Heading into Matchday 10, the 2024 MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi race is jam-packed – led by Real Salt Lake striker Cristian Arango on the assists tiebreaker.
LAFC star Denis Bouanga won the 2023 MLS Golden Boot with 20 goals. He's not in the picture just yet, though that could change in a flash.
PLAYER | GOALS | ASSISTS |
|---|---|---|
1. Cristian Arango - Real Salt Lake | 6 | 4 |
2. Luis Suárez - Inter Miami CF | 6 | 3 |
3. Lewis Morgan - New York Red Bulls | 6 | 2 |
4. Christian Benteke - D.C. United | 6 | 1 |
5. Dejan Joveljic - LA Galaxy | 6 | 1 |
6. Lionel Messi - Inter Miami CF | 5 | 5 |
7. Giorgos Giakoumakis - Atlanta United | 5 | 1 |
8. Evander - Portland Timbers | 4 | 3 |
9. Rafael Navarro - Colorado Rapids | 4 | 2 |
10. Dániel Gazdag - Philadelphia Union | 4 | 1 |
Arango's summer 2023 arrival to Real Salt Lake from Liga MX side Pachuca continues to pay dividends. The Colombian international has racked up a co-league-leading 10 goal contributions (6g/4a), atop the early Golden Boot charge on the assists tiebreaker.
Any early-season talk of Suárez’s potential decline seems downright silly now. The legendary Uruguayan has produced 6g/3a in 534 MLS minutes for Inter Miami, adding four more goal contributions (2g/2a) in four Concacaf Champions Cup matches.
There’s no more dominant aerial threat in MLS than the former Premier League standout and Belgian international. Benteke has started all six of his appearances for D.C. United and scored six times, adding one assist in 540 minutes.
The most electric attack in MLS might belong to the LA Galaxy, and their Serbian No. 9 is a big reason why. Jovelic has posted 6g/1a in eight appearances (583 minutes), flanked by DP wingers Gabriel Pec and Joseph Painstil, with Riqui Puig pulling the strings.
Lionel Messi, who's won a record 44 combined trophies for club and country, has also been the top goal scorer of various competitions 23 times throughout his legendary career – most notably eight LaLiga Pichichis with FC Barcelona.
And with five goals in as many games this season, Messi's scoring touch is as lethal as ever for Supporters' Shield-leading Inter Miami.
A Golden Boot winner in the Scottish Premier League and the Dutch Eredivisie, Giakoumakis finished just three tallies shy of Bouanga for top honors in MLS last year. He scored 17 non-penalty goals in his debut season with Atlanta United.
This go-around, the Greek international has five goals in four games – including one successful PK.
A playmaker at heart, Evander can score with the best of them – as evidenced by four goals in six games this season. The Portland Timbers currently boast the Western Conference's second-best offense (16 goals), boosted by their Brazilian club-record signing.
After a fairly quiet first half-year on loan with the Rapids in 2023 (1g/1a in 10 appearances), Navarro has erupted for four goals in eight games.
Over the weekend, the 24-year-old notched a brace in Colorado's 3-0 win at the San Jose Earthquakes.
It's easy to forget Gazdag's monster 2022 season that saw the Hungarian international score 22 goals, coming just one short of Nashville SC's Hany Mukhtar.
Two years later, Philly's star midfielder remains among the league's elite marksmen, producing 4g/1a in seven games.
