Top 10 highest goalscorers in the history of football

Football is a game of goals and the simple aim is to score as many of them as possible. Here are the highest goalscorers in football.

Top 10 highest goalscorers in the history of football

Football, in simple terms, is a sport where eleven players try scoring more goals than their opposition.

Considering how low-scoring football matches are compared to a sport like basketball, it is simple to understand how hard goalscoring is.

As scoring goals is vital to a team’s success and failure, it is no surprise that most of the best players of all time have been forwards. Players like Pele, Eusebio, and Gerd Muller were lethal predators in front of goal.

Here are the top highest goalscorers in the history of football  :

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (801 goals)

Cristiano Ronaldo is the top scorer in football history when it comes to official top-level goals. Ronaldo overtook Pele a while ago and could easily reach the 900-goal mark given his fitness levels and poaching ability.

Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2003	Sporting CP B	2	(0)
2002–2003	Sporting CP	25	(3)
2003–2009	Manchester United	196	(84)
2009–2018	Real Madrid	292	(311)
2018–2021	Juventus	98	(81)
2021–	Manchester United	31	(18)

Ronaldo scored his 800th career goal against Arsenal a few days ago and added another goal under his belt when he scored the winner.

The Manchester United forward is the highest goal scorer in UEFA Champions League, in international football, for Portugal and Real Madrid.

2. Pele (765 goals)

A few sources state that Pele has broken the four-digit barrier when it comes to scoring goals. However, the three-time World Cup winner has scored 765 goals according to IFFHS, which is why he ranks second on this list.

Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1956–1974	Santos	636	(618)
1975–1977	New York Cosmos	64	(37)
Total		700	(655)

Pele is highly regarded as one of the best players of all time, and along with Maradona, is the best player of the 20th century.

Pele was a serial goal scorer for both club and country. The Santos stalwart scored 643 goals during a nearly two-decade-long stay at the Brazilian club. He is also Brazil’s top scorer with 77 goals in 92 matches. 

3. Lionel Messi (756 goals)

Lionel Messi is arguably the best player of all time. The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner is a brilliant passer, slick dribbler, and, most importantly, a great finisher.

Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2003–2004	Barcelona C	10	(5)
2004–2005	Barcelona B	22	(6)
2004–2021	Barcelona	520	(474)
2021–	Paris Saint-Germain	27	(8)

Messi has scored 756 goals so far and should at least end up in second place by the time he calls it a day in his playing career.

Messi recently went past Romario’s 753 goals and shows no signs of slowing down, despite being in his mid-30s. 

4. Romario (753 goals)

Romario is part of the quartet who have scored over 750 official goals. The Brazilian marksman seldom features in the conversation of Brazil’s greatest footballers.

Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1985–1988	Vasco da Gama	47	(17)
1988–1993	PSV Eindhoven	110	(98)
1993–1995	Barcelona	46	(34)
1995–1996	Flamengo	19	(8)
1996–1997	Valencia	11	(5)
1997	→ Flamengo (loan)	4	(3)
1998–1999	Flamengo	39	(26)
2000–2002	Vasco da Gama	46	(41)
2002–2004	Fluminense	60	(34)
2003	→ Al Sadd (loan)	3	(0)
2005–2006	Vasco da Gama	30	(22)
2006	Miami FC	25	(19)
2006	→ Adelaide United (loan)	4	(1)
2007	Vasco da Gama	6	(3)
2009	America Football Club	0	(0)
Total		450	(311)

However, his goal tally speaks for himself. Romario is one of just three players on the list who have played or are playing in the 21st century.

He was the main protagonist in Brazil’s 1994 FIFA World Cup triumph and was awarded the FIFA World Player of the Year for his contributions.

5. Ferenc Puskas (729 goals)

Having outscored Josef Bican by nine goals, Ferenc Puskas finds a place in the top five.

Puskas was a terrific goal scorer and had one of the most dangerous left feet in the game’s history.

Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1943–1956	Budapest Honvéd	356	(375)
1958–1966	Real Madrid	262	(244)
Total		618	(619)

He most notably played for Budapest Honved, Real Madrid and Hungary, scoring 729 goals in the process.

One of Real Madrid’s greatest players of all time, Puskas formed a solid partnership with Alfredo di Stefano and won five La Liga titles and three European Cups.

Despite being on top of the world during the early 1960s, he could never win the Ballon d’Or award.

6. Josef Bican (720 goals)

Josef Bican’s goal tally is often a topic of hot debate. A few sources suggest that Bican scored over 1000 goals.

Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1931	Farbenlutz	2	(2)
1931	Rapid Amateur	0	(0)
1931–1935	Rapid Vienna	62	(78)
1935–1937	Admira Vienna	26	(18)
1937–1948	Slavia Prague	221	(427)
1948–1951	FC Vítkovice	58	(74)
1951–1952	FC Hradec Králové	26	(53)
1952–1955	Dynamo Prague	32	(22)
1957	TJ Slovan Liberec	1	(0)
1957	Spartak Brno ZJŠ	4	(2)
Total		432	(676)

However, only 720 of those came in official top-level games and are recognized by FIFA. The goal machine was the top scorer in his domestic league 12 times!

Bican was born in Vienna, which was then a part of Austria-Hungary. He has represented Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Bohemia and Moravia at the international level. 

7. Jimmy Jones (647 goals)

Jimmy Jones is the second Northern Ireland international on this list, the other being Joe Brambick.

Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1944–1945	Glenavon Juniors	25	(36)
1945–1946	Shankill Young Men	22	(40)
1946–1949	Belfast Celtic	33	(43)
1950	Larne	0	(0)
1950–1951	Fulham	0	(0)
1951–1962	Glenavon	222	(269)
1962–1963	Portadown	14	(8)
1963–1964	Bangor	20	(12)
1964–1965	Newry Town	28	(28)
Total		364	(436)

Jones plied his trade two decades after Brambick, but they shared a common trait of scoring goals for fun. Jones scored a total of 647 goals. Unlike most players on this list, he didn’t have a memorable international career.

Jones spent 11 years at Glenavon and earned legendary status by scoring over 500 goals for the Lurgan Blues.

He won the Irish League and Irish Cup three times each and was a central figure in Glenavon’s most successful period. 

8. Gerd Muller (634 goals)

Gerd Muller was a generational talent who redefined the art of goal scoring. He was a fox in the box, and opposition defenders could never leave him unmarked. “Der Bomber” scored 634 goals for club and country.

Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1963–1964	1861 Nördlingen	31	(51)
1964–1979	Bayern Munich	453	(398)
1979–1981	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	71	(38)
Total		555	(487)

He won the Ballon d’Or in 1970 for his marvelous performances for Bayern Munich and in the FIFA World Cup for West Germany.

He scored 68 goals in just 62 appearances for West Germany, including 14 at FIFA World Cups.

Most goals at World Cup tournaments (Ronaldo), most goals in a calendar year (Messi), most goals in a Bundesliga season (Lewandowski).

9. Eusebio (622 goals)

Portuguese legend Eusebio scored 622 goals during an illustrious career that spanned two decades.

Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1957–1960	Sporting Lourenço Marques	42	(77)
1961–1975	Benfica	301	(317)
1975	Boston Minutemen	7	(2)
1975	Monterrey	10	(1)
1975–1976	Toronto Metros-Croatia	21	(16)
1976	Beira-Mar	12	(3)
1976–1977	Las Vegas Quicksilvers	17	(2)
1977–1978	União de Tomar	12	(3)
1978–1979	New Jersey Americans	9	(2)
1979–1980	Buffalo Stalions (indoor)	5	(1)
Total		436	(424)

“Black Panther” was not only a clinical striker but was also adored for his pace, work rate, and technique. He was equally adept with both feet and was a serial goalscorer.

Eusebio is fondly remembered for his time at Benfica, for whom he scored 473 goals in 440 games. The Mozambique-born Portuguese footballer was awarded the Ballon d’Or in 1965.

10. Joe Brambick (616 goals)

Northern Irishman Joe Brambick starts the countdown in 10th place. Born in 1905, he is also the oldest player on this list.

Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1926–1927	Glentoran	22	(28)
1927–1935	Linfield	183	(286)
1935–1938	Chelsea	59	(34)
1938–1939	Walsall	35	(15)
Total		299	(364)

Brambick’s most notable contribution came for Linfield, a club based in his hometown of Belfast. He scored 286 league goals in 183 matches for Linfield.

Overall, the centre-forward scored 616 goals, 54 more than fellow countryman Glenn Ferguson, who just missed out on the top 10.

During his playing days, there was a time when Brambick was the top scorer in all of football. However, he was overtaken by Joseph Bican.