Top Scorers List in UEFA Euro 2016: France Occupies Top 3 Positions after Blow Out Win Against Iceland - Griezmann, Giroud and Payet

French Stirkers look to take this year's Golden Boot

By Allen Marcon, CP Contributor Wednesday, July 06, 2016

After last weekend's blowout victory against Iceland, three French players now occupy the top places (top 3 or top 4 depends on how one looks at it) in the race for the Golden Boot at the 2016 Euro football/soccer championship.

France defeated Iceland 5 – 2 and now the Frenchmen see themselves in the semifinals against a tough German team. The other semifinal match will be Wales vs. Portugal, and both teams have players in the running for the Golden Boot race.

Antoine Griezmann (4 goals, France)

The French forward Antoine Griezmann has shot up to the top of the leader board with an early first half goal against Iceland last weekend. Greizmann was one of the top stars of the match as he also had a corner assist which help lead the host country to a semifinal berth.

One of the main reasons for the sudden upsurge of goals from Griezmann could be the fact that he has been switched to a central position off of the other star scorer on the French team - Oliver Giroud.

Oliver Giroud (3 goals, France)

Speaking of Giroud, one of the other forwards of the French team, he scored two goals in the last match against Iceland to vault him to tie in second place in the race for the Golden Boot.

However Giroud has been feeling the injuries as of late and it has to be stated that he will be visiting the team's doctors for light sessions before the match against Germany later in the week.

Giroud has been playing with a lot of passion during this year's contests and has been the preferred striker of Didier Deschamps, the French team's manager.

Dimitri Payet (3 Goals, France)

Payet was very active in the match against Iceland having scored a goal and had a part in the plays leading to several other of the other French goals. While Payet has been the smaller star so far in this tournament, he has been in the right place in the right time with passes and assists.

While Payet is one of the best team players the French team has right now, he also does not take a lot credit for his work. Payet still states that his teammates Griezmann and Giroud carry more of the team's weight than he.

Gareth Bale (3 Goals, Wales)

One arguable reason why Gareth Bale has slid from the first place he previous held is because Wales is considered an Underdog team. Wales' next game is against Portugal. The game will be held on July 6 and is expected to be a very close match up as Bale faces off Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo.

Christian Ronaldo (2 Goals, Portugal)

Realistically Ronaldo is the last of the players who have scored only two goals this tournament with a slim chance to win the Golden Boot. So far Ronaldo has been uncharacteristically quiet at the defining moments.

That match against Wales will be closely contested as both teams are very talented and it could come down to who wants it more.

Alvaro Morata (3 goals, Spain) – Eliminated

Morata is already out of the race as Spain has been eliminated from the tournament

Mario Gomez (Germany - 2 goals)

Hai Robson-Kanu (Wales - 2 goals)

Nani (Portugal - 2 goals)

Graziano Pelle (Italy - 2 goals) Eliminated

Romelu Lukaku (Belgium - 2 goals) Eliminated

Radja Nainggolan (Belgium - 2 goals) Eliminated

Ivan Perisic (Croatia - 2 goals) Eliminated

Jakub Blaszczykowski (Poland - 2 goals) Eliminated

Bogdan Stancu (Romania - 2 goals) Eliminated