The FIFA World Cup is not only the most prestigious competition of the world’s most popular sport Football/Soccer, but it is also the most-watched sporting event in the world in general. It’s a tournament that takes place every four years and has been running since 1930, making it also one of the oldest still existing tournaments in the world. Every four years the World Cup manages to make the world stand still for one month.
It is on the biggest stage of the world’s biggest sport where football legends and national heroes are being created. While all positions play a role in a team’s success, strikers generally enjoy the brightest spotlight. When it comes down to it, football is all about scoring goals after all. Most, though not all, of the top World Cup goal scorers, managed to go on to win the World Cup for their country.
The following ranking lists the Top 10 World Cup Goal Scorers of All Time by the number of goals they managed to score at the World Cup and their achieved goal ratio.
Note: Click the following for the ranking of the All-Time Top 10 Champions League Goal Scorers.
Top 10 World Cup Goal Scorers of All Time
(as of after the 2022 World Cup)
1. Miroslav Klose
2. Ronaldo Nazario
3. Gerd Muller
4. Just Fontaine
5. Lionel Messi
6. Pele do Nascimento
7. Kylian Mbappe
8. Sandor Kocsis
9. Jurgen Klinsmann
10. Helmut Rahn
Top 10 World Cup Goal Scorers of All Time
(as of after the 2022 World Cup)
| Top 10 World Cup Goal Scorers of All Time: |
|---|
| 1. MIROSLAV KLOSE Germany 16 goals in 24 games Goal Ratio: 0.67 |
| 2. RONALDO NAZARIO Brazil 15 goals in 19 games Goal Ratio: 0.79 |
| 3. GERD MULLER Germany 14 goals in 13 games Goal Ratio: 1.08 |
| 4. JUST FONTAINE France 13 goals in 6 games Goal Ratio: 2.17 |
| 5. LIONEL MESSI Argentina 13 goals in 26 games Goal Ratio: 0.5 |
| 6. PELE DO NASCIMENTO (3 World Cups won) Brazil 12 goals in 14 games Goal Ratio: 0.86 |
| 7. KYLIAN MBAPPE (1 World Cup won) France 12 goals in 14 games Goal Ratio: 0.86 |
| 8. SANDOR KOCSIS Hungary 11 goals in 5 games Goal Ratio: 2.20 |
| 9. JURGEN KLINSMANN Germany 11 goals in 17 games Goal Ratio: 0.65 |
| 10. HELMUT RAHN Germany 10 goals in 10 games Goal Ratio: 1.00 |
| (as of after the 2022 World Cup) |
Top 10 World Cup Goal Scorers of All Time by the number of goals scored at all World Cups. Qualifying games for the World Cup and penalties scored during penalty shootouts do not count.
Tiebreaker: Better/Higher goal ratio and then more World Cups won.