The World Cup Golden Boot is decided first by goals scored. If players finish tied on goals, FIFA uses assists as the first tiebreaker, and if they are still level, the player with fewer minutes played is ranked higher.

Simple rule

  1. Most goals.
  2. If tied, most assists.
  3. If still tied, fewer minutes played.

So in practice, a player who scored the same number of goals but created more goals for teammates would usually win the award. If assists are also equal, efficiency on the pitch becomes the deciding factor.

Example

If two players both finish with 5 goals, and one has 3 assists while the other has 2, the one with 3 assists gets the Golden Boot.

TL;DR

Equal goals do not mean a shared Golden Boot right away; assists come first, then minutes played.