IFFHS World's Best Top Goal Scorer
Association football award
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The IFFHS World's Best Top Goal Scorer is a football award given annually since 2020,[1] and retroactively for the years 2011 to 2019,[2] to the world's top goalscorer in the calendar year. The award is given by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).
| Sport | Association football |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best goal scorer of the calendar year |
| Presented by | International Federation of Football History & Statistics |
| History | |
| First award | 2011 (retroactive) |
| Editions | 15 |
| First winner |  Cristiano Ronaldo |
| Most wins | Cristiano Ronaldo (5 awards) |
| Most recent |  Kylian Mbappé(2nd award) |
| Website | iffhs |
All international goals and all competitive goals for clubs playing in their country's top level division scored from 1 January to 31 December are taken into consideration.
Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record for most wins (5) while Lionel Messi holds the record for most goals in a calendar year (91 in 2012). Robert Lewandowski won the award with the fewest goals (47 in 2020).
Ronaldo (5), Messi (2), Lewandowski (2) and Kylian Mbappé (2) are the only players who have won the award more than once.
Ronaldo (Real Madrid and Al Nassr) and Mbappė (PSG and Real Madrid) are the only players to win the award with multiple clubs.
Meanwhile, Al Nassr (Abderrazak Hamdallah in 2019 and Ronaldo in 2023) & Real Madrid (Ronaldo in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and Mbappė in 2025) are the only clubs with multiple winners.
In 2021, the IFFHS awarded the World's Best Goal Scorer of the first and second decade of the 21st century, considering the years 2001 to 2010 and 2011 to 2020.[3][4]
Men's winners
List of winners
Statistics
| Player | Wins | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Cristiano Ronaldo |
5 | 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2023 |
 Lionel Messi |
2 | 2012, 2016 |
 Robert Lewandowski |
2020, 2021 | |
| Kylian Mbappé |
2022, 2025 | |
 Harry Kane |
1 | 2017 |
 Baghdad Bounedjah |
2018 | |
 Abderrazak Hamdallah |
2019 | |
 Viktor Gyökeres |
2024 |
| Rank | Player | Year | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lionel Messi |
2012 | 91 |
| 2 | Cristiano Ronaldo |
2013 | 69 |
| Robert Lewandowski |
2021 | ||
| 4 | Kylian Mbappé |
2025 | 66 |
| 5 | Cristiano Ronaldo |
2012 | 63 |
| 6 | Viktor Gyökeres |
2024 | 62 |
| 7 | Cristiano Ronaldo |
2014 | 61 |
| 8 | Cristiano Ronaldo |
2011 | 60 |
| Harry Kane |
2025 |
| Club | Total | Players |
|---|---|---|
 Real Madrid |
5 | 2 |
 Al Nassr |
2 | 2 |
| Barcelona |
2 | 1 |
 Bayern Munich |
2 | 1 |
 Al Sadd |
1 | 1 |
| Paris Saint-Germain |
1 | 1 |
| Tottenham Hotspur |
1 | 1 |
| Sporting CP |
1 | 1 |
The World's Best Top Goal Scorer of the First Decade (2001–2010)
The final list includes the 32 players who scored 200 or more goals in top-tier national leagues, national cups, continental and international competitions with both club and national teams in the period of time from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2010.
The results were posted on the IFFHS' official website on 25 September 2022.[10]
| Rank | Player | Nation | Club(s) | Goals for country | Goals for club(s) | Total goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aleksandar Đurić |  Singapore |
Geylang United Singapore Armed Forces Tampines Rovers |
16 | 311 | 327 |
| 2 | Washington |  Brazil |
Ponte Preta Fenerbahçe Athletico Paranaense Tokyo Verdy Urawa Red Diamonds Fluminense São Paulo |
2 | 281 | 283 |
| 3 | Thierry Henry | France |
Arsenal Barcelona New York Red Bulls |
43 | 238 | 281 |
| 4 | Ruud van Nistelrooy |  Netherlands |
PSV Eindhoven Manchester United Real Madrid Hamburger SV |
33 | 242 | 275 |
| 5 | Samuel Eto'o |  Cameroon |
Mallorca Barcelona Inter Milan |
44 | 227 | 271 |
| 6 | Marc Lloyd Williams |  Wales |
Bangor City Southport Aberystwyth Town Total Network Solution Rhyl Newtown Porthmadog Airbus UK Broughton |
0 | 271 | 271 |
The World's Best Top Goal Scorer of the Second Decade (2011–2020)
The final list includes the 41 players who scored 200 or more goals in top-tier national leagues, national cups, continental and international competitions with both club and national teams in the period of time from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2020.
The results were posted on the IFFHS' official website on 4 January 2021.[3]
The World's Best Top Goal Scorer of the Third Decade (2021–2030)
The provisional results were posted on the IFFHS' official website on 4 February 2026.[11]
| Rank | Player | Nation | Club(s) | Goals for country | Goals for club(s) | Total goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kylian Mbappé | France |
Paris Saint-Germain Real Madrid |
39 | 225 | 264 |
| 2 | Erling Haaland |  Norway |
Borussia Dortmund Manchester City |
49 | 202 | 251 |
| 3 | Harry Kane | England |
Tottenham Hotspur Bayern Munich |
46 | 191 | 237 |
| 4 | Robert Lewandowski | Poland |
Bayern Munich Barcelona |
25 | 187 | 212 |
| 5 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal |
Juventus Manchester United Al Nassr |
41 | 160 | 201 |
All-time World's Best Goal Scorer ranking
_(cropped).jpg)
- As of 2 November 2024[12][13]
- Bold indicates players currently active.
- * indicates player has scored at least 500 goals for a single club.[14]
| Rank | Player | League | Cup | Continental | Country & other | Total | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo |
556 | 56 | 168 | 135 | 960 | 2002–present |
| 2 | Lionel Messi* |
517 | 71 | 149 | 112 | 849 | 2004–present |
| 3 | Pelé* |
604 | 49 | 26 | 83 | 762 | 1957–1977 |
| 4 | Romário |
545 | 93 | 54 | 64 | 756 | 1985–2007 |
| 5 |  Ferenc Puskás |
516 | 69 | 56 | 84 | 725 | 1943–1966 |
| 6 |   Josef Bican* |
515 | 137 | 38 | 32 | 722 | 1931–1955 |
| 7 | Robert Lewandowski |
400 | 57 | 107 | 84 | 648 | 2008–present |
| 8 |  Jimmy Jones* |
330 | 286 | 14 | 9 | 648 | 1947–1964 |
| 9 | Gerd Müller* |
405 | 92 | 69 | 68 | 634 | 1964–1981 |
| 10 |  Joe Bambrick* |
347 | 253 | 5 | 21 | 626 | 1926–1943 |
| 11 | Abe Lenstra |
573 | 18 | 0 | 33 | 624 | 1936–1963 |
| 12 |  Luis Suárez |
409 | 48 | 57 | 69 | 583 | 2005–present |
| 13 | Eusébio |
381 | 97 | 59 | 41 | 578 | 1960–1978 |
| 14 | Glenn Ferguson |
313 | 241 | 9 | 0 | 563 | 1987–2011 |
| 15 | Zlatan Ibrahimović |
394 | 48 | 57 | 62 | 561 | 1999–2023 |
| 16 | Imre Schlosser |
413 | 68 | 13 | 59 | 553 | 1906–1928 |
| 17 | Fernando Peyroteo* |
464 | 72 | 3 | 14 | 553 | 1937–1949 |
| 18 | Uwe Seeler* |
447 | 41 | 21 | 43 | 552 | 1954–1978 |
| 19 |  Jimmy McGrory* |
407 | 131 | 0 | 12 | 550 | 1923–1937 |
| 20 |  Alfredo Di Stéfano |
378 | 54 | 76 | 29 | 537 | 1945–1966 |
| 21 | György Sárosi |
350 | 35 | 103 | 42 | 530 | 1931–1948 |
| 22 | Roberto Dinamite |
476 | 10 | 5 | 22 | 513 | 1971–1992 |
| 23 |  Hugo Sánchez |
390 | 49 | 38 | 30 | 507 | 1976–1997 |
| 24 | Franz Binder |
297 | 93 | 87 | 26 | 503 | 1930–1949 |
| 25 | Zico |
410 | 27 | 16 | 48 | 501 | 1971–1994 |
Women's winners
| Sport | Association football |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best goal scorer of the calendar year |
| Presented by | International Federation of Football History & Statistics |
| History | |
| First award | 2021 |
| Editions | 5 |
| First winner | Jennifer Hermoso |
| Most wins | Charlyn Corral (2 awards) |
| Most recent | Charlyn Corral (2nd award) |
| Website | iffhs |
List of winners
| Year | Rank | Player | Club(s) | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1st | Jennifer Hermoso[15] |
Barcelona |
48 |
| 2nd | Lea Schüller |
Bayern Munich |
47 | |
| 3rd | Alexia Putellas |
Barcelona |
43 | |
| 2022 | 1st | Fenna Kalma[16] |
Twente |
45 |
| 2nd |  Sam Kerr |
Chelsea |
38 | |
| 3rd |  Tessa Wullaert |
Anderlecht Fortuna Sittard |
38 | |
| 2023 | 1st |  Temwa Chawinga[17] |
 Wuhan Jiangda |
63 |
| 2nd | Charlyn Corral |
Pachuca |
39 | |
| 3rd | Kiana Palacios |
América |
38 | |
| 2024 | 1st | Charlyn Corral[18] |
Pachuca |
44 |
| 2nd | Caroline Graham Hansen |
Barcelona |
36 | |
| 3rd | Ewa Pajor |
Wolfsburg Barcelona |
35 | |
| 2025 | 1st | Charlyn Corral[19] |
Pachuca |
57 |
| 2nd | Ewa Pajor |
Barcelona |
45 | |
| 3rd | Katie Wilkinson |
Rangers |
42 | |
Statistics
| Player | Wins | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Charlyn Corral |
2 | 2024, 2025 |
| Jennifer Hermoso |
1 | 2021 |
| Fenna Kalma |
1 | 2022 |
| Temwa Chawinga |
1 | 2023 |
| Rank | Player | Year | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Temwa Chawinga |
2023 | 63 |
| 2 | Charlyn Corral |
2025 | 57 |
| 3 | Jennifer Hermoso |
2021 | 48 |
| 4 | Lea Schüller |
2021 | 47 |
| 5 | Fenna Kalma |
2022 | 45 |
| Ewa Pajor |
2025 | ||
| 7 | Charlyn Corral |
2024 | 44 |
| 8 | Alexia Putellas |
2021 | 43 |
| 9 | Katie Wilkinson |
2025 | 42 |
| 10 | Charlyn Corral |
2023 | 39 |
| 11 | Sam Kerr |
2022 | 38 |
| Tessa Wullaert |
2022 |
| Club | Total | Players |
|---|---|---|
| Pachuca |
2 | 1 |
| Barcelona |
1 | 1 |
| Twente |
1 | 1 |
| Wuhan Jiangda |
1 | 1 |
| Nationality | Total | Players |
|---|---|---|
| Mexico |
2 | 1 |
| Malawi |
1 | 1 |
| Netherlands |
1 | 1 |
| Spain |
1 | 1 |
See also
Notes
- In regards to Neymar's statistics during his spell at Santos (2011–2013), the IFFHS chose to consider the Campeonato Paulista (the top-flight league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, of which Santos is a municipality) as a national league. As a result, the official stats for Neymar include goals scored in two different Brazilian leagues: the Campeonato Paulista and the Brasileirão.
- As the statistics are calculated starting from 1 January 2011, two goals from Aubameyang's loan spell at Monaco (from Milan) in the first half of the 2010–11 season are left out of the total amount. The Gabonese striker joined Saint-Étienne in January 2011 on another loan, and eventually signed for the French team on a permanent deal the following December.
- Lukaku was registered for Chelsea between 2011 and 2014, but he never scored during his first season with the club and was loaned, respectively, to West Bromwich Albion and Everton (which eventually signed him permanently) during the following couple of years.