Hassan Mohammed takes a look at the most prolific goalscorers in the history of the World Cup. Miroslav Klose is the all-time top goalscorer in the World Cup’s history with 16 goals to his name in 24 matches. The German forward made his World Cup debut in 2002 and went on to represent his country until the 2014 Brazil World Cup, winning the Golden Boot in 2006 in the process.
Before Klose, Brazil’s legendary striker Ronaldo was at the top of the charts with 15 goals in 19 matches, spread out over four World Cups. The iconic attacker won the Golden Boot in 2002, scoring eight times as Brazil emerged victorious.
Klose surpassed Ronaldo in the 2014 World Cup semi-final against Brazil in Germany’s 7-1 win over the hosts. Ronaldo is followed by another Germany legend in Gerd Muller, who scored 14 goals in just two editions of the tournament (1970 and 1974).
He along with Just Fontaine and Sandor Kocsis are the only players to have scored 10 or more World Cup goals in just one edition of the competition. Brazil’s great Pele is the fifth-highest goalscorer of all time in the World Cup, scoring 12 goals in four editions, but surprisingly never winning the Golden Boot.
Germany and Bayern Munich star Thomas Muller is the only still active player to have netted 10 or more goals in the World Cup. Muller has played in three editions so far, but has managed to score in only two of them.
World Cup all-time top goal scorers
| Pos | Player | Team | Goals | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miroslav Klose | Germany | 16 | 24 |
| 2 | Ronaldo | Brazil | 15 | 19 |
| 3 | Gerd Muller | West Germany | 14 | 13 |
| 4 | Just Fontaine | France | 13 | 6 |
| =4 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 13 | 26 |
| 6 | Pele | Brazil | 12 | 14 |
| =6 | Kylian Mbappe | France | 12 | 14 |
| 8 | Sandor Kocsis | Hungary | 11 | 5 |
| =8 | Jurgen Klinsmann | West Germany | 11 | 17 |
| 10 | Helmut Rahn | West Germany | 10 | 10 |
| =10 | Gary Lineker | England | 10 | 12 |
| =12 | Gabriel Batistuta | Argentina | 10 | 12 |
| =12 | Teofilo Cubillas | Peru | 10 | 13 |
| =12 | Thomas Muller | Germany | 10 | 18 |
| =12 | Grzegorz Lato | Poland | 10 | 20 |
Legends are just everywhere on that sheet. Magnificent!!!