players shared the accolade at Chile 1962, with Hristo Stoichkov and Oleg Salenko both topping the podium at USA 1994, prior to the then Real Madrid forward taking the title. Like the previous pair, six goals were enough for Suker to clinch the trophy – which has been the winning tally at seven of the last ten tournaments.

In Croatia’s debut on the global stage, he wasted little time in opening his account, hitting the third in a 3-1 win over Jamaica in their first game in France. Group rivals Argentina were the only side to deny Suker getting on the scoresheet, as the clinical No9 struck against almost all before him, including the winner against the Netherlands to clinch bronze.