FIFA World Cup top goalscorers

A total of over 2,700 goals have been scored in games at the Men's 22 final tournaments of the FIFA World Cup, not counting penalties scored during shoot-outs.[1] Since the first goal scored by French player Lucien Laurent at the 1930 FIFA World Cup,[2] almost 1,300 footballers have scored goals at the World Cup tournaments,[3] of whom 101 have scored five or more.

refer to caption
Miroslav Klose celebrating his record-breaking 16th World Cup goal in the 2014 FIFA World Cup semifinal
Numbers of goalscorers[3][4]
Goals≥1110987654321Total
Nos. of players9610972535>50>90>200>750>1,250

The top goalscorer of the inaugural competition was Argentina's Guillermo Stábile with eight goals. Since then, only 25 players have scored more at all the games played at the World Cup than Stábile did throughout the 1930 tournament. The first was Hungary's Sándor Kocsis with eleven in 1954. At the next tournament, France's Just Fontaine improved on this record with 13 goals in only six games. Gerd Müller scored 10 for West Germany in 1970 and broke the overall record when he scored his 14th goal in a tournament match at a World Cup during West Germany's win in the 1974 final. His record stood for more than three decades until Ronaldo's 15 goals between 1998 and 2006 for Brazil. Germany's Miroslav Klose went on to score a record 16 goals across four consecutive tournaments between 2002 and 2014.

Of all the players who have played in the World Cup tournaments, only six have achieved an average of two goals or more per game played: Kocsis, Fontaine, Stábile, Russia's Oleg Salenko, Switzerland's Josef Hügi, and Poland's Ernst Wilimowski — the last of these scored four in his single World Cup game in 1938.[5] The top 101 goalscorers have represented 30 nations, with 14 players scoring for Brazil, and another 14 for Germany or West Germany. In total, 67 footballers came from UEFA (Europe), 30 from CONMEBOL (South America), and only four from elsewhere: Cameroon, Ghana, Australia, and the United States.

Fontaine holds the record for the most goals scored in a single tournament, with 13 goals in 1958. The players that came closest were Kocsis in 1954, Müller in 1970 and Portugal's Eusébio in 1966, with 11, 10 and 9, respectively. The lowest scoring top scorer was in 1962, when six players tied at only four goals each. Across the 22 tournaments of the World Cup, 31 footballers have been credited with the most tournament goals, and no one has achieved this feat twice. Ten of them scored at least seven goals in a tournament, while Brazil's Jairzinho and Argentina's Lionel Messi were the only footballers to score at least seven goals without being the top goalscorer of the tournament in 1970 and 2022, respectively. These 31 top goalscorers played for 20 nations, the most (five) for Brazil. Another five came from other South American countries, with the remaining 21 coming from Europe.

In 2006, Ronaldo was the first to score 8 goals in knockout matches (excluding 3rd place playoff) at the World Cup in his 3 tournaments for Brazil, tied in 2022 by Kylian Mbappé.[6] Mbappé became the first player to score 4 goals in World Cup finals with his hat-trick in 2022.

Overall top goalscorers

Ronaldo ranks second among players with the most goals, scoring 15, including two in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final.
Among players still active at international level, Lionel Messi has the most goals at FIFA World Cups, with 13 goals to his name, including two in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final.
Gary Lineker is the top goalscorer for England with ten
Grzegorz Lato (left) during the 1974 World Cup became the top goalscorer of Poland with ten
Teófilo Cubillas is the top goalscorer for Peru with ten
Eusébio holds the record for most goals in the history of the World Cup for Portugal
Cristiano Ronaldo with 8 goals is the only male player to score in five World Cup tournaments group stages
Asamoah Gyan, with six goals for Ghana, is the only player outside of Europe or South America to score more than five goals at the World Cup
Table key
Denotes national top scorers (or joint top scorers) at the World Cup
#Denotes players still active at international level
[ ]Denotes tournaments where the player was part of the squad, but did not play in a match
( )Denotes tournaments where the player played in a match, but did not score a goal
Denotes tournaments where the player's team won the World Cup
Players with at least 5 goals at the FIFA World Cup tournaments[5][7][8]
RankPlayerTeamGoals
scored
Matches
played
Goals
per
match
[nb 1]
TournamentsNotes
1Miroslav Klose  Germany16240.672002, 2006, 2010, 2014list[10]
2Ronaldo  Brazil15190.79[1994], 1998, 2002, 2006list[11]
3Gerd Müller  West Germany14131.081970, 1974list[12]
4Just Fontaine  France1362.171958list[13]
Lionel Messi♦#  Argentina260.502006, (2010), 2014, 2018, 2022list[14][15]
6Pelé  Brazil12140.861958, 1962, 1966, 1970list[16]
Kylian Mbappé#  France140.862018, 2022list
8Sándor Kocsis  Hungary1152.201954list[17]
Jürgen Klinsmann  West Germany
 Germany
170.651990
1994, 1998
list[18]
10Helmut Rahn  West Germany10101.001954, 1958list[19]
Gary Lineker  England120.831986, 1990list[20]
Gabriel Batistuta  Argentina120.831994, 1998, 2002list[21]
Teófilo Cubillas  Peru130.771970, 1978, (1982)list[22]
Thomas Müller#  Germany190.532010, 2014, (2018), (2022)list[broken anchor][23][24]
Grzegorz Lato  Poland200.501974, 1978, 1982list[25]
16Ademir  Brazil961.501950list[nb 2][28]
Eusébio  Portugal61.501966list[29]
Christian Vieri  Italy91.001998, 2002list[30]
Vavá  Brazil100.901958, 1962[31]
David Villa  Spain120.752006, 2010, 2014list[32]
Paolo Rossi  Italy140.641978, 1982, [1986]list[33]
Jairzinho  Brazil160.56(1966), 1970, 1974list[34]
Roberto Baggio  Italy160.561990, 1994, 1998list[35]
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge  West Germany190.471978, 1982, 1986list[36]
Uwe Seeler  West Germany210.431958, 1962, 1966, 1970[37]
26Guillermo Stábile  Argentina842.001930list[38]
Leônidas  Brazil51.601934, 1938list[nb 3][40]
Óscar Míguez  Uruguay71.141950, 1954[41]
Harry Kane#  England110.732018, 2022list[42]
Neymar#  Brazil130.622014, 2018, 2022list[14][43]
Rivaldo  Brazil140.571998, 2002list[44]
Rudi Völler  West Germany
 Germany
150.531986, 1990
1994
list[45]
Diego Maradona  Argentina210.381982, 1986, (1990), 1994list[46]
Cristiano Ronaldo#  Portugal220.362006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022list[14][47]
35Oldřich Nejedlý  Czechoslovakia761.171934, 1938[nb 4][48]
Lajos Tichy  Hungary80.881958, 1962, [1966]list[49]
Careca  Brazil90.781986, 1990[50]
Johnny Rep  Netherlands130.541974, 1978[51]
Andrzej Szarmach  Poland130.541974, 1978, 1982[52]
Hans Schäfer  West Germany150.471954, 1958, (1962)[53]
Luis Suárez#  Uruguay160.442010, 2014, 2018, (2022)list[54][14]
42Josef Hügi   Switzerland632.001954[55]
Oleg Salenko  Russia32.001994list[56]
György Sárosi  Hungary51.201934, 1938[57]
Max Morlock  West Germany51.201954[58]
Erich Probst  Austria51.201954[59]
Enner Valencia♦#  Ecuador61.002014, 2022list
Salvatore Schillaci  Italy70.861990list[60]
Davor Šuker  Yugoslavia
 Croatia
80.75[1990],
1998, (2002)
list[61]
James Rodríguez♦#  Colombia80.752014, (2018)list[62][63]
Helmut Haller  West Germany90.67(1962), 1966, (1970)[64]
Hristo Stoichkov  Bulgaria100.601994, (1998)list[65]
Diego Forlán  Uruguay100.602002, 2010, (2014)list[66]
Asamoah Gyan  Ghana110.552006, 2010, 2014list[67]
Dennis Bergkamp  Netherlands120.501994, 1998list[68]
Rob Rensenbrink  Netherlands130.461974, 1978[69]
Rivellino  Brazil150.401970, 1974, (1978)[70]
Bebeto  Brazil150.40(1990), 1994, 1998list[71]
Arjen Robben  Netherlands150.402006, 2010, 2014list[72]
Zbigniew Boniek  Poland160.381978, 1982, (1986)list[73]
Thierry Henry  France170.351998, (2002), 2006, (2010)list[74]
Robin van Persie  Netherlands170.352006, 2010, 2014list[75]
Wesley Sneijder  Netherlands170.35(2006), 2010, 2014list[76]
Ivan Perišić♦#  Croatia170.352014, 2018, 2022list[14][77]
Mario Kempes  Argentina180.33(1974), 1978, (1982)list[78]
Lothar Matthäus  West Germany
 Germany
250.24(1982), 1986, 1990
1994, (1998)
[79]
67Pedro Cea  Uruguay541.251930list[80]
Silvio Piola  Italy41.251938[81]
Gyula Zsengellér  Hungary41.251938[82]
Peter McParland  Northern Ireland51.001958list[83]
Tomáš Skuhravý  Czechoslovakia51.001990[84]
Juan Alberto Schiaffino  Uruguay60.831950, 1954[85]
Geoff Hurst  England60.831966, 1970list[86]
Jon Dahl Tomasson  Denmark60.832002, 2010list[87]
Alessandro Altobelli  Italy70.711982, 1986[88]
Kennet Andersson  Sweden70.711994list[89]
Fernando Morientes  Spain70.711998, 2002list[90]
Romário  Brazil80.63(1990), 1994list[91]
Marc Wilmots  Belgium80.63[1990], (1994), 1998, 2002list[92]
Mario Mandžukić  Croatia80.632014, 2018list[14][93]
Valentin Ivanov  Soviet Union90.561958, 1962list[94]
Emilio Butragueño  Spain90.561986, (1990)list[95]
Roger Milla  Cameroon90.56(1982), 1990, 1994[96]
Tim Cahill  Australia90.562006, 2010, 2014, (2018)list[97][98]
Hans Krankl  Austria100.501978, 1982list[99]
Raúl  Spain110.451998, 2002, 2006list[100]
Garrincha  Brazil120.42(1958), 1962, 1966[101]
Johan Neeskens  Netherlands120.421974, (1978)[102]
Fernando Hierro  Spain120.42[1990], 1994, 1998, 2002list[broken anchor][103]
Zinedine Zidane  France120.421998, (2002), 2006[104]
Landon Donovan  United States120.422002, (2006), 2010list[105]
Romelu Lukaku♦#  Belgium120.422014, 2018, (2022)list[106]
Xherdan Shaqiri#   Switzerland120.42(2010), 2014, 2018, 2022list
Henrik Larsson  Sweden130.381994, 2002, 2006list[107]
Michel Platini  France140.361978, 1982, 1986[108]
Zico  Brazil140.361978, 1982, (1986)[109]
Gonzalo Higuaín  Argentina140.362010, 2014, (2018)list[110][111]
Lukas Podolski  Germany150.332006, 2010, (2014)list[112]
Edinson Cavani#  Uruguay170.292010, 2014, 2018, (2022)list[14][113]
Franz Beckenbauer  West Germany180.281966, 1970, (1974)list[114]
Olivier Giroud  France180.282014, (2018), 2022list

Timeline

Leônidas scored a record 8 goals for Brazil at the 1934 and 1938 FIFA World Cups.
Ademir scored a record 9 goals for Brazil at the 1950 FIFA World Cup.
Sándor Kocsis was the first player to have scored 10 or more goals in an edition. He scored a record 11 goals in just 5 matches.
Just Fontaine scored a record 13 goals at the 1958 FIFA World Cup.
Key
Goal set a new record
Goal equalled the existing record
Progressive list of footballers that have held the record for most goals scored at the FIFA World Cup final tournaments
GoalsDatePlayerTeamGoalOpponentScoreTournament & StagePrevious goalsRef
113 July 1930Lucien Laurent  France1–0Mexico4–11930, Uruguay
Group stage
N/A[nb 5]
Bart McGhee  United States1–0Belgium3–0
Marcel Langiller  France2–0Mexico4–1
André Maschinot  France3–0Mexico4–1
Tom Florie  United States2–0Belgium3–0
Bert Patenaude  United States3–0Belgium3–0
Juan Carreño  Mexico1–3France1–4
2André Maschinot  France4–1Mexico4–1
16 July 1930Carlos Vidal  Chile3–0Mexico3–0
  • 1930 vs Mexico
[117]
17 July 1930Ivan Bek  Yugoslavia1–0Bolivia4–0[118]
33–0
Bert Patenaude  United States2–0Paraguay3–0
  • 1930 vs Belgium, Paraguay
[119]
43–0
22 July 1930Guillermo Stábile  Argentina1–0Chile3–1[120]
52–0
626 July 19303–0United States6–11930, Uruguay
Semi-final
76–0
830 July 19302–1Uruguay2–41930, Uruguay
Final
19 June 1938Leônidas  Brazil3–2Sweden4–21938, France
3rd place play-off
[121]
13 July 1950Ademir  Brazil1–0Spain6–11950, Brazil
Final round
[28]
95–0
27 June 1954Sándor Kocsis  Hungary4–2Brazil4–21954, Switzerland
Quarter-final
[122]
1030 June 19543–2Uruguay4–2aet1954, Switzerland
Semi-final
114–2
28 June 1958Just Fontaine  France3–1West Germany6–31958, Sweden
3rd place play-off
[123]
125–2
136–3
3 July 1974Gerd Müller  West Germany1–0Poland1–01974, West Germany
Second round
[12]
146 July 19742–1Netherlands2–11974, West Germany
Final
22 June 2006Ronaldo  Brazil4–1Japan4–12006, Germany
Group stage
[124]
1527 June 20061–0Ghana3–02006, Germany
Round of 16
21 June 2014Miroslav Klose  Germany2–2Ghana2–22014, Brazil
Group stage
[125]
168 July 20142–0Brazil7–12014, Brazil
Semi-final

Top goalscorers for each tournament

Guillermo Stábile scored a record 8 goals for Argentina at the 1930 FIFA World Cup.
Eusébio scored nine goals for Portugal at the 1966 World Cup.
Gerd Müller scored ten goals for West Germany at the 1970 World Cup.
Top goalscorers at each FIFA World Cup final tournament[126][127][128]
World CupPlayerTeamGoals
scored
Matches
played
Golden
Boot
Other FIFA Awards
Uruguay 1930Guillermo Stábile  Argentina84 Silver Ball
Italy 1934Oldřich Nejedlý  Czechoslovakia54 Bronze Ball
France 1938Leônidas  Brazil74 Golden Ball
Brazil 1950Ademir  Brazil96 Bronze Ball
Switzerland 1954Sándor Kocsis  Hungary115 Silver Ball
Sweden 1958Just Fontaine  France136 Bronze Ball
Chile 1962Garrincha  Brazil46 Golden Ball
Vavá  Brazil6
Leonel Sánchez  Chile6 Bronze Ball
Flórián Albert  Hungary3 Best Young Player
Valentin Ivanov  Soviet Union4
Dražan Jerković  Yugoslavia6
England 1966Eusébio  Portugal96 Bronze Ball
Mexico 1970Gerd Müller  West Germany106 Best Young Player, Bronze Ball
West Germany 1974Grzegorz Lato  Poland77
Argentina 1978Mario Kempes  Argentina67 Golden Ball
Spain 1982Paolo Rossi  Italy67 Golden Ball
Mexico 1986Gary Lineker  England65
Italy 1990Salvatore Schillaci  Italy67 Golden Ball
United States 1994Hristo Stoichkov  Bulgaria67 Bronze Ball
Oleg Salenko  Russia3
France 1998Davor Šuker  Croatia67 Silver Ball
South Korea & Japan 2002Ronaldo  Brazil87 Silver Ball
Germany 2006Miroslav Klose  Germany57
South Africa 2010Thomas Müller  Germany56 Best Young Player
Wesley Sneijder  Netherlands7 Bronze Boot, Silver Ball
David Villa  Spain7 Silver Boot, Bronze Ball
Diego Forlán  Uruguay7 Golden Ball
Brazil 2014James Rodríguez  Colombia65
Russia 2018Harry Kane  England66
Qatar 2022Kylian Mbappé  France87 Silver Ball

Goalscorers at multiple tournaments

Cristiano Ronaldo is the only player to have scored in five different World Cups. Four players, Uwe Seeler, Pelé, Miroslav Klose and Lionel Messi, have scored in four tournaments each, while another 35 have scored in three each.

In the table below players are listed in order of achieving their tallies.

Players who scored at 3 or more separate World Cups
RankPlayerTeamTournaments
with
goals
Goals
scored
Matches
played
Goals
per
match
Tournaments
with goals
1Cristiano Ronaldo  Portugal58220.362006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
2Uwe Seeler  West Germany49210.431958, 1962, 1966, 1970
Pelé  Brazil12140.861958, 1962, 1966, 1970
Miroslav Klose  Germany16240.672002, 2006, 2010, 2014
Lionel Messi  Argentina13260.502006, 2014, 2018, 2022
6Grzegorz Lato  Poland310200.501974, 1978, 1982
Joe Jordan  Scotland470.571974, 1978, 1982
Andrzej Szarmach  Poland7130.541974, 1978, 1982
Dominique Rocheteau  France4100.401978, 1982, 1986
Michel Platini  France5140.361978, 1982, 1986
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge  West Germany9190.471978, 1982, 1986
Diego Maradona  Argentina8210.381982, 1986, 1994
Rudi Völler  West Germany
 Germany
8150.531986, 1990,
1994
Lothar Matthäus  West Germany
 Germany
6250.241986, 1990,
1994
Roberto Baggio  Italy9160.561990, 1994, 1998
Jürgen Klinsmann  West Germany
 Germany
11170.651990,
1994, 1998
Gabriel Batistuta  Argentina10120.831994, 1998, 2002
Fernando Hierro  Spain5120.421994, 1998, 2002
Sami Al-Jaber  Saudi Arabia390.331994, 1998, 2006
Raúl  Spain5110.451998, 2002, 2006
Henrik Larsson  Sweden5130.381994, 2002, 2006
Ronaldo  Brazil15190.791998, 2002, 2006
David Beckham  England3130.231998, 2002, 2006
Park Ji-sung  South Korea3140.212002, 2006, 2010
Cuauhtémoc Blanco  Mexico3110.271998, 2002, 2010
Robin van Persie  Netherlands6170.352006, 2010, 2014
Arjen Robben  Netherlands6150.402006, 2010, 2014
Tim Cahill  Australia590.562006, 2010, 2014
Clint Dempsey  United States4100.402006, 2010, 2014
Asamoah Gyan  Ghana6110.552006, 2010, 2014
David Villa  Spain9120.752006, 2010, 2014
Rafael Márquez  Mexico3190.162006, 2010, 2014
Luis Suárez  Uruguay7160.442010, 2014, 2018
Javier Hernández  Mexico4120.332010, 2014, 2018
Keisuke Honda  Japan4100.402010, 2014, 2018
Edinson Cavani  Uruguay5170.292010, 2014, 2018
Xherdan Shaqiri   Switzerland5120.422014, 2018, 2022
Ivan Perišić  Croatia6170.352014, 2018, 2022
Neymar  Brazil8130.622014, 2018, 2022
Ángel Di María  Argentina3180.172014, 2018, 2022

Top goalscorers in final matches

Players with multiple goals in FIFA World Cup Finals
PlayerTeamGoals scoredFinals playedFinal(s)
Kylian Mbappé  France422018, 2022
Geoff Hurst  England311966
Vavá  Brazil21958, 1962
Pelé  Brazil21958, 1970
Zinedine Zidane  France21998, 2006
Gino Colaussi  Italy211938
Silvio Piola  Italy11938
Helmut Rahn  West Germany11954
Mario Kempes  Argentina11978
Paul Breitner  West Germany21974, 1982
Ronaldo  Brazil2(1998), 2002
Lionel Messi  Argentina2(2014), 2022
  • Bold indicates winning final
  • Parentheses indicates no goals scored

See also

Notes

References