IFFHS WORLD GOAL SCORER RANKINGS OF THE XXIst CENTURY - RONALDO THE KING !
Posted on Feb 20, 2021 | Best GoalScorer Category
Picture : Cristiano Ronaldo won 8 individual IFFHS WORLD SCORER Awards in the last 7 years. He leads all 3 IFFHS WORLD RANKINGS of the XXIst Century (International, National and Global) !
The IFFHS elaborates 3 Rankings of THE WORLD'S BEST GOAL SCORERS ( One INTERNATIONAL, one NATIONAL and One GLOBAL) with Annual Awards. Cristiano Ronaldo is the leader of ALL 3 WORLD RANKINGS for the XXIst Century (1.1.2001 to 31.12.2020) ! A great and fantastic performance !
The World's Best International Goal Scorer of XXIst Century at Jan 1, 2021 : Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo leads the category of best international goal-scorers in the world football in XXIst Century at the beginning of 2021.
All goals scored in the official international club competitions (ICC) and official games between national teams (NT) from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2020 are taken in account.
Cristiano Ronaldo has 246 goals on his tally, 144 for clubs and 102 for country (Portugal). All others are well behind, even Lionel Messi with his 197 goals.
13 players have reached 100-goal mark in XXI century so far, 10 of them active (taken in bold).
Thierry Henry is also conditionally added to this list; he scored essential majority of his international goals (85 out of 110) in XXI century. For him and other two players who have some goals in XX century, these goals are taken in brackets.
Player | Country | Goals | Total | Total | Total | ||
ICC | NT | XXI | XX | Career | |||
1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 144 | 102 | 246 | 246 | |
2 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 126 | 71 | 197 | 197 | |
3 | Robert Lewandowski | Poland | 78 | 63 | 141 | 141 | |
4 | Neymar | Brazil | 57 | 64 | 121 | 121 | |
5 | Zlatan Ibrahimović | Sweden | 57 | 62 | 119 | 119 | |
6 | Bader Al-Mutawa | Kuwait | 63 | 56 | 119 | 119 | |
7 | Didier Drogba | Ivory Coast | 50 | 65 | 115 | 115 | |
8 | Luis Suárez | Uruguay | 52 | 63 | 115 | 115 | |
9 | Sergio Agüero | Argentina | 63 | 41 | 104 | 104 | |
10 | Edin Džeko | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 42 | 59 | 101 | 101 | |
11 | Miroslav Klose | Germany | 29 (+2) | 71 | 100 | 2 | 102 |
12 | Samuel Eto'O | Cameroon | 49 | 51 (+5) | 100 | 5 | 105 |
13 | Edinson Cavani | Uruguay | 49 | 51 | 100 | 100 | |
Thierry Henry | France | 42 (+17) | 43 (+8) | 85 | 25 | 110 |
The World’s Best National Goal Scorer of XXIst Century at Jan 1, 2021: Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo is currently the best goal-scorer of the top national leagues in world football in XXIst Century at the beginning of 2021. His tally is as high as 462 goals.
Lionel Messi is 11 goals behind.
Overall, 58 players in the world have scored 200+ goals in national top divisions in XXIst Century. The last one to enter this list is the Swede Marcus Berg currently playing for Krasnodar (Russia). He has scored 200th goal just on the last matchday of 2020.
All these players are sorted by main ranking (XXI).
Also we put in the table other 20 players , which are below 200 goals in XXIst but have reached this amount adding the goals they scored in XXth century. So, we get additional ranking (Career).
These 20 players have still scored a solid majority (not less than 65 percent) of their goals in XXIst century (respectively, not more than 35 percent in XX) so they can be conditionally considered as “goal-scorers of XXIst century”. They are sorted in the table by Career ranking.
The players marked in bold are currently active; others finished the career.
Player | Nationality | Goals | |||
XXI | XX | Career | |||
1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 462 | 462 | |
2 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 451 | 451 | |
3 | Zlatan Ibrahimović | Sweden | 379 | 13 | 392 |
4 | Luis Suárez | Uruguay | 332 | 332 | |
5 | Aleksandar Đurić | Singapore | 304 | 35 | 339 |
6 | Ali Ashfaq | Maldives | 287 | 287 | |
7 | Robert Lewandowski | Poland | 285 | 285 | |
8 | Samuel Eto'O | Cameroon | 282 | 8 | 290 |
9 | David Villa | Spain | 280 | 280 | |
10 | Martin Kamburov | Bulgaria | 278 | 1 | 279 |
11 | Sergio Agüero | Argentina | 277 | 277 | |
12 | José Alfredo Castillo | Bolivia | 273 | 4 | 277 |
13 | Carlos Saucedo | Bolivia | 271 | 271 | |
14 | Rhys Griffiths | Wales | 270 | 270 | |
15 | Edinson Cavani | Uruguay | 262 | 262 | |
16 | Luís Fabiano | Brazil | 258 | 3 | 261 |
17 | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar | Netherlands | 253 | 253 | |
18 | Gonzalo Higuaín | Argentina | 251 | 251 | |
19 | Cristian Gonzáles | Indonesia | 251 | 251 | |
20 | Fred (Frederico Chaves Guedes) | Brazil | 244 | 244 | |
21 | Ricardo Oliveira | Brazil | 242 | 1 | 243 |
22 | Pablo Escobar | Bolivia | 240 | 1 | 241 |
23 | Víctor Núñez | Costa Rica | 237 | 11 | 248 |
24 | Esteban Paredes | Chile | 236 | 236 | |
25 | Thierry Henry | France | 232 | 52 | 284 |
26 | Óscar Cardozo | Paraguay | 232 | 232 | |
27 | Marc Lloyd Williams | Wales | 232 | 87 | 319 |
28 | Wayne Rooney | England | 231 | 231 | |
29 | Vágner Love | Brazil | 231 | 231 | |
30 | Dejan Damjanović | Montenegro | 231 | 231 | |
31 | André-Pierre Gignac | France | 228 | 228 | |
32 | Sebastián Abreu | Uruguay | 227 | 85 | 312 |
33 | Neymar | Brazil | 225 | 225 | |
34 | Carlos Tevez | Argentina | 225 | 225 | |
35 | Robbie Keane | Republic of Ireland | 224 | 12 | 236 |
36 | Karim Benzema | France | 220 | 220 | |
37 | Eran Zahavi | Israel | 219 | 219 | |
38 | Nemanja Nikolić | Hungary | 219 | 219 | |
39 | Bafétimbi Gomis | France | 217 | 217 | |
40 | Sebastián Tagliabúe | UAE | 215 | 215 | |
41 | Washington | Brazil | 214 | 26 | 240 |
42 | Burak Yılmaz | Turkey | 214 | 214 | |
43 | Dirk Kuyt | Netherlands | 213 | 19 | 232 |
44 | Radamel Falcao | Colombia | 212 | 212 | |
45 | Humberto Suazo | Chile | 210 | 210 | |
46 | Antonio Di Natale | Italy | 209 | 209 | |
47 | Edin Džeko | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 209 | 209 | |
48 | Lee Hunt | England | 209 | 209 | |
49 | Diego Forlán | Uruguay | 206 | 16 | 222 |
50 | Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko | Estonia | 206 | 6 | 212 |
The World’s Best Goal Scorer of XXIst Century at Jan 1, 2021: Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo leads the category of best goal-scorers in the world top football in XXIst Century at the beginning of 2021.
The Portuguese has scored 756 goals while Lionel Messi is runner-up with 715 goals.
Apart of them, only Zlatan Ibrahimovic managed to overcome the 500-goal mark (543). But in 2021, two others will likely do this: Luiz Suarez (now 489) and Robert Lewandowski (473).
33 players in the world have scored 300+ goals in XXIst century. They are sorted by main ranking (Total XXI).
Also we put in the table other 16 players which are below 300 goals in XXI but have reached this amount adding the goals they scored in XXth century. So, we get additional ranking (Total Career).
These 16 players have still scored a solid majority (not less than 65 percent) of their goals in XXI century (respectively, not more than 35 percent in XX) so they can be conditionally considered as “goal-scorers of XXIst century”. They are sorted in the table by Total Career ranking.
For the players who have goals in both centuries, those scored in XX are taken in brackets in the particular columns - NL(National League) - NC (National Cups) - ICC International Club Competitions - NT (National Team).
The players marked in bold are currently active; others finished the career.
Player | Country | Goals | Total | Total | Total | ||||
NL | NC | ICC | NT | XXI | XX | Career | |||
1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 462 | 48 | 144 | 102 | 756 | 756 | |
2 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 451 | 67 | 126 | 71 | 715 | 715 | |
3 | Zlatan Ibrahimović | Sweden | 379 (+13) | 45 (+2) | 57 | 62 | 543 | 15 | 558 |
4 | Luis Suárez | Uruguay | 332 | 42 | 52 | 63 | 489 | 489 | |
5 | Robert Lewandowski | Poland | 285 | 47 | 78 | 63 | 473 | 473 | |
6 | Ali Ashfaq | Maldives | 287 | 95 | 30 | 53 | 465 | 465 | |
7 | Sergio Agüero | Argentina | 277 | 40 | 63 | 41 | 421 | 421 | |
8 | Samuel Eto'O | Cameroon | 282 (+8) | 27 | 49 | 51 (+5) | 409 | 13 | 422 |
9 | Edinson Cavani | Uruguay | 262 | 46 | 49 | 51 | 408 | 408 | |
10 | Aleksandar Đurić | Singapore | 304 (+35) | 45 | 33 | 26 | 408 | 35 | 443 |
11 | David Villa | Spain | 280 | 18 | 28 | 59 | 385 | 385 | |
12 | Neymar | Brazil | 225 | 38 | 57 | 64 | 384 | 384 | |
13 | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar | Netherlands | 253 | 28 | 55 | 42 | 378 | 378 | |
14 | Luís Fabiano | Brazil | 258 (+3) | 52 | 40 | 28 | 378 | 3 | 381 |
15 | Wayne Rooney | England | 231 | 30 | 43 | 53 | 357 | 357 | |
16 | Ricardo Oliveira | Brazil | 242 (+1) | 69 | 39 | 5 | 355 | 1 | 356 |
17 | Karim Benzema | France | 220 | 35 | 72 | 27 | 354 | 354 | |
18 | Robbie Keane | Republic of Ireland | 224 (+12) | 36 (+2) | 23 (+1) | 61 (+7) | 344 | 22 | 366 |
19 | Firas Al-Khatib | Syria | 185 (+5) | 99 | 24 | 36 | 344 | 5 | 349 |
20 | Edin Džeko | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 209 | 30 | 42 | 59 | 340 | 340 | |
21 | Gonzalo Higuaín | Argentina | 251 | 17 | 39 | 31 | 338 | 338 | |
22 | Didier Drogba | Ivory Coast | 188 | 33 | 50 | 65 | 336 | 336 | |
23 | Thierry Henry | France | 232 (+52) | 16 (+1) | 42 (+17) | 43 (+8) | 333 | 78 | 411 |
24 | Fred (Frederico Chaves Guedes) | Brazil | 244 | 37 | 29 | 18 | 328 | 328 | |
25 | Radamel Falcao | Colombia | 212 | 20 | 59 | 35 | 326 | 326 | |
26 | Óscar Cardozo | Paraguay | 232 | 29 | 52 | 12 | 325 | 325 | |
27 | Bader Al-Mutawa | Kuwait | 136 | 67 | 63 | 56 | 322 | 322 | |
28 | Robin van Persie | Netherlands | 204 | 39 | 29 | 50 | 322 | 322 | |
29 | Carlos Tevez | Argentina | 225 | 38 | 42 | 13 | 318 | 318 | |
30 | Cristian Gonzáles | Indonesia | 251 | 41 | 7 | 12 | 311 | 311 | |
31 | Mario Gómez | Germany | 205 | 30 | 42 | 31 | 308 | 308 | |
32 | Eran Zahavi | Israel | 219 | 35 | 23 | 24 | 301 | 301 | |
33 | Nemanja Nikolić | Hungary | 219 | 61 | 14 | 7 | 301 | 301 |