World Cup Top Scorers: Complete List of Leading Goalscorers in FIFA History
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World Cup Top Scorers: Complete List of Leading Goalscorers in FIFA History

World Cup Top Scorers: The Greatest Goalscorers in FIFA History

Scoring at a World Cup. It is the dream of every young football fan, every up and coming talent, and every experienced campaigner competing on football’s biggest stage - scoring for your nation in a tournament steeped in history is rarely beaten by anything else in the game.

But for some, achieving this once is not enough: some hit new heights on the grandest stage of them all, others steadily add to their collection over time, but they all have something in common - they make World Cup goals a habit rather than a premium event.

In other words, some of the greatest to ever lace up a pair of boots have shown exactly why they fit in that bracket when the World Cup comes around. While their cohorts and opponents are happy to find the back of the net even once, these special exceptions to the rule are not happy until they have acquired a veritable treasure trove of World Cup goals.

So, with this in mind, Football Park dives into World Cup goalscoring records - who has the most of all time, who bagged the most in a single tournament, and who is currently on track to threaten these records.

All-Time World Cup Top Goalscorers List

As of June 2025, the top 20 World Cup goalscorers of all time are as follows:

Miroslav Klose (16) - Germany, 2002-2014

  • Leading Goalscorer in World Cup history.
  • First player to score five headers at a World Cup (South Korea 2002).
  • Scored at every tournament he travelled to.

Ronaldo Nazario (15) - Brazil, 1994-2006

  • After failing to score at the 1994 tournament, Ronaldo won the Golden Ball in 1998.
  • Won the Golden Boot at the 2002 World Cup, with eight goals.
  • Held the record for most World Cup goals (15), until it was broken by Klose in 2014.

Gerd Muller (14) - West Germany, 1970-1974

  • Scored his 14 World Cup goals across two tournaments.
  • Held the overall scoring record until he was surpassed by Ronaldo Nazario in 2009.

Lionel Messi (13) - Argentina, 2006-Present

  • Scored just once across his first two World Cup tournaments.
  • Youngest player to score for Argentina at a World Cup (18Y 357D)
  • Is the only player to win the World Cup Golden Ball twice (2014, 2022),

Just Fontaine (13) - France, 1958

  • Holds the record for most goals in a single tournament (13).
  • Golden boot winner in 1958.

Pele (12) - Brazil, 1958-1970

  • Is the youngest goalscorer in World Cup history (17Y, 239D) and youngest goalscorer in a final (17Y 249D)
  • Held Brazilian goalscorer record (77 goals) until Neymar surpassed it in 2023.

Kylian Mbappe (12) - France, 2018-Present

  • Has won both the young player of the tournament (2018) and the Golden Boot (2022).
  • Is the all-time leading scorer in World Cup finals, with four goals.

Sandor Kocsis (11) - Hungary, 1954

  • The first player to score two hat-tricks at the same tournament - only two others have achieved this since.
  • Boasts the second most goals in a single tournament, trailing only Just Fontaine.

Jurgen Klinsmann (11) - West Germany/Germany, 1990-1998

  • One of just nine players to score more than 10 World Cup goals.

Helmut Rahn (10) - West Germany, 1954-1958

  • First player to ever score four goals in two separate tournaments.

Gary Lineker (10) - England, 1986-1990

  • First English player to win the Golden Boot, doing so in 1986 with six goals.
  • Scored the third fastest World Cup hat-trick against Poland in 1986 (28 minutes)

Gabriel Batistuta (10) - Argentina, 1994-2002

  • First player to score a hat trick in two different World Cups (1994 and 1998).
  • Argentina’s second highest scorer (54 goals, behind Lionel Messi.

Teofilo Cubillas (10) - Peru, 1970-1982

  • Won Young Player of the tournament (1970).
  • First player to score five goals at two separate tournaments.

Thomas Muller (10) - Germany, 2010-2022

  • Muller’s 10 goals were scored across his first two World Cups, as he failed to find the net in 2018 and 2022.
  • Shared the 2010 Golden Boot with Diego Forlan, David Villa and Wesley Sneijder (5 goals), and was named Young Player of the tournament.

Grzegorz Lato (10) - Poland, 1974-1982

  • 1974 Golden Boot winner, with 7 goals.
  • The highest scoring Pole in World Cup history.

Ademir (9) - Brazil, 1950

  • 1950 Golden Boot winner.
  • Joint most goal contributions in a single World Cup (9 goals, 6 assists), alongside Just Fontaine (13 goals, 2 assists).

Eusebio (9) - Portugal, 1966

  • Joint most penalties scored at a World Cup (4), tied with Lionel Messi.
  • 1966 Golden Boot winner (9 goals).

David Villa (9) - Spain, 2006-2014

  • Joint Golden Boot winner in 2010 (five goals).
  • Is Spain's leading goalscorer at the World Cup, with eight goals at the tournament.

Christian Vieri (9) - Italy, 1998-2002

  • Italy’s joint leading World Cup scorer (9 goals), alongside Roberto Baggio and Paulo Rossi.
  • World Cup Silver Boot winner in 1998, scoring five times.

Vava (9) - Brazil, 1958-1962

  • Joint winner of the 1962 World Cup, as he scored five goals.
  • Became the first player ever to score in two World Cup finals.

Five other players also sit on nine goals, but as this is a top 20 list, some players, such as Jairzinho, Karl-Heinze Rummenigge and Paulo Rossi had to miss out.

World Cup Top Scorers By Tournament

Now, we’ve had a look at the overall goal scorers list - now it is time to see which players had the best individual tournaments of all time.

1930 Uruguay World Cup - Top scorer: Guillermo Stabile (Argentina) - 8 Goals.

  • Scored the second ever World Cup hat trick.
  • His only appearances for his country would come at this tournament, meaning he scored every time he represented Argentina, netting 8 goals in 4 games.

1934 Italy World Cup - Top Scorer: Oldrich Nejedly (Czechoslovakia) - 5 Goals.

  • Bronze Ball winner at the tournament, given to the player recognised as the third best at the competition.

1938 France World Cup - Top Scorer: Leonides (Brazil) - 7 Goals.

  • First Brazilian to top the scoring charts at a World Cup.
  • Leonidas boasts an excellent record of 21 goals in just 19 appearances for his country/

1950 Brazil World Cup - Top Scorer: Ademir (Brazil) - 9 Goals.

  • Joint most goal contributions by a player at the World Cup, providing six assists.

1954 Switzerland World Cup - Top Scorer: Sandor Kocsis (Hungary) - 11 Goals.

  • Managed a 2.2 Goals per game ratio at the tournament, the highest of any player to play multiple games at a tournament.
  • Kocsis only failed to score in the final, a 3-2 loss to Germany.

1958 Sweden World Cup - Top Scorer: Just Fontaine (France) - 13 Goals

  • Scored the most goals by any player at a single World Cup, a record which still stands today.
  • Fontaine’s tally is also the most goals scored by a player while failing to win the tournament.

1962 Chile World Cup - Top Scorers: Vava and Garrincha (Brazil), Leonel Sanchez (Chile), Florian Albert (Hungary), Valentin Ivanov (Soviet Union), Drazan Jerkovic (Yugoslavia) - 4 Goals.

  • The six players to share the 1962 Golden Boot is a tournament record.
  • The next highest number of players to share the golden boot is four, in 2010.

1966 England World Cup - Top Scorer: Eusebio (Portugal) - 9 Goals.

  • Eusebio held the joint record for most goals in a game (4) until 1994.
  • This World Cup saw the first ever Hat-Trick in a final, as Geoff Hurst netted three to help England lift the trophy for the only time.

1970 Mexico World Cup - Top Scorer: Gerd Muller (Germany) - 10 Goals

  • Muller's World Cup Golden Boot award at the tournament aided him winning the 1970 Ballon d’Or.
  • Muller was the all-time World Cup goalscorer for 32 years, until his 14 goals were surpassed by Ronaldo Nazario.

1974 Germany World Cup - Top Scorer: Grzegorz Lato (Poland) - 7 Goals.

  • Lato scored four in the first group stage, two in the second, and one in the third place play-off.
  • This tournament represents Poland’s best ever World Cup performance, as they came third.

1978 Argentina World Cup - Top Scorer: Mario Kempes (Argentina) - 6 Goals.

  • Kempes was the first Argentinian Golden Boot winner since Guillermo Stabile at the inaugural 1930 tournament.
  • Kempes only clinched the Golden Boot after a superb performance in the final - his two goals here saw him overtake Peru’s Cubillas and Germany’s Rob Resenbrink.

1982 Spain World Cup - Top Scorer: Paulo Rossi (Italy) - 6 Goals.

  • Italy’s first ever Golden Boot Winner, no Italian has scored more than Rossi’s six in a single tournament, with Salvatore Schillaci equalling the record in 1990.
  • Rossi was also named the best player of the tournament, after scoring all six of his goals in the knockout stages.

1986 Mexico World Cup - Top Scorer: Gary Lineker (England) - 6 Goals.

  • Lineker became the first Englishman and eighth European to be awarded the Golden Boot.
  • This tournament featured one of the most famous moments in football, as Diego Maradonna’s “Hand of God” saw Argentina eliminate England.

1990 Italy World Cup - Top Scorer: Salvatore Schillaci (Italy) - 6 Goals.

  • Schillaci became just the third player from a host nation to win the Golden Boot.
  • Of his seven total goals for his country, six of them came here.

1994 USA World Cup - Top Scorers: Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria) and Oleg Salenko (Russia) - 6 Goals.

  • Salenko broke the record for most goals in a World Cup game when he scored five against Cameroon in the Group stage.
  • This was the first shared Golden Boot for 32 years.

1998 France World Cup - Top Scorer: Davor Suker (Croatia) - 6 Goals.

  • Suker’s goals helped Croatia to a third-placed finish on their debut at the tournament.
  • He scored in every game his team did, only failing to net in the group stage against Argentina.

2002 South Korea/Japan World Cup - Top Scorer: Ronaldo Nazario (Brazil) - 8 Goals.

  • Ronaldo’s 8 goals was the highest Golden Boot winning total in 32 years.
  • This World Cup saw the fastest goal ever scored at the tournament, as Turkey’s Hakan Sukur opened the scoring after 10.8 seconds against South Korea.

2006 Germany World Cup - Top Scorer: Miroslav Klose (Germany) - 5 Goals.

  • Klose’s five goals is the lowest ever total to win a Golden Boot outright.
  • Klose also won two man of the match awards for his performances, the second most at the tournament behind Italy’s Andrea Pirlo (3).

2010 South Africa World Cup - Top Scorers: Thomas Muller (Germany), David Villa (Spain), Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands) - 5 Goals.

  • Thomas Muller officially won the Golden Boot, having provided three assists to his adversaries’ 1.
  • Muller also took away the Young Player of the Tournament award.

2014 Brazil World Cup - Top Scorer: James Rodriguez (Colombia) - 6 Goals.

  • Rodriguez became the first ever Colombian to win the World Cup Golden Boot.
  • His volley against Uruguay in the Quarter Finals was named the winner of the Puskas award, given to the best goal scored each calendar year.

2018 Russia World Cup - Top Scorer: Harry Kane (England) - 6 Goals

  • Half of Kane’s goals came from the penalty spot, as England reached their first World Cup semi-final since 1990.
  • This World Cup was won by France, the fourth consecutive time the tournament had been won by a European team.

2022 Qatar World Cup - Top Scorer: Kylian Mbappe (France) - 8 Goals.

  • Mbappe scored just the second hat trick in a World Cup final, and the first since Geoff Hurt in 1966.
  • 172 goals were scored at this tournament, the most ever.

Most Goals in a Single World Cup

France’s Just Fontaine sits comfortably above the rest, with his 13 goals at the 1958 World Cup a record that is unlikely to ever be beaten. Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis sits second in this category, with 11, while Gerd Muller rounds out the top three with 10.

In terms of teams, Hungary’s squad of 1954 sit head and shoulders above the rest, netting 27 times as they lost in the final. Fontaine’s France side of 1958 comes second with 23, while the World Cup winning Brazil side of 1950 scored 22 times.

All but one of these totals came after 1958 (Gerd Muller’s 10) - it seems that both individual and team scoring records are becoming harder to surpass in the modern game.

Of course, overall quality has improved - back in the day France, Hungary and Brazil were routinely scoring seven, eight, or nine goals against lesser opposition, grossly inflating their goal output. At the last world cup, only one game ended with a margin of more than four goals, and very few exceeded three - teams are much more closely matched today.

There is also an increased importance bestowed upon sticking to tactics. In the 50’s, formations and systems were much more basic, and largely gave a license to roam to attacking players. Now, World Cup stars are asked to stay in position more and more.

This is fine if you are a centre forward - staying in position means scoring more goals - but it limits the amount of creativity that can be provided from the wings and in midfield.

Similarly, countries’ approach the game differently. Many nations now play the game using a patient, pass-heavy build up approach, preferring gradual progress over tiring end-to-end action. While this may help sides control the game better, keeping their opponents where they want them, it also removes an element of randomness, the feeling that a goal can be scored at any time.

Active Players Chasing World Cup Records

However, despite the huge shift the game has undergone in recent decades, there are a number of active players still threatening to break some long-standing records.

In particular, Miroslav Klose’s record as all-time top scorer at the World Cup appears to hang in the balance - France’s Kylian Mbappe has already netted 12 times across two World Cups, and still aged just 26, he may have three more World Cups still to play in order to break, and then extend, the record.

Similarly, Lionel Messi sits on 13 goals. Aged 38, next year's World Cup hosted in the USA, will likely be his last, but he sits just three goals behind Klose. After scoring seven in 2022, he brought himself a lot closer to the milestone, and while he has lost a step of pace and is not playing at Europe’s highest level anymore, beware of doubting him at your own peril.

Though much further back, sitting on eight goals, Harry Kane cannot be counted out either. Averaging a goal per game since his move to Bayern Munich two years ago, Kane could not have had a better two years of preparation for the upcoming tournament. Capable of scoring a hat trick against anyone on his day, another Golden Boot could see him go extremely close to the record.

Messi could also equal another record - he has already scored in four different World Cup tournaments, and needs just one goal at the next iteration to equal the record set by his old nemesis Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored in all five he has appeared in, spanning from 2006 to 2022.

Other World Cup Scoring Records

Individual Records

  • Most Appearances: Lionel Messi (Argentina) - 26.
  • Most Goal Contributions: Lionel Messi - 21 (13 Goals, 8 Assists).
  • Youngest Goalscorer: Pele (Brazil) - 17Y 239D vs Wales, 1958 World Cup.
  • Oldest Goalscorer: Roger Milla (Cameroon) - 42Y 39D vs Russia, 1994 World Cup.
  • Oldest Goalscorer in a Final: Nils Liedholm (Sweden) - 35Y 264D vs Brazil, 1958 World Cup.
  • Fastest Goal: Hakan Sukur (Turkey) vs South Korea - 10.8 seconds. 2002 World Cup.
  • Fastest Goal in a Final: Johan Neeskens (Netherlands) vs West Germany - 90 seconds. 1974 World Cup
  • Most Consecutive Matches Scored In: Just Fontaine (France) and Jairzinho (Brazil) - 6.
  • First World Cup Goal: Lucien Laurent (France) vs Mexico, 1930 World Cup
  • Most World Cup Hat Tricks: Gerd Muller (Germany), Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina), Sandor Kocsis (Hungary), Just Fontaine (France) - 2.

Team Records

  • Most Titles: Brazil - 5 (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002).
  • Most Consecutive World Cup Wins: Brazil (1958/1962) and Italy (1934/1938).
  • Most Consecutive Tournament Appearances: Brazil - 22 (Every Tournament).
  • Longest Gap between Titles: Italy - 44 Years (1938-1982).
  • Most times knocked out in Group Stage as Defending Champions - Italy (1950 and 2010) - 2.
  • Biggest Win: Hungary 10-1 El Salvador, 1982 World Cup.
  • Most Successive Finals: Brazil (1994-02) and West Germany (1982-90).
  • Longest Gap between World Cup Appearances: Wales - 64 years (1958-2022).

Goals Per Game for each World Cup

  • 1930 - 3.89
  • 1934 - 4.12
  • 1938 - 4.67
  • 1950 - 4.00
  • 1954 - 5.38
  • 1958 - 3.60
  • 1962 - 2.78
  • 1966 - 2.78
  • 1970 - 2.97
  • 1974 - 2.55
  • 1978 - 2.68
  • 1982 - 2.81
  • 1986 - 2.54
  • 1990 - 2.21
  • 1994 - 2.71
  • 1998 - 2.67
  • 2002 - 2.52
  • 2006 - 2.30
  • 2010 - 2.27
  • 2014 - 2.67
  • 2018 - 2.64
  • 2022 - 2.69

How World Cup Top Scorers Impact Betting Markets

Betting is naturally linked with the World Cup - nothing better than having a beer in the sun while sticking a fiver on a bet builder with your football supporting mates. Of course, prior to the tournament, betting odds can be affected by the performance of players in their domestic leagues.

Top goalscorer, best player and young players, and even the outright winner of the World Cup itself depend on who is in the squad itself, and who is in the best form coming into the tournament.

And then of course are the markets that shift and alter as the tournament goes on. Top goalscorer markets are changing constantly depending on the form of players throughout the group stage, and can also change with other factors that can affect how a team plays, such as injuries and suspensions.

There are also special markets for goalscorers - gamblers can place stakes on the top scorer in each group, top scorer from a particular country, and even from a particular continent, with the odds obviously fluctuating depending on form throughout the early stages of the tournament.

Player Performance Prop Bets are also impacted - a prop bet, which can range from “X player to score next match” to “X player to score 2+ goals” are impacted by form and impact in the team. Bookies shift the odds of these bets depending on form and the popularity of the markets.

Summary

In summary, it is clear from our research that record scorers across the World Cups illustrious past have gone down in history. Some are perceived to be underrated, such as Just Fontaine, who only ever made it to one World Cup.

Others though have written their names into the annals of footballing folklore - Pele, Messi, Ronaldo Nazario and Gerd Muller are widely regarded as some of the greatest players of all time, and no shortage of that has stemmed from outrageous performances in the biggest tournament in the World.

To score at a World Cup is thrilling - to score double figures across a World Cup career … well it is something that those in the 0.01% of professionals can achieve. The rest of them, as well as us fans, can only dream.

Benji Kosartiyer
Journalist
Harry Pascoe

Lead Writer

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