The Hockey World Cup has been held since 1971, with up to 26 nations competing for the prized trophy. The success of the team is mostly determined by the number of goals scored, and the 14 editions have seen a total of 2433 goals scored in 605 matches, with a scoring rate of 4 per match. In 1978 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dutchman Paul Litjens led the way with 15 goals to become the first player to score 10 or more goals in single edition and be named the top scorer. In 1982, Rajinder Singh became the first and only Indian to lead all goal scorers in a Hockey World Cup with at least ten goals. Tanvir Ahmad of Pakistan led all scorers with eight goals during the inaugural men's hockey world championship in Barcelona, Spain, in 1971. Only player, a Dutchman named Taeke Taekema, has won both of the editions' highest-scoring awards. At the 2006 tournament in Germany, Taekema scored 11 goals. Four years later, he shared the championship with Luke Doerner of Australia, who scored eight goals.

Top Indian goal-scores in every edition of Hockey World Cup Edition 

2018 Simranjeet Singh & Lalit Kumar Upadhyay 4 

2014 Akashdeep Singh 5 

2010 Sandeep Singh 4 

2006 Shivendra Singh 4 

2002 Baljit Singh, Daljit Singh & Deepak Thakur 4 

1998 Mukesh Kumar 4 

1994 Mukesh Kumar 3 

1990 Sebastian Jude Felix & Jagbir Singh 3 

1986 Mohammed Shahid & Mohinder Pal Singh 2 

1982 Rajinder Singh 12 

1978 Victor Philips 3 

1975 Mohinder Singh 4 

1973 Surjit Randhawa 6 

1971 Rajwinder Singh 3

Top Individual Goal Scorers

2018 Blake Govers Australia 7 

2018 Alexander Hendrickx Belgium 7 

2014 Gonzalo Peillat Argentina 10 

2010 Luke Doerner Australia 8 

2010 Taeke Taekema Netherlands 8 

2006 Taeke Taekema Netherlands 11 

2002 Jorge Lombi Argentina 10 

2002 Sohail Abbas Pakistan 10 

1998 Jay Stacy Australia 12 

1994 Taco van den Honert Netherlands 10 

1990 Ignacio Escude Spain 10 

1986 Ric Charlesworth Australia 7 

1982 Rajinder Singh India 12 

1978 Paul Litjens Netherlands 15 

1975 Manzoorul Hassan Pakistan 7 

1975 Stefan Otulakowski Poland 7 

1973 Ties Kruize Netherlands 9 

1971 Tanvir Ahmad Dar Pakistan 8