By Opta Analyst | Created at 2026-07-18 17:28:13 | Updated at 2026-08-03 10:15:34
3 weeks ago
Who has scored the most goals at the World Cup? We look at the top scorers in men’s FIFA World Cup history, since the competition began in 1930.
World Cup All-Time Top Scorers
- 21 Goals – Lionel Messi
- 20 Goals – Kylian Mbappé
- 16 Goals – Miroslav Klose
- 15 Goals – Ronaldo
- 14 Goals – Gerd Müller, Harry Kane
- 13 Goals – Just Fontaine
- 12 Goals – Pelé
- 11 Goals – Sándor Kocsis, Jürgen Klinsmann, Cristiano Ronaldo
- 10 Goals – Helmut Rahn, Gabriel Batistuta, Gary Lineker, Téofilo Cubillas, Thomas Müller, Grzegorz Lato
21 Goals: Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi drew level with Miroslav Klose on 16 goals in style, scoring a hat-trick for Argentina against Algeria in their opening game of the 2026 World Cup, and he moved clear of him as the outright leader with two goals in Argentina’s second match of the group stage, against Austria.
Against Algeria, Messi became the first player in World Cup history to score in six different tournaments. And his treble made him the oldest scorer of a World Cup hat-trick in history (38 years, 356 days old), beating Cristiano Ronaldo’s record.
And with his brace against Austria, he became just the third player in World Cup history to score in six consecutive games, after France’s Just Fontaine in 1958 and Brazil’s Jairzinho in 1970. He broke that record by scoring in a seventh straight against Jordan, and extended it to nine with his goal in Argentina’s remarkable comeback against Egypt in the last 16.
That goal against Egypt also saw Messi become the first player in World Cup history to score in six consecutive knockout stage matches.
In 2022, the Argentinian had become the first player in World Cup history to score in the group stage, round of 16, quarter-final, semi-final and final in a single edition of the tournament. The records just keep on stacking up.
20 Goals: Kylian Mbappé
It’s been a fast ascent up this list for the man relentlessly chasing Messi. Kylian Mbappé scored his 13th and 14th World Cup goals in France’s opening game of the 2026 tournament against Senegal, moving level with Gerd Müller. He then joined Brazil’s Ronaldo when he added his 15th just 14 minutes into France’s second match of the 2026 edition against Iraq before joining Miroslav Klose in the 54th.
After going without a goal in France’s final 2026 group-stage game against Norway, he gave France a 1-0 lead over Sweden in their round-of-32 match. That 17th goal moved him ahead of Klose while also breaking the record for knockout-stage goals at the World Cup, and he added a second-half goal to run his total to 18 with 10 of those coming in the knockout rounds. A penalty against Paraguay then took him to 19 World Cup goals before he reached 20 in the quarter-final versus Morocco.
He may have ended on the losing side in the 2022 final against Argentina, but he at least won the Golden Boot in Qatar with his eight strikes, three of which came in a dramatic final. That made Mbappé only the second player to ever score a hat-trick in a World Cup final after Geoff Hurst did so for England against West Germany in 1966.
It wasn’t his first time impacting a World Cup final. Mbappé became only the second teenager to ever score in a World Cup final after Pelé with his goal for France against Croatia at the age of 19 in 2018.
16 Goals: Miroslav Klose
Klose made his World Cup debut in the 2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea and got off to the best start possible, scoring a hat-trick in Germany’s emphatic 8-0 win over Saudi Arabia in the Sapporo Dome. He’s one of 13 players to score a hat-trick on their World Cup debut, but no player has managed to do it since Klose on this day in June 2002.
Klose went on to score in all three of Germany’s group-stage games at the 2002 World Cup, but failed to score in four knockout games as they finished as losing finalists to Brazil – who ended with the top scorer at the tournament, with Ronaldo’s eight goals leading them to victory.
The German striker added another five goals at the 2006 World Cup in his home country – this time enough to secure the Golden Boot at the tournament. Four more goals followed in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, before adding two more in 2014 in Brazil to overtake Ronaldo’s tally of 15 goals – the all-important 16th coming in front of Ronaldo himself, who was watching in the stands in Belo Horizonte as Brazil emphatically lost 7-1 to Germany.
Eleven of Klose’s World Cup goals came in 10 group stage matches, while he scored just five in 11 knockout matches in the tournament – and none in his two appearances in a World Cup final (2002 and 2014). Overall, Klose’s 16 World Cup goals came from just 63 shots – a phenomenal record of converting 25.4% of his shots across the four tournaments he played in.
15 Goals: Ronaldo
While Ronaldo no longer holds the record as top scorer at the World Cup, his tally of 15 goals in just 19 appearances across three tournaments is rightly admired.
His debut World Cup tournament came in 1998, with four goals in seven appearances across the tournament in France. Brazil lost 3-0 in the final to the host nation, with Ronaldo’s appearance in the game shrouded in mystery, after originally being left out of the Brazilian starting XI, before appearing in the next team sheet handed out minutes later.
At the 2002 World Cup, the superstar picked up the Golden Boot with eight goals in seven games, including both strikes in the 2-0 final victory over Germany in Yokohama in which he won the man of the match award. Forming a lethal attack alongside Rivaldo and Ronaldinho, Brazil’s success in the tournament never looked in doubt. The most impressive aspect of Ronaldo’s performances in 2002 was that he spent a long spell out injured prior to the tournament following a cruciate ligament rupture two years before the finals, meaning he missed Brazil’s entire qualification campaign for the 2002 World Cup.
Despite finishing as the top scorer in the CONMEBOL qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup with 10 goals, there were question marks over Ronaldo’s fitness and physical state ahead of the tournament. He ended with three goals in five games before Brazil’s exit to host nation Germany in the quarter-finals, taking his overall tally in World Cup final tournaments to 15 – a record at the time, overtaking Gerd Müller’s record that had stood since 1974 (14 goals).
14 Goals: Gerd Müller and Harry Kane
Gerd Müller managed to score 14 goals in just two World Cups, with his 10 goals on the way to winning the Golden Boot in the 1970 tournament one of only three occasions that a player has hit double figures in a single edition. In fact, no player has scored as many goals as Müller did in 1970 in any of the World Cups since.
The West Germany striker scored in each of his first five World Cup appearances, including back-to-back hat-tricks in games against Bulgaria and Peru at Mexico 1970, with just three days between the trebles. Only one other player has scored a hat-trick in two consecutive World Cup appearances: Hungary’s Sándor Kocsis in 1954 (also over a four-day period).
Müller scored in every game at the 1970 World Cup up to and including the semi-final defeat to Italy (two goals) but failed to score in the third/fourth place play-off against Uruguay.
At the 1974 World Cup, Bayern Munich record scorer Müller added four more goals in seven appearances, including the winning goal in the 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in the final in front of his own fans at the Olympiastadion in Munich.
Müller held the all-time goalscoring record in the World Cup with 14 goals for 32 years, before Brazilian Ronaldo overtook him in 2006. He was known throughout his career as one of the best strikers inside the area – all 14 of his World Cup goals came inside the penalty box, with half (7) coming inside the six-yard box.
England captain Harry Kane joined Müller on 14 goals in England’s last-16 meeting with Mexico at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Kane scored two goals in England’s first game at the 2026 tournament against Croatia before adding another in the 2-0 group-stage win over Panama. That goal also made him England’s all-time leading scorer at the World Cup, overtaking Gary Lineker’s total of 10.
With England 1-0 down against DR Congo in their last-32 tie with just 15 minutes remaining, Kane rescued the Three Lions with a brace to secure a place in the round of 16 against Mexico. He then converted a penalty in England’s dramatic victory over the co-hosts at the Estadio Azteca to draw level with Müller’s 14-goal tally.
13 Goals: Just Fontaine
The record for the most goals in a single World Cup finals belongs to French striker Just Fontaine, who scored 13 goals in six matches at the 1958 tournament. This was the only ever World Cup tournament that he played in, but he certainly made it count.
He scored in every single one of his six appearances at the 1958 tournament in Sweden, with his 13 goals more than double the next highest scorers at the finals that year – Pelé and Helmut Rahn both with six goals.
The French striker is one of only three players to score at least three goals in two separate matches at a World Cup finals tournament, alongside Sándor Kocsis (1954) and Gerd Müller (1970), thanks to a hat-trick against Paraguay and four more goals against Germany in the 1958 World Cup.
Despite his phenomenal record in 1958, where he scored 57% of France’s 23 goals, he could only help his nation achieve third place, after losing in the semi-finals to eventual winners Brazil.
Fontaine retired in 1962 at the age of just 28 due to injury, with the World Cup being robbed of seeing one of its greatest scorers from appearing in more than one single tournament.
12 Goals: Pelé
Pelé ranks seventh for the most goals scored at World Cup finals, with his tally of 12 across four tournaments. While he never won a Golden Boot award, he did win the Best Player award at the 1970 World Cup thanks to four goals and six assists on the way to helping Brazil to the title – one of three World Cup tournaments won by Pelé, a record tally.
Not only was Pelé the youngest player to ever score in a World Cup final when he netted against Sweden in 1958 at 17 years and 249 days old, he is also the youngest player to ever play in a World Cup final.
Ten days prior to the 1958 final, he became the youngest scorer at a World Cup by scoring against Wales aged just 17 years and 239 days old, and then he followed this up by becoming the youngest to score a hat-trick at a World Cup on 24 June 1958 against France – both records that still stand to this day.
Pelé wasn’t just about scoring goals, either. Since detailed data collection began in 1966, no player has assisted more World Cup goals in a single tournament (six in 1970) than the Brazilian legend.
11 Goals: Jürgen Klinsmann, Sándor Kocsis and Cristiano Ronaldo
German striker Jürgen Klinsmann, Hungarian legend Sándor Kocsis, and Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo have all scored 11 goals in World Cup finals tournaments.
Kocsis only ever appeared in one World Cup for Hungary, at the 1954 finals in Switzerland. In that tournament, he scored 11 goals in just five games, with Frenchman Just Fontaine the only player to score more in a single World Cup (13 in 1958).
He holds the record for the shortest period between two hat-tricks at a World Cup (four days) alongside German legend Gerd Müller after he scored three goals on his debut against Korea Republic on 17 June 1954 before going one better (four goals) against Germany on 20 June.
Kocsis scored in every game at the 1954 World Cup before the ‘Miracle of Bern’ final against Germany, which Hungary went on to lose 3-2 despite leading 2-0 inside eight minutes.
Klinsmann also made a scoring debut in the World Cup, as West Germany defeated Yugoslavia 4-1 at Italia 90, before adding further goals at the tournament against the United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands.
The 1994 World Cup in the USA was his most successful in front of goal, scoring five goals in five games before the Germans exited the tournament at the quarter-final stage in a shock defeat to Bulgaria. Had they gone further, there’s a good chance Klinsmann could have got the two goals needed to surpass both Hristo Stoichkov and Oleg Salenko, who shared the Golden Boot at the tournament with six goals each.
Cristiano Ronaldo joined the club at the 2026 World Cup after scoring a penalty in Portugal’s round-of-32 clash with Croatia. This was Ronaldo’s first-ever goal in a World Cup knockout-stage match. He had netted twice earlier on in the tournament, scoring a brace against Uzbekistan in Group K.
Ronaldo is the second-oldest player ever to score at the World Cup finals, finding the net against Croatia at the age of 41 years and 147 days. Roger Milla (42 years, 39 days) still holds the record as the oldest player to score a men’s World Cup goal with his consolation goal for Cameroon in their 6-1 loss to Russia at the 1994 World Cup.
10 Goals: Six Players
Six players have scored exactly 10 goals at World Cup finals: Grzegorz Lato (Poland), Téofilo Cubillas (Peru), Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina), Gary Lineker (England) and Helmut Rahn and Thomas Müller (both Germany).
Müller will have been particularly frustrated not to have added more, having scored all 10 of his goals in the first two of the four World Cups he played in.
The German international scored five goals in six appearances at the 2010 tournament in South Africa, where he not only won the Golden Boot, but also picked up the Best Young Player award at the finals. He followed that up in 2014 with five more goals – a tally only beaten by Colombian James Rodríguez (six goals).
However, Müller was unable to add to his tally in 2018 or 2022 in six games across both tournaments before he retired from international football in 2024.
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