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IFFHS World's Best Top Goal Scorer

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IFFHS World's Best Man Top Goal Scorer
SportAssociation football
Awarded forBest goal scorer of the calendar year
Presented byInternational Federation of Football History & Statistics
History
First award2011 (retroactive)
Editions13
First winnerPortugal Cristiano Ronaldo
Most winsPortugal Cristiano Ronaldo
(5 awards)
Most recentPortugal Cristiano Ronaldo
(5th award)
Websitewww.iffhs.com
Cristiano Ronaldo (left) has won the most awards while Lionel Messi (right) set the record for most calendar year goals.

The IFFHS World's Best Top Goal Scorer is a football award given annually since 2020,[1] and retroactively for the years 2011 to 2019,[2] to the world's top goalscorer in the calendar year. The award is given by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).

All international goals and all competitive goals for clubs playing in their country's top level division scored from 1 January to 31 December are taken into consideration.

Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record for most wins (5) while Lionel Messi holds the record for most goals in a calendar year (91 in 2012). Robert Lewandowski won the award with the fewest goals (47 in 2020).

Ronaldo (5), Messi (2) and Lewandowski (2) are the only players who have won the award more than once.

Ronaldo (Real Madrid & Al Nassr) is the only player to win the award with multiple clubs. Meanwhile, Al Nassr is the only club with multiple winners (Abderrazak Hamdallah in 2019 & Ronaldo in 2023).

In 2021, the IFFHS awarded the World's Best Goal Scorer of the first and second decade of the 21st century, considering the years 2001 to 2010 and 2011 to 2020.[3][4]

Men's winners

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List of winners

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Year Rank Player Club(s) Goals
2011 1st Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo[2] Spain Real Madrid 60
2nd Argentina Lionel Messi Spain FC Barcelona 59
3rd Latvia Aleksandrs Čekulajevs Estonia Narva Trans 56
2012 1st Argentina Lionel Messi[2] Spain Barcelona 91
2nd Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid 63
3rd Brazil Neymar Brazil Santos 55
2013 1st Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo[2] Spain Real Madrid 69
2nd Maldives Ali Ashfaq Maldives New Radiant 58
3rd Sweden Zlatan Ibrahimović France Paris Saint-Germain 47
2014 1st Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo[2] Spain Real Madrid 61
2nd Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona 58
3rd Spain Jonathan Soriano Austria Red Bull Salzburg 55
2015 1st Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo[2] Spain Real Madrid 57
2nd Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona 52
3rd Poland Robert Lewandowski Germany Bayern Munich 49
2016 1st Argentina Lionel Messi[2] Spain Barcelona 58
2nd Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid 55
3rd Uruguay Luis Suárez Spain Barcelona 51
2017 1st England Harry Kane[2] England Tottenham Hotspur 56
2nd Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona 54
3rd Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid 53
2018 1st Algeria Baghdad Bounedjah[2] Qatar Al-Sadd 58
2nd Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona 51
3rd Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid
Italy Juventus 		49
2019 1st Morocco Abderrazak Hamdallah[2] Saudi Arabia Al Nassr 57
2nd Poland Robert Lewandowski Germany Bayern Munich 54
3rd Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona 50
2020 1st Poland Robert Lewandowski[2] Germany Bayern Munich 47
2nd Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Italy Juventus 44
3rd Belgium Romelu Lukaku Italy Inter Milan 40
2021 1st Poland Robert Lewandowski[5] Germany Bayern Munich 69
2nd France Kylian Mbappé France Paris Saint-Germain 51
3rd Norway Erling Haaland Germany Borussia Dortmund 49
2022 1st France Kylian Mbappé[6] France Paris Saint-Germain 56
2nd Norway Erling Haaland Germany Borussia Dortmund
England Manchester City 		46
3rd Brazil Bergson Malaysia Johor Darul Ta'zim 46
2023 1st Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo[7] Saudi Arabia Al Nassr 54
2nd France Kylian Mbappé France Paris Saint-Germain 52
3rd England Harry Kane England Tottenham Hotspur
Germany Bayern Munich 		52

Statistics

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Winners (2011–present)
Player Wins Years
Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo 5 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2023
Argentina Lionel Messi 2 2012, 2016
Poland Robert Lewandowski 2020, 2021
England Harry Kane 1 2017
Algeria Baghdad Bounedjah 2018
Morocco Abderrazak Hamdallah 2019
France Kylian Mbappé 2022
Most goals in a year
Rank Player Year Goals
1 Argentina Lionel Messi 2012 91
2 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo 2013 69
Poland Robert Lewandowski 2021
4 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo 2012 63
5 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo 2014 61
6 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo 2011 60
7 Argentina Lionel Messi 2011 59
8 Maldives Ali Ashfaq 2013 58
Argentina Lionel Messi 2014
Argentina Lionel Messi 2016
Algeria Baghdad Bounedjah 2018
Wins by club
Club Total Players
Spain Real Madrid 4 1
Saudi Arabia Al Nassr 2 2
Spain Barcelona 2 1
Germany Bayern Munich 2 1
Qatar Al Sadd 1 1
France Paris Saint-Germain 1 1
England Tottenham Hotspur 1 1
Wins by nationality
Nationality Total Players
 Portugal 5 1
 Argentina 2 1
 Poland 2 1
 Algeria 1 1
 England 1 1
 France 1 1
 Morocco 1 1

The World's Best Top Goal Scorer of the First Decade (2001–2010)

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The final list includes the 32 players who scored 200 or more goals in top-tier national leagues, national cups, continental and international competitions with both club and national teams in the period of time from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2010.

Players with at least 250 goals
Rank Player Nation Club(s) Goals for country Goals for club(s) Total goals
1 Aleksandar Đurić  Singapore Singapore Geylang United
Singapore Singapore Armed Forces
Singapore Tampines Rovers 		16 311 327
2 Washington  Brazil Brazil Ponte Preta
Turkey Fenerbahçe
Brazil Athletico Paranaense
Japan Tokyo Verdy
Japan Urawa Red Diamonds
Brazil Fluminense
Brazil São Paulo 		2 281 283
3 Thierry Henry  France England Arsenal
Spain Barcelona
United States New York Red Bulls 		43 238 281
4 Ruud van Nistelrooy  Netherlands Netherlands PSV Eindhoven
England Manchester United
Spain Real Madrid
Germany Hamburger SV 		33 242 275
5 Samuel Eto'o  Cameroon Spain Mallorca
Spain Barcelona
Italy Inter Milan 		44 227 271
6 Marc Lloyd Williams  Wales Wales Bangor City
England Southport
Wales Aberystwyth Town
Wales Total Network Solution
Wales Rhyl
Wales Newtown
Wales Porthmadog
Wales Airbus UK Broughton 		0 271 271

The World's Best Top Goal Scorer of the Second Decade (2011–2020)

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From 2011 to 2020, Zlatan Ibrahimović scored a total of 340 goals for club and country.

The final list includes the 41 players who scored 200 or more goals in top-tier national leagues, national cups, continental and international competitions with both club and national teams in the period of time from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2020.

The results were posted on the IFFHS' official website on 4 January 2021.[3]

Players with at least 200 goals
Rank Player Nation Club(s) Goals for country Goals for club(s) Total goals
1 Cristiano Ronaldo  Portugal Spain Real Madrid
Italy Juventus 		77 473 550
2 Lionel Messi  Argentina Spain Barcelona 56 493 549
3 Robert Lewandowski  Poland Germany Borussia Dortmund
Germany Bayern Munich 		54 363 417
4 Zlatan Ibrahimović  Sweden Italy Milan
France Paris Saint-Germain
England Manchester United
United States LA Galaxy 		37 303 340
5 Luis Suárez  Uruguay England Liverpool
Spain Barcelona
Spain Atlético Madrid 		47 288 335
6 Edinson Cavani  Uruguay Italy Napoli
France Paris Saint-Germain
England Manchester United 		43 291 334
7 Neymar[a]  Brazil Brazil Santos
Spain Barcelona
France Paris Saint-Germain 		63 264 327
8 Sergio Agüero  Argentina Spain Atlético Madrid
England Manchester City 		32 270 302
9 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang[b]  Gabon France Saint-Étienne
Germany Borussia Dortmund
England Arsenal 		21 257 278
10 Sebastián Tagliabúe  United Arab Emirates Saudi Arabia Ettifaq
Saudi Arabia Al-Shabab
United Arab Emirates Al-Wahda
United Arab Emirates Al-Nasr 		1 264 265
11 Eran Zahavi  Israel Israel Hapoel Tel Aviv
Italy Palermo
Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv
China Guangzhou R&F
Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 		24 240 264
12 Karim Benzema  France Spain Real Madrid 16 243 259
13 Romelu Lukaku[c]  Belgium Belgium Anderlecht
England West Bromwich Albion
England Everton
England Manchester United
Italy Inter Milan 		55 203 258
14 Omar Al Somah  Syria Syria Al Futowa
Kuwait Al Qadsia
Saudi Arabia Al Ahli 		15 240 255
15 Ali Mabkhout  United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates Al-Jazira 65 185 250
16 Gonzalo Higuaín  Argentina Spain Real Madrid
Italy Napoli
Italy Juventus
Italy Milan
England Chelsea
United States Inter Miami 		24 218 242
17 Ali Ashfaq  Maldives Maldives VB Sports Club
Maldives New Radiant
Malaysia PDRM FA
Maldives Maziya S&RC
Maldives TC Sports Club
Maldives Club Green Streets
Maldives Club Valencia 		37 205 242
18 Nemanja Nikolić  Hungary Hungary Videoton
Poland Legia Warsaw
United States Chicago Fire
Hungary Fehérvár 		7 235 242
19 Abderrazak Hamdallah  Morocco Morocco Olympic Safi
Norway Aalesund
China Guangzhou R&F
Qatar El Jaish
Qatar Al-Rayyan SC
Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr 		6 231 237
20 Harry Kane[d]  England England Tottenham Hotspur 32 204 236
21 Burak Yılmaz  Turkey Turkey Trabzonspor
Turkey Galatasaray
China Beijing Sinobo Guoan
Turkey Beşiktaş
France Lille 		24 210 234
22 Mohamed Salah  Egypt Egypt Al Mokawloon
Switzerland Basel
England Chelsea
Italy Fiorentina
Italy Roma
England Liverpool 		43 186 229
23 Antoine Griezmann  France Spain Real Sociedad
Spain Atlético Madrid
Spain Barcelona 		33 196 229
24 Carlos Saucedo[e]  Bolivia Bolivia San José
Costa Rica Saprissa
Bolivia Oriente Petrolero
Bolivia Blooming
Bolivia Real Potosí
Bolivia Guabirá
Bolivia Royal Pari 		7 221 228
25 Edin Džeko  Bosnia and Herzegovina England Manchester City
Italy Roma 		42 185 227
26 Bafétimbi Gomis  France France Lyon
Wales Swansea City
France Marseille
Turkey Galatasaray
Saudi Arabia Al Hilal 		1 225 226
27 Baghdad Bounedjah  Algeria Algeria USM El Harrach
Tunisia Étoile du Sahel
Qatar Al Sadd 		17 207 224
28 Radamel Falcao  Colombia Portugal Porto
Spain Atlético Madrid
France Monaco
England Manchester United
England Chelsea
Turkey Galatasaray 		29 194 223
29 Youssef El-Arabi  Morocco France Caen
Saudi Arabia Al Hilal
Spain Granada
Qatar Al-Duhail
Greece Olympiacos 		16 207 223
30 Klæmint Olsen  Faroe Islands Faroe Islands NSÍ Runavík 5 215 220
31 André-Pierre Gignac  France France Marseille
Mexico UANL 		3 216 219
32 Olivier Giroud  France France Montpellier
England Arsenal
England Chelsea 		44 174 218
33 Thomas Müller  Germany Germany Bayern Munich 33 180 213
34 Dejan Damjanović  Montenegro South Korea FC Seoul
China Jiangsu Suning
China Beijing Sinobo Guoan
South Korea Suwon Samsung Bluewings
South Korea Daegu FC 		6 204 210
35 Jonathan Soriano[f]  Spain Austria Red Bull Salzburg
China Beijing Sinobo Guoan
Saudi Arabia Al Hilal 		0 207 207
36 Hulk  Brazil Portugal Porto
Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg
China Shanghai SIPG 		11 194 205
37 Dries Mertens  Belgium Netherlands Utrecht
Netherlands PSV Eindhoven
Italy Napoli 		21 182 203
38 Esteban Paredes  Chile Chile Colo-Colo
Mexico Atlante
Mexico Querétaro 		6 196 202
39 Greg Draper  New Zealand Wales The New Saints 0 202 202
40 Bas Dost[g]  Netherlands Netherlands Heerenveen
Germany VfL Wolfsburg
Portugal Sporting CP
Germany Eintracht Frankfurt 		1 200 201
41 Joe Gormley[h]  Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Cliftonville 0 200 200

All-time World's Best Goal Scorer ranking

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Main article: List of footballers with 500 or more goals § Footballers with 500 or more goals
Romário ranks 4th in the All-time World's Best Goal Scorer ranking with 756 goals.
As of 2 November 2024[8][9]
Bold indicates players currently active.
* indicates player has scored at least 500 goals for a single club.[10]
Players with at least 500 goals
Rank Player League Cup Continental Country & other Total Years
1 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo 553 56 165 133 907 2002–present
2 Argentina Lionel Messi* 517 71 149 112 849 2004–present
3 Brazil Pelé* 604 49 26 83 762 1957–1977
4 Brazil Romário 545 93 54 64 756 1985–2007
5 Hungary Ferenc Puskás 516 69 56 84 725 1943–1966
6 Austria Czechoslovakia Josef Bican* 515 137 38 32 722 1931–1955
7 Poland Robert Lewandowski 400 57 107 84 648 2008–present
8 Northern Ireland Jimmy Jones* 330 286 14 9 648 1947–1964
9 Germany Gerd Müller* 405 92 69 68 634 1964–1981
10 Ireland Joe Bambrick* 347 253 5 21 626 1926–1943
11 Netherlands Abe Lenstra 573 18 0 33 624 1936–1963
12 Uruguay Luis Suárez 409 48 57 69 583 2005–present
13 Portugal Eusébio 381 97 59 41 578 1960–1978
14 Northern Ireland Glenn Ferguson 313 241 9 0 563 1987–2011
15 Sweden Zlatan Ibrahimović 394 48 57 62 561 1999–2023
16 Hungary Imre Schlosser 413 68 13 59 553 1906–1928
17 Portugal Fernando Peyroteo* 464 72 3 14 553 1937–1949
18 Germany Uwe Seeler* 447 41 21 43 552 1954–1978
19 Scotland Jimmy McGrory* 407 131 0 12 550 1923–1937
20 Argentina Spain Alfredo Di Stéfano 378 54 76 29 537 1945–1966
21 Hungary György Sárosi 350 35 103 42 530 1931–1948
22 Brazil Roberto Dinamite 476 10 5 22 513 1971–1992
23 Mexico Hugo Sánchez 390 49 38 30 507 1976–1997
24 Austria Franz Binder 297 93 87 26 503 1930–1949
25 Brazil Zico 410 27 16 48 501 1971–1994

Women's winners

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IFFHS World's Best Woman Top Goal Scorer
SportAssociation football
Awarded forBest goal scorer of the calendar year
Presented byInternational Federation of Football History & Statistics
History
First award2021
Editions3
First winnerSpain Jennifer Hermoso
Most winsSpain Jennifer Hermoso
Netherlands Fenna Kalma
Malawi Temwa Chawinga
(1 award each)
Most recentMalawi Temwa Chawinga (1st award)
Websitewww.iffhs.com

List of winners

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Year Rank Player Club(s) Goals
2021 1st Spain Jennifer Hermoso[11] Spain Barcelona 48
2nd Germany Lea Schüller Germany Bayern Munich 47
3rd Spain Alexia Putellas Spain Barcelona 43
2022 1st Netherlands Fenna Kalma[12] Netherlands Twente 45
2nd Australia Sam Kerr England Chelsea 38
3rd Belgium Tessa Wullaert Belgium Anderlecht
Netherlands Fortuna Sittard 		38
2023 1st Malawi Temwa Chawinga[13] China Wuhan Jiangda 63
2nd Mexico Charlyn Corral Mexico Pachuca 39
3rd Mexico Kiana Palacios Mexico América 38

Statistics

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Winners (2021–present)
Player Wins Years
Spain Jennifer Hermoso 1 2021
Netherlands Fenna Kalma 1 2022
Malawi Temwa Chawinga 1 2023
Most goals in a year
Rank Player Year Goals
1 Malawi Temwa Chawinga 2023 63
2 Spain Jennifer Hermoso 2021 48
3 Germany Lea Schüller 2021 47
4 Netherlands Fenna Kalma 2022 45
5 Spain Alexia Putellas 2021 43
6 Mexico Charlyn Corral 2023 39
7 Australia Sam Kerr 2022 38
Belgium Tessa Wullaert 2022
Wins by club
Club Total Players
Spain Barcelona 1 1
Netherlands Twente 1 1
China Wuhan Jiangda 1 1
Wins by nationality
Nationality Total Players
 Malawi 1 1
 Netherlands 1 1
 Spain 1 1

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ In regards to Neymar's statistics during his spell at Santos (2011–2013), the IFFHS chose to consider the Campeonato Paulista (the top-flight league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, of which Santos is a municipality) as a national league. As a result, the official stats for Neymar include goals scored in two different Brazilian leagues: the Campeonato Paulista and the Brasileirão.
  2. ^ As the statistics are calculated starting from 1 January 2011, two goals from Aubameyang's loan spell at Monaco (from Milan) in the first half of the 2010–11 season are left out of the total amount. The Gabonese striker joined Saint-Étienne in January 2011 on another loan, and eventually signed for the French team on a permanent deal the following December.
  3. ^ Lukaku was registered for Chelsea between 2011 and 2014, but he never scored during his first season with the club and was loaned, respectively, to West Bromwich Albion and Everton (which eventually signed him permanently) during the following couple of years.
  4. ^ 14 goals scored during 2011 and 2013 are not counted, as Kane was playing in lower divisions (for Leyton Orient, Millwall and Leicester City); he additionally never scored during his time in the Premier League with Norwich City. For this reason, while his first goal in a continental competition traces back to 15 December 2011 (in a 4–0 away win against Shamrock Rovers in the UEFA Europa League group stage), he scored his first goals with a top-tier club, Tottenham Hotspur, on 30 October 2013 (in the League Cup) and on 7 April 2014 (in the Premier League).
  5. ^ Saucedo's spell at Colombian club Independiente Medellín in 2011 wasn't considered, as the Bolivian striker never scored during that time.
  6. ^ The goals scored by Soriano for Barcelona B in 2011 are not counted, as the team was competing in the Spanish second tier. For the same reason, his one goal scored for Girona in the 2019–20 season is left out of the total amount.
  7. ^ On 24 December 2020, Dost joined Club Brugge on a permanent basis, but his first goal for the Belgian team is not counted, as it was scored on 10 January 2021, ten days after the limit date set for the counting (31 December 2020).
  8. ^ In 2016, Gormley played for Scottish Premiership team St Johnstone (on loan from English League One side Peterborough United), but never scored a goal during that spell.

References

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  1. ^ "IFFHS AWARDS 2020 - ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WINNERS ON DECEMBER 5, 2020". IFFHS. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "IFFHS WORLD'S BEST TOP GOAL SCORERS 2011 TO 2020". IFFHS. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b "IFFHS WORLD'S BEST TOP GOAL SCORER OF THE DECADE 2011-2020 - CRISTIANO RONALDO". IFFHS. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  4. ^ "IFFHS ranking for goal-scorers of 1st Decade XXI". IFFHS. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  5. ^ "IFFHS MEN'S WORLD BEST TOP GOALSCORER 2021". IFFHS. 1 January 2022. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  6. ^ "IFFHS AWARDS 2022 - MEN'S WORLD BEST GOAL SCORER". IFFHS. 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  7. ^ "IFFHS MEN'S WORLD BEST GOAL SCORER 2023". IFFHS. 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  8. ^ "IFFHS Statistics - All time goal scorer ranking". International Federation of Football History & Statistics. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  9. ^ "THE WORLD'S BEST GOALSCORER OF XXI CENTURY". International Federation of Football History & Statistics. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  10. ^ "Dollars, droughts and a half-millennium". FIFA. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  11. ^ "IFFHS WOMEN'S WORLD BEST TOP GOALSCORER 2021". IFFHS. 31 December 2021. Archived from the original on 1 January 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  12. ^ "IFFHS AWARDS 2022 - WOMEN'S WORLD BEST GOAL SCORER". IFFHS. 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  13. ^ "IFFHS WOMEN'S WORLD BEST GOAL SCORER 2023". IFFHS. 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
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