2 weeks ago
2 Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are still two of the greatest players in world football and they’ll hope to continue their remarkable goalscoring feats for years to come.
Earlier this year, Ronaldo become only the second player ever to score a century of goals for his country, taking his tally to 102 for Portugal.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are among the leading scorers in football historyGETTYAnd in the first week of December, the Juventus ace scored his 750th career goal for club and country by netting against Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League – and he’s since added more goals to his incredible tally.
Messi, meanwhile, brought up his own piece of history recently when he became the seventh player to score 700 goals for club and country.
Ronaldo and Messi are among the best to have ever played the game and certainly have the statistics to back that up.
The debate over which superstar is superior has raged on for several years and world football is eagerly awaiting their head-to-head clash in the Champions League this week.
Both men have helped reshape modern football but who else is on the all time top goalscorers list and where do the current stars sit?
Ronaldo and Messi still have a few years left before they hang up their boots and both will be looking to climb this list.
However, they’ll have to continue their prolific form for a number of seasons yet if they are to surpass the legendary Josef Bican.
Josef Bican is the leading goalscorer of all-time10. Tulio Maravilha
575 goals (total games unknown) – 1988-2019
A Brazilian journeyman who certainly had the eye for goal.
Only recently retired, Tulio played for nearly 40 clubs in his career.
9, Uwe Seeler
575+ goals (total games unknown) – 1953-1978
The German great was prolific for Hamburger but struggled to turn his goals into silverware.
He scored twice in his one and only appearance for Ireland’s Cork Celtic in 1978.
8. Ferenc Deak
576+ goals (total games unknown) – 1940-1957
One of Hungary’s best during their heyday and a legend in his home country if not as much elsewhere in the world.
Incredibly, Deak scored over three goals per game during his career at Szentlorinci AC.
Barcelona and Argentina legend Lionel Messi celebrates yet another goal7. Lionel Messi
713 goals in 888 games – 2003-present
A true one club legend, Messi has won countless awards to go along with his goals at Barcelona.
The Argentine is still going strong and will be looking to overtake a few more names on this list before he retires.
6. Gerd Muller
734 goals in 793 games – 1962-1981
The striker’s most important goal was the winner in the 1974 World Cup final as Germany beat the Netherlands 2-1 in Munich.
Muller is also Bayern Munich’s record goalscorer and has well over double the second best.
5. Ferenc Puskas
746+ goals in 754+ games – 1943-1966
Another Hungarian icon, Puskas now lends his name to the award for the most beautiful goal of each year.
He made his name in Budapest before cementing his legend at Real Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo is still firing in the goalsgetty images4. Cristiano Ronaldo
754 goals in 1031 games – 2001-present
A modern great for Manchester United, Real Madrid and now Juventus.
CR7 has won everything in the game but still has his eyes set on more.
3. Pele
767 goals in 831 games – 1957-1977
One of the greatest ever and a three-time World Cup winner.
Pele scored nearly a goal-per-game during his 656 competitive games for Santos, though claims to have scored 1000 in his career.
2. Romario
772 goals 994 games – 1985-2007
Romario lead Brazil to World Cup glory in 1994, scoring five goals in the tournament.
He enjoyed a stellar career at a number of top clubs around the world.
1. Josef Bican
805+ goals in 530+ games – 1931-1956
Scoring 395 in 217 games for Slavia Prague, Bican claims the honour as football’s leading goalscorer of all-time.
It is said he scored close to 1,500 goals in total during his playing days.
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