An 11 of Players with the Most Goals Scored in Football History

If few footballers (in proportion to the number of players in the world) can be described as ‘legends’, even fewer can be compared to a ‘myth’. In fact, there is perhaps only one: Pele.

It has to be said that the man nicknamed ‘O Rei’ perfectly fits the definition of a term with roots far older than football. The Brazilian is a popular hero around whom many collective fantasies revolve. Establishing the exact number of goals he has scored in his long and illustrious career is one of them.

And even if the answer to that question remains unclear, everyone agrees that Edson Arantes do Nascimento, his real name, was and will remain considered one of the greatest goalscorers in the history of the game. However, he is not the only player to have achieved such renown since the end of the 19th century, when the game was in its infancy and became the most popular sport on the planet.

That’s why GIVEMESPORT has decided to compile an XI of the players who have scored the most goals in the history of football. For the purpose of fairness, only goals scored in their corresponding position in the team is taken into account.

Goalkeeper – Rogerio Ceni

131 goals scored

Is there any player more capable of opening up this XI than Rogerio Ceni? Certainly not. For the legendary goalkeeper of Sao Paulo, the club where he spent almost his entire career, is quite simply recognised as the most prolific goalkeeper of all time.

A record, or rather one of his records (he is also the player who has played the most games for a single club and the one with the most games played as captain), set thanks to 131 goals, all – with the exception of one – coming from penalties (69 goals) or direct free-kicks (61 goals). So the idea of having a goalkeeper who is comfortable on the ball is not a new phenomenon.

Right-Back – James Tavernier

137 goals scored

James Tavernier is undoubtedly one of the best English players never to have won a cap for the Three Lions. Yet it is hard to deny that he at least deserved to celebrate one. Known for his exceptional goalscoring ability, the right-back, captain and symbol of Rangers’ return to the top flight, where he has now played for a decade, has no fewer than 137 career goals to his name.

That makes him the UK’s highest-scoring defender ever – ahead of Graham Alexander’s 130. And if you thought that was an unusual tally, wait until you hear that he ended the 2021/22 edition of the Europa League as the competition’s top scorer (seven goals).

Centre-Back – Ronald Koeman

253 goals scored

However, Tavernier is not the first defender to be crowned top scorer in a European competition. Nearly 20 years earlier, Ronald Koeman also won the prestigious Golden Boot. The reward for a breathtaking 1993/94 Champions League campaign in which the Dutchman found the net eight times.

The former Barcelona man is no stranger to scoring, having racked up more than 250 goals in his 17-year professional career. That’s an average of almost 15 goals a year. So it comes as no surprise to learn that the four-time Dutch champion continues to top the list of highest-scoring defenders in football history.

Centre-Back – Daniel Passarella

175 goals scored

If ever there was a player who proved that size isn’t everything, it’s Daniel Passarella. At 5in8ft, few would have predicted that the Argentinian would go on to become one of the greatest defenders of his generation. Yet his defensive talent was certainly matched only by his attacking prowess.

The 175 goals he scored over the course of his career bear witness to this. As do the words of Diego Armando Maradona, with whom Passarella had a sometimes contentious relationship, who described him as ‘the best defender he had ever seen’. Admittedly, it’s hard to beat that in terms of authority.

Related

With the likes of Messi and Maradona included, here is an XI of the greatest left-footed players in football history.

Left-Back – Roberto Carlos

127 goals scored

Considered one of the best left-backs in football history, Roberto Carlos was certainly a player ahead of his time. The personification of what is now described as the ‘modern’ full-back, a player whose attacking influence almost tends to take precedence over his defensive abilities – which are no less important.

This is certainly what has enabled the Brazilian to embark on such a brilliant career, both for club and country. A player of exceptional quality, known for the brutality of his shots and the precision of his free-kicks. And if you want to see for yourself, his famous 40-yard banana strike against France in 1997 is a perfect example.

Central Midfield – Fritz Walter

381 goals scored

Life can sometimes be turned upside down at the drop of a hat. Fritz Walter can testify to this. Although he is now considered one of the greatest German players of all time, his life – and by extension his career – could have taken a very different turn.

Arrested by the Red Army in 1945, at the end of a war in which he had taken part as a Wehrmacht infantryman, the midfielder was spared the gulag by Russian Marshal Georgi Zhukov, a great football fan, who offered him his freedom. It was a stroke of luck that allowed the 1954 world champion to return to 1. FC Kaiserlautern, which he had been forced to leave three years earlier, where he played until 1959, scoring 348 of his 381 goals.

Central Midfield – Zico

518 goals scored

Never in history has a midfielder scored as many goals as the great Zico. 517, to be precise, including . All the more reason why the Brazilian is still considered one of the greatest players of his generation.

Best known for his achievements with Flamengo, the former No10 also made a name for himself in Europe, during his two-season spell with Udinese, and in Japan, where he ended his career with Kashima Antlers. A player of a much higher calibre than the average, for whom the absence of a World Cup title certainly remains the biggest regret of his dazzling career.

Central Midfield – Michel Platini

354 goals scored

Since it’s sometimes necessary to get wet, let’s be clear about one thing: Michel Platini is certainly the greatest French player of all time. And while, unlike Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry and Kylian Mbappe, ‘Platoche’ never managed to win the World Cup, he has no fewer than three Ballon d’Or awards to his name.

Which, in itself, leaves no doubt as to his talent. A playmaker of uncommon talent, whose hundreds of goals are just a sample of what he is capable of, having shone just as brightly in his homeland, with Nancy and Saint-Étienne, as he did at Juventus, where he embraced the pinnacle of his career.

Right Wing – Lionel Messi

383 goals scored

What would a ‘best of’ article look like without Lionel Messi’s name in it? We look forward to your answers. Because yes, the Argentinian is definitely one of the best. For many, he’s even THE best. A player like no other, whose years and repeated performances have helped him become one of the great legends of the sport – or, more simply, of sport in general.

From Newell’s Old Boys to Barcelona, Albiceleste and Paris Saint-Germain, ‘La Pulga’, as he is known, has changed football forever. And just to be clear, the 457 goals listed here are only those he scored as a right winger – except for Argentina. Or at least when he started games in that position. Because anyone who has seen him play knows that Messi cannot be restricted to a simple position.

3:05

Related

The 35 greatest footballers of all time have been named but who comes out on top; Messi, Ronaldo or Maradona?

Left Wing – Cristiano Ronaldo

408 goals scored

As in the case of Messi, the goals scored by Cristiano Ronaldo correspond to those scored when he starts on the left wing. In reality, these represent ‘only’ 39% of his total goals scored in clubs. Yes, that’s right. Because if we take into account only those matches considered official, the Portuguese is none other than the top goalscorer in football history.

A status that is perhaps the most prestigious there is for a striker, and one that naturally earns him constant mention in debates about the greatest players in history. And the fact that a full list of his achievements would be far too long for the scope of this article speaks volumes about the place he would occupy in that ranking.

For Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the number of goals displayed corresponds solely to those scored in their designated positions, for both club and country.

Striker – Pele

762 goals scored

In our introduction, we mentioned the difficulties encountered by football historians in accurately referencing the number of goals scored by Pele during his career. However, if, according to some voices (including his own), the Brazilian striker found the back of the net on more than 1,200 occasions (including friendly matches), it would appear that the former Santos player actually scored 762 in official matches. Which, let’s agree, is quite simply phenomenal.

It is also a record for a player used to playing in the centre of the forward line. After all, it’s not the ‘people say’ or the approximations that have enabled him to win three World Cups and be crowned ‘player of the 20th century’ by FIFA.