The 2014 World Cup goal scoring leaders heading into the quarterfinals after the round of 16 has Lionel Messi of Argentina, James Rodriguez of Colombia, Neymar of Brazil and Thomas Muller of Germany as the golden boot leading scorers and by the end of the tournament those names could be the key to each nation winning the tourney and the final is July 13 on ESPN.

Messi has been the key for Argentina and he has four goals in this tournament heading into the knockout stage, while James Rodriguez has played in the round of 16 and he scored again to get Colombia through and he is tops with five goals among everyone in the tournament. Neymar and Muller will get more chances and they each have four goals in the tournament. Players with three that are still alive include Karim Benzema, Arjen Robben, Xherdan Shaqiri and Robin Van Persie and they could end up with the golden boot as well.

Rodriguez has been the breakout star of this tournament and Colombia has been one of the surprise teams and they could be a wild card for this tournament. Brazil, Argentina and Germany are the favorites and those teams have the goal scoring leaders and that is no surprise and other teams in the mix include the Netherlands and France.

The Dutch made it to the final against Spain last time in South Africa, while Brazil is the host nation and is the favorite. No Euro team has won the tournament when it is held in South America and that plays into Colombia, Argentina and Brazil and those teams will be the main focus heading into the next round. Costa Rica and the Netherlands play next, while Colombia matches up with Brazil and that means Neymar and Rodriguez. France plays against Germany, while Argentina or the Swiss will matchup with the United States ort Belgium.   

Check here for the golden boot World Cup 2014 standings and goal scoring leaders.