IFFHS ALL TIME RANKING

• Apr 8, 2023
• History Statistics

Picture : Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi , who else !

IFFHS all-time goal-scorers ranking  

At the end of March, Lionel Messi has reached and crossed the landmark of 800 top level goals. In this connection, we publish an updated ranking for world’s best goal-scorers of all time, with inclusion of all players who amassed 500+ top-level goals throughout their careers; 5 of them are active (taken bold).

	ALL-TIME	BEST	GOAL	SCORERS
	Player	Goals	Nationality	Career	NL	OL	NC	OC	IP	MIC	OIC	NT	OS
1	Cristiano Ronaldo	834	Portugal	2002-	509		41	10		152		122
2	Lionel Messi	803	Argentina	2004-	493		56	15		137		102
	Erwin Helmchen	769	Germany	1923-1951	23	690	16		40
3	Pelé	762	Brazil	1957-1977	138	466		49	6	26		77
4	Romário	755	Brazil	1985-2007	311	233	51	42	2	54		55	7
5	Ferenc Puskás	724	Hungary, Spain	1943-1966	515		69			38	18	84
6	Josef Bican	722	Austria, BM, CS	1931-1955	515		75	59		15	26	32
7	Jimmy Jones	648	Northern Ireland	1947-1964	332		43	247		2	12	1	11
8	Gerd Müller	634	Germany	1964-1981	405		78	14		69		68
9	Joe Bambrick	629	Northern Ireland	1926-1943	348		40	220				12	9
10	Abe Lenstra	624	Netherlands	1936-1963	289	284	18					33
11	Eusébio	619	Portugal	1957-1978	422		97			59		41
12	Robert Lewandowski	593	Poland	2008-	361		43	10		101		78
13	Glenn Ferguson	563	Northern Ireland	1987-2011	313		56	185		6	3
14	Zlatan Ibrahimović	561	Sweden	1999-	394		33	15		57		62
15	Fernando Peyroteo	553	Portugal	1937-1949	332	132	70	2			3	14
16	Uwe Seeler	552	Germany	1954-1978	180	267	24	17		21		43
17	Jimmy McGrory	552	Scotland	1922-1937	409		77	54				6	6
18	Alfredo Di Stéfano	530	Argentina, Spain	1945-1966	376		55			50	20	29
19	Luis Suárez	529	Uruguay	2005-	364		38	6		53		68
20	György Sárosi	517	Hungary	1930-1948	351		22			50	52	42
21	Roberto Dinamite	511	Brazil	1971-1992	192	284	1	7	2	5		20
22	Hugo Sánchez	507	Mexico	1976-1997	390		33	16		36	2	29	1
23	Imre Schlosser	504	Hungary	1905-1928	417		12	6			10	59
24	Franz Binder	503	Austria, Germany	1930-1949	297		93			10	77	26

Abbreviatures:
NL = National Leagues (top divisions), 
RL = Regional Leagues (taken in account only having the strength comparable to national league; Carioca and Paulista for Romário, Pelé and Roberto Dinamite, Lisbon Championship for Peyroteo, Oberliga Nord for Seeler, Netherlands North for Lenstra),
NC = (major) National Cup,
OC = other relevant domestic club tournaments, including League Cup, SuperCup, Torneio Rio-São Paulo etc.,
IP = Inter-Provincial competitions, 
MIC = major international club competitions, including UEFA and CONMEBOL continental tournaments, Mitropa Cup until 1940, InterContinental Cup, Club World Cup,
OIC = other relevant international club competitions, 
NT = National Team (only “full internationals”),
OS = other relevant selections (final tournaments of Olympic Games until 1988, Inter-League games).

Erwin Helmchen is included in the list but not ranked as his RL are not considered relevant.