IFFHS World's Best Top Goal Scorer

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)
Editions15
First winner Cristiano Ronaldo
Most wins Cristiano Ronaldo
(5 awards)
Most recent Kylian Mbappé
(2nd award)
Websitewww.iffhs.com

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), Lewandowski (2) and Kylian Mbappé (2) are the only players who have won the award more than once.

Ronaldo (Real Madrid and Al Nassr) and Mbappė (PSG and Real Madrid) are the only players to win the award with multiple clubs.

Meanwhile, Al Nassr (Abderrazak Hamdallah in 2019 and Ronaldo in 2023) & Real Madrid (Ronaldo in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and Mbappė in 2025) are the only clubs with multiple winners.

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

List of winners

Year Rank Player Club(s) Goals
2011 1st Cristiano Ronaldo[2] Real Madrid 60
2nd Lionel Messi FC Barcelona 59
3rd Aleksandrs Čekulajevs Narva Trans 56
2012 1st Lionel Messi[2] Barcelona 91
2nd Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid 63
3rd Neymar Santos 55
2013 1st Cristiano Ronaldo[2] Real Madrid 69
2nd Ali Ashfaq New Radiant 58
3rd Zlatan Ibrahimović Paris Saint-Germain 47
2014 1st Cristiano Ronaldo[2] Real Madrid 61
2nd Lionel Messi Barcelona 58
3rd Jonathan Soriano Red Bull Salzburg 55
2015 1st Cristiano Ronaldo[2] Real Madrid 57
2nd Lionel Messi Barcelona 52
3rd Robert Lewandowski Bayern Munich 49
2016 1st Lionel Messi[2] Barcelona 58
2nd Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid 55
3rd Luis Suárez Barcelona 51
2017 1st Harry Kane[2] Tottenham Hotspur 56
2nd Lionel Messi Barcelona 54
3rd Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid 53
2018 1st Baghdad Bounedjah[2] Al-Sadd 58
2nd Lionel Messi Barcelona 51
3rd Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid
Juventus 		49
2019 1st Abderrazak Hamdallah[2] Al Nassr 57
2nd Robert Lewandowski Bayern Munich 54
3rd Lionel Messi Barcelona 50
2020 1st Robert Lewandowski[2] Bayern Munich 47
2nd Cristiano Ronaldo Juventus 44
3rd Romelu Lukaku Inter Milan 40
2021 1st Robert Lewandowski[5] Bayern Munich 69
2nd Kylian Mbappé Paris Saint-Germain 51
3rd Erling Haaland Borussia Dortmund 49
2022 1st Kylian Mbappé[6] Paris Saint-Germain 56
2nd Erling Haaland Borussia Dortmund
Manchester City 		46
3rd Bergson Johor Darul Ta'zim 46
2023 1st Cristiano Ronaldo[7] Al Nassr 54
2nd Kylian Mbappé Paris Saint-Germain 52
3rd Harry Kane Tottenham Hotspur
Bayern Munich 		52
2024 1st Viktor Gyökeres[8] Sporting CP 62
2nd Erling Haaland Manchester City 49
3rd Harry Kane Bayern Munich 46
2025 1st Kylian Mbappé[9] Real Madrid 66
2nd Harry Kane Bayern Munich 60
3rd Erling Haaland Manchester City 57

Statistics

Winners (2011–present)
Player Wins Years
Cristiano Ronaldo 5 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2023
Lionel Messi 2 2012, 2016
Robert Lewandowski 2020, 2021
Kylian Mbappé 2022, 2025
Harry Kane 1 2017
Baghdad Bounedjah 2018
Abderrazak Hamdallah 2019
Viktor Gyökeres 2024
Most goals in a year
Rank Player Year Goals
1 Lionel Messi 2012 91
2 Cristiano Ronaldo 2013 69
Robert Lewandowski 2021
4 Kylian Mbappé 2025 66
5 Cristiano Ronaldo 2012 63
6 Viktor Gyökeres 2024 62
7 Cristiano Ronaldo 2014 61
8 Cristiano Ronaldo 2011 60
Harry Kane 2025


Wins by club
Club Total Players
Real Madrid 5 2
Al Nassr 2 2
Barcelona 2 1
Bayern Munich 2 1
Al Sadd 1 1
Paris Saint-Germain 1 1
Tottenham Hotspur 1 1
Sporting CP 1 1
Wins by nationality
Nationality Total Players
 Portugal 5 1
 Argentina 2 1
 France 2 1
 Poland 2 1
 Algeria 1 1
 England 1 1
 Morocco 1 1
 Sweden 1 1

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

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.

The results were posted on the IFFHS' official website on 25 September 2022.[10]

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

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

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 250 goals
Rank Player Nation Club(s) Goals for country Goals for club(s) Total goals
1 Cristiano Ronaldo  Portugal Real Madrid
Juventus 		77 473 550
2 Lionel Messi  Argentina Barcelona 56 493 549
3 Robert Lewandowski  Poland Borussia Dortmund
Bayern Munich 		54 363 417
4 Zlatan Ibrahimović  Sweden Milan
Paris Saint-Germain
Manchester United
LA Galaxy 		37 303 340
5 Luis Suárez  Uruguay Liverpool
Barcelona
Atlético Madrid 		47 288 335
6 Edinson Cavani  Uruguay Napoli
Paris Saint-Germain
Manchester United 		43 291 334
7 Neymar[a]  Brazil Santos
Barcelona
Paris Saint-Germain 		63 264 327
8 Sergio Agüero  Argentina Atlético Madrid
Manchester City 		32 270 302
9 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang[b]  Gabon Saint-Étienne
Borussia Dortmund
Arsenal 		21 257 278
10 Sebastián Tagliabúe  United Arab Emirates Ettifaq
Al-Shabab
Al-Wahda
Al-Nasr 		1 264 265
11 Eran Zahavi  Israel Hapoel Tel Aviv
Palermo
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Guangzhou R&F
PSV Eindhoven 		24 240 264
12 Karim Benzema  France Real Madrid 16 243 259
13 Romelu Lukaku[c]  Belgium Anderlecht
West Bromwich Albion
Everton
Manchester United
Inter Milan 		55 203 258
14 Omar Al Somah  Syria Al Futowa
Al Qadsia
Al Ahli 		15 240 255
15 Ali Mabkhout  United Arab Emirates Al-Jazira 65 185 250

The World's Best Top Goal Scorer of the Third Decade (2021–2030)

The provisional results were posted on the IFFHS' official website on 4 February 2026.[11]

Players with at least 200 goals
Rank Player Nation Club(s) Goals for country Goals for club(s) Total goals
1 Kylian Mbappé  France Paris Saint-Germain
Real Madrid 		39 225 264
2 Erling Haaland  Norway Borussia Dortmund
Manchester City 		49 202 251
3 Harry Kane  England Tottenham Hotspur
Bayern Munich 		46 191 237
4 Robert Lewandowski  Poland Bayern Munich
Barcelona 		25 187 212
5 Cristiano Ronaldo  Portugal Juventus
Manchester United
Al Nassr 		41 160 201

All-time World's Best Goal Scorer ranking

Main article: List of footballers with 500 or more goals § Footballers with 500 or more goals
As of 2 November 2024[12][13]
Bold indicates players currently active.
* indicates player has scored at least 500 goals for a single club.[14]
Players with at least 500 goals
Rank Player League Cup Continental Country & other Total Years
1 Cristiano Ronaldo 556 56 168 135 960 2002–present
2 Lionel Messi* 517 71 149 112 849 2004–present
3 Pelé* 604 49 26 83 762 1957–1977
4 Romário 545 93 54 64 756 1985–2007
5 Ferenc Puskás 516 69 56 84 725 1943–1966
6 Josef Bican* 515 137 38 32 722 1931–1955
7 Robert Lewandowski 400 57 107 84 648 2008–present
8 Jimmy Jones* 330 286 14 9 648 1947–1964
9 Gerd Müller* 405 92 69 68 634 1964–1981
10 Joe Bambrick* 347 253 5 21 626 1926–1943
11 Abe Lenstra 573 18 0 33 624 1936–1963
12 Luis Suárez 409 48 57 69 583 2005–present
13 Eusébio 381 97 59 41 578 1960–1978
14 Glenn Ferguson 313 241 9 0 563 1987–2011
15 Zlatan Ibrahimović 394 48 57 62 561 1999–2023
16 Imre Schlosser 413 68 13 59 553 1906–1928
17 Fernando Peyroteo* 464 72 3 14 553 1937–1949
18 Uwe Seeler* 447 41 21 43 552 1954–1978
19 Jimmy McGrory* 407 131 0 12 550 1923–1937
20 Alfredo Di Stéfano 378 54 76 29 537 1945–1966
21 György Sárosi 350 35 103 42 530 1931–1948
22 Roberto Dinamite 476 10 5 22 513 1971–1992
23 Hugo Sánchez 390 49 38 30 507 1976–1997
24 Franz Binder 297 93 87 26 503 1930–1949
25 Zico 410 27 16 48 501 1971–1994

Women's winners

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
Editions5
First winner Jennifer Hermoso
Most wins Charlyn Corral
(2 awards)
Most recent Charlyn Corral (2nd award)
Websitewww.iffhs.com

List of winners

Year Rank Player Club(s) Goals
2021 1st Jennifer Hermoso[15] Barcelona 48
2nd Lea Schüller Bayern Munich 47
3rd Alexia Putellas Barcelona 43
2022 1st Fenna Kalma[16] Twente 45
2nd Sam Kerr Chelsea 38
3rd Tessa Wullaert Anderlecht
Fortuna Sittard 		38
2023 1st Temwa Chawinga[17] Wuhan Jiangda 63
2nd Charlyn Corral Pachuca 39
3rd Kiana Palacios América 38
2024 1st Charlyn Corral[18] Pachuca 44
2nd Caroline Graham Hansen Barcelona 36
3rd Ewa Pajor Wolfsburg
Barcelona 		35
2025 1st Charlyn Corral[19] Pachuca 57
2nd Ewa Pajor Barcelona 45
3rd Katie Wilkinson Rangers 42

Statistics

Winners (2021–present)
Player Wins Years
Charlyn Corral 2 2024, 2025
Jennifer Hermoso 1 2021
Fenna Kalma 1 2022
Temwa Chawinga 1 2023
Most goals in a year
Rank Player Year Goals
1 Temwa Chawinga 2023 63
2 Charlyn Corral 2025 57
3 Jennifer Hermoso 2021 48
4 Lea Schüller 2021 47
5 Fenna Kalma 2022 45
Ewa Pajor 2025
7 Charlyn Corral 2024 44
8 Alexia Putellas 2021 43
9 Katie Wilkinson 2025 42
10 Charlyn Corral 2023 39
11 Sam Kerr 2022 38
Tessa Wullaert 2022
Wins by club
Club Total Players
Pachuca 2 1
Barcelona 1 1
Twente 1 1
Wuhan Jiangda 1 1
Wins by nationality
Nationality Total Players
 Mexico 2 1
 Malawi 1 1
 Netherlands 1 1
 Spain 1 1

See also

Notes

  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.

References

  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 AWARDS 2024 - VIKTOR GYOKERES, MEN'S WORLD BEST GOALSCORER 2024". IFFHS. 4 January 2025. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  9. ^ "IFFHS MEN'S WORLD BEST GOAL SCORER 2025". IFFHS. 5 January 2026. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
  10. ^ "IFFHS RANKING GOAL SCORERS OF FIRST DECADE (2001-2010)". IFFHS. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  11. ^ "THIRD DECADE XXI CENTURY - MBAPPE GOAL SCORER LEADER". IFFHS. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  12. ^ "IFFHS Statistics - All time goal scorer ranking". International Federation of Football History & Statistics. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  13. ^ "THE WORLD'S BEST GOALSCORER OF XXI CENTURY". International Federation of Football History & Statistics. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Dollars, droughts and a half-millennium". FIFA. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  15. ^ "IFFHS WOMEN'S WORLD BEST TOP GOALSCORER 2021". IFFHS. 31 December 2021. Archived from the original on 1 January 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  16. ^ "IFFHS AWARDS 2022 - WOMEN'S WORLD BEST GOAL SCORER". IFFHS. 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  17. ^ "IFFHS WOMEN'S WORLD BEST GOAL SCORER 2023". IFFHS. 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  18. ^ "IFFHS AWARDS 2024 - CHARLYN CORRAL, WOMEN'S WORLD BEST GOAL SCORER 2024". IFFHS. 4 January 2025. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  19. ^ "IFFHS WOMEN'S WORLD BEST GOAL SCORER 2025". IFFHS. 4 January 2026. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.