List of footballers with 500 or more goals


In top-level association football competitions, 26 players have scored 500 or more goals in both club and international football, according to research by the [International Federation of Football History & Statistics|], first published in 2007. Taking into account competitions of all levels, 83 players have reached the milestone, according to the [RSSSF|]. FIFA, the international governing body of football, has never released a list detailing the highest goalscorers and does not keep official records. It is challenging for statisticians and media to agree on which goals should be counted, with debate over whether to include those scored in friendlies, regional competitions, and even matches taking place during wartime. Hungarian Imre Schlosser is generally recognised as the first to reach the 500-goal mark, doing so in 1927 shortly before his retirement. Nine players have accomplished the feat at a single club: Josef Bican, Jimmy Jones, Jimmy McGrory, Joe Bambrick, Lionel Messi, Gerd Müller, Pelé, Fernando Peyroteo, and Uwe Seeler. Of these nine, Messi scored the most, with 672 goals between his debut in 2004 and his departure in 2021.
In 2020, FIFA recognised Josef Bican, an Austrian-Czech dual international who played between the and the, as the record scorer with an estimated 805 goals, although CNN, the BBC, France 24, and O Jogo all acknowledge that Bican's tally includes goals scored for reserve teams and in unofficial international matches. UEFA, the governing body for European football, ranks him as the leading all-time goalscorer in European top-flight leagues with 518 goals, narrowly ahead of Hungarian Ferenc Puskás. RSSSF credits Bican with 948 goals, a tally which includes goals scored in winter tournaments, as well as when selected to represent regional and city teams, and the Football Association of the Czech Republic claims a total of 821. Spanish newspapers Marca and Sport state that both Bican and Pelé scored 762 goals. Bican once walked out of a gala held in his honour by the IFFHS after the organisation had excluded war-time goals from his tally, although it later recognised the 229 goals he had scored during the period.
Media outlets like Sky Sports, ESPN, and Globo Esporte argue that for Pelé and his era, friendly matches were important and their goals should count, while journalist Hugh McIlvanney called them "profit-making excursions" with little "relevance to Pelé's reality", and Jonathan Liew said many friendlies were "against up-country teams or down-at-heel invitational sides". When Argentinian forward Lionel Messi was reported to have broken the record for most goals at a single club, Pelé's former club Santos denied it, saying 448 of Pelé's friendly goals had been uncounted, arguing many were against "the best teams of all time", a point Pelé supported by updating his tally to 1,283 on Instagram. Barcelona responded that because Bican, Pelé, Erwin Helmchen, and Abe Lenstra scored mostly in leagues below national level, those goals shouldn't count, and goals from wartime matches, lower tiers, and regional divisions by players like Bican, Ferenc Deák, Puskás, Seeler, Müller, Túlio Maravilha, and Robert Lewandowski are also disputed.
In 2021, Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo was reported to have broken the record by scoring his 760th goal, although it was widely accepted as impossible to confirm with certainty since stats from earlier eras are often disputed, as noted by journalist Jonathan Wilson and Corriere dello Sport editor Ivan Zazzaroni, who noted German striker Helmchen may have scored 981 goals. Ronaldo said: "the world has changed since then and football has changed as well, but this doesn't mean we can just erase history according to our interests". Other claims exist; Guinness World Records credits Pelé with the "most career goals" at 1,279, and Brazilian striker Romário claimed his 1,000th goal in 2007 but later admitted it included friendlies; they are reported to have scored 767 and 772 goals respectively, with Pelé's total including one goal for the military team and nine for the state team of São Paulo at the State Team Championship. The Encyclopædia Britannica notes Brazilian Arthur Friedenreich is "officially recognised" by FIFA to have scored 1,329 goals, though there is little evidence. In March 2022, Ronaldo surpassed Bican's estimated 805 goals. In 2024, Ronaldo stated his intent to become the first player to reach 1,000 career goals before his retirement, a feat regularly questioned by media.

List

According to the IFFHS and other media outlets, 26 players are credited with scoring 500 or more goals in top-level professional football competitions:

RSSSF statistics

As the RSSSF uses different methodology from that of the IFFHS and other media outlets to determine which goals to include, 83 players are credited with scoring 500 or more goals in matches taking into account competitions at all levels:
RankPlayerGoalsMatchesRatioCareer span
1 Erwin Helmchen989+5821924–1951
2 Cristiano Ronaldo97513372002–present
3 Josef Bican950+6241930–1957
4 Ronnie Rooke934+10301929–1961
5 Lionel Messi92511942003–present
6 Jimmy Jones840+7601943–1965
7 Ferenc Puskás8027921943–1967
8 Ferenc Deák795+5151939–1959
9 Abe Lenstra790+8501936–1964
10 Romário78510031984–2009
11 Pelé7788511956–1977
12 Tommy Lawton749+8311935–1957
13 Robert Lewandowski74010792004–present
14 Gerd Müller7357931963–1981
15 Sammy Hughes722+7521942–1963
16 Joe Bambrick690+5781925–1943
17 Ernst Wilimowski683+4841932–1957
18 Tom Waring672+736+1924–1948
19 Boy Martin642+5471930–1947
20 Ferenc Bene6349721959–1985
21 Eusébio634+6631960–1978
22 Stan Mortensen628+8221938–1962
23 Fernando Peyroteo6253801937–1949
24 Joe Smith617+9031908–1931
25 Frederick Roberts613+4711922–1937
26 Gyula Zsengellér611+6501931–1953
27 Luis Suárez60610422005–present
28 Jimmy Greaves590+8421956–1980
29 Uwe Seeler5866881954–1972
30 Fritz Walter586+5831938–1959
31 Túlio Maravilha585950+1987–2014
32 Zlatan Ibrahimović58210011999–2023
33 David Wilson581+6261927–1947
34 Jimmy Kelly574+10041925–1957
35 Imre Schlosser5704641906–1928
36 Glenn Ferguson57010851987–2011
37 Franz Binder569+4311927–1949
38 Charlie Fleming569766+1947–1965
39 Hughie Gallacher569+7171920–1940
40 Dixie Dean5686121923–1940
41 John Aldridge565+9901976–1998
42 Isidro Lángara564+4581930–1948
43 Hugo Sánchez5629561974–1998
44 José Torres5616151958–1980
45 Jimmy McGrory5585491922–1938
46 Sándor Kocsis5565381946–1966
47 Paul Dechamps552+6121939–1964
48 Dave Halliday551+6421920–1938
49 Jimmy Smith550+5211928–1947
50 Zico5467981971–1994
51 Ferenc Szusza5456001940–1961
52 Karim Benzema54510302004–present
53 Jock Dodds5426141932–1950
54 József Takács5425281920–1942
55 Tommy Dickson539+7751946–1966
56 Otto Harder538+324+1910–1934
57 Dennis Westcott535+5871933–1954
58 Joseph Mermans5286521937–1960
59 Hughie Ferguson525+5591914–1930
60 Alfredo Di Stéfano5247201945–1966
61 Nándor Hidegkuti5236741938–1958
62 Des Dickson523+7151964–1983
63 Roberto Dinamite5198691971–1992
64 W. G. Richardson518+6221928–1946
65 Hans Krankl5187251970–1989
66 George Brown517+711+1920–1938
67 Gunnar Nordahl514+5971936–1961
68 Trevor Thompson513+5881955–1969
69 Giorgio Chinaglia512+7071962–1990
70 David McLean511+8011906–1931
71 György Sárosi5116071928–1948
72 George Camsell509+5931923–1942
73 Arthur Rowley508+7441941–1967
74 Harry Kane5077822010–present
75 István Avar507+4491922–1949
76 Raich Carter506+8431928–1953
77 Dennis Guy504+6311960–1976
78 Willy van der Kuijlen5048071962–1983
79 Roger Milla504+9071968–1996
80 Steve Bloomer5047551891–1920
81 Albert de Cleyn5035881933–1955
82 Delio Onnis5027471966–1986
83 Lajos Tichy5006281952–1971