Scoring a goal at the World Cup is the ultimate dream for every footballer. It is, after all, the most prestigious playground on the planet.
Since the very first goal was scored by France’s Lucien Laurent at the 1930 World Cup, nearly 1,300 players have etched their names onto the scoresheet at least once in the tournament’s history.
Currently, Miroslav Klose sits on the throne as the top scorer in World Cup history with 16 goals. Lionel Messi is also in the elite group, trailing by just three goals. However, in a surprising twist, his eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo is nowhere to be found in the top 10.
Here is the definitive list of the greatest goalscorers the tournament has ever seen.
10. Helmut Rahn (Germany) – 10 Goals
Technically, there are six players tied with 10 World Cup goals: Grzegorz Lato (Poland), Thomas Müller (Germany), Teófilo Cubillas (Peru), Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina), Gary Lineker (England), and Helmut Rahn (Germany). However, while the others needed at least 12 matches to reach this milestone, Rahn achieved it in just 10.
The legend born in 1929 scored 4 goals at the 1954 World Cup, including a brace in the final against Hungary (the “Miracle of Bern”), leading West Germany to their first-ever world title. At the 1958 World Cup, he added 6 more, equaling the legendary Pelé and finishing behind only Just Fontaine.
Rahn never played for giants like Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund. His peak came at Rot-Weiss Essen, winning the national championship in 1955. He retired at Meidericher SV in 1965.
Surprisingly, he is reportedly the cousin of the grandfather of Kevin-Prince Boateng, the former star of the Ghana national team.
=9. Jürgen Klinsmann (Germany) – 11 Goals
The legend born in 1964 scored over 320 goals throughout his illustrious career, 11 of which came on the World Cup stage.
Participating in three World Cups – 1990 (where West Germany won their third title), 1994, and 1998 – the former Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, and Tottenham Hotspur star played a total of 17 matches to reach his tally of 11 goals.
=9. Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) – 11 Goals
Impressive! If Klinsmann needed 17 matches and three tournaments to score 11 goals, Kocsis needed just 5 games to reach the same number.
In reality, the 1954 World Cup was a tournament where Hungary displayed destructive power. They swept aside every opponent on their way to the final, but fate did not smile upon them in the ultimate match against Germany.
Before that heartbreak, in the group stage match against Germany, Hungary won 8-3, with Kocsis scoring a poker (4 goals). Earlier, the Barcelona legend had scored a hat-trick in a 9-0 win over South Korea, becoming the first player to score two hat-tricks in a single World Cup.
It is a pity for Kocsis that 1954 was the only World Cup he ever attended. If not, his numbers would surely be even more legendary.
=7. Pelé (Brazil) – 12 Goals
Dubbed the “King of Football”, Pelé certainly cannot be absent from this list.
Four tournaments, 14 appearances, 12 goals, 10 assists, and 3 World Cup trophies. It is a record that reflects the sheer greatness of Pelé.
However, Pelé’s goalscoring record at the World Cup is likely to be surpassed soon by a current global superstar…
=7. Kylian Mbappé (France) – 12 Goals
Who else could it be? That star is Kylian Mbappé.
Making his name at Monaco, the 2018 World Cup in Russia was the true turning point in the career of the striker born in 1998.
At 18, Mbappé tore up the World Cup with his blistering speed and power. He became the youngest player to score for France at a World Cup and the second teenager in history to score in a final—ranking behind only Pelé himself.
And of course, who can forget his classic hat-trick against Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final?
=5. Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 13 Goals
The player often dubbed the GOAT of world football also possesses a massive goalscoring record at the World Cup.
In five World Cup appearances, Messi has scored in all of them except for 2010 in South Africa. Of course, the 2022 World Cup was where El Pulga shone brightest. The championship on Qatari soil was the closing argument in the decade-long debate between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo: who is the true GOAT?
=5. Just Fontaine (France) – 13 Goals
He may not have the lengthy career of others on this list, but Just Fontaine carved his name into history in his own unique way.
1958 was the only World Cup the French-Moroccan striker ever attended. 13 goals in just 6 matches—an average of 2.17 goals per game. It is a statistic that borders on insanity.
Even with the World Cup changing formats and increasing the number of teams, it is hard to imagine any player ever breaking his record for the most goals in a single tournament.
3. Gerd Müller (Germany) – 14 Goals
While Thomas Müller has 10 World Cup goals, another legend bearing the Müller name, Gerd, has 14.
Known as the “Bomber of the Nation” in the 1970s, Gerd Müller participated in two World Cups (1970 and 1974). In 1974, he scored the winning goal in the final to help West Germany claim their second world title.
Throughout his international career, he scored an astonishing 68 goals in 62 matches for Germany – an incredible efficiency rate.
2. Ronaldo (Brazil) – 15 Goals
Not Cristiano from Portugal; Ronaldo Nazário—better known as R9—is the “Ronaldo” on this list.
Attending four World Cups, Ronaldo won the title in his very first attempt in 1994, though he didn’t play a single minute. After the heartbreak of the 1998 final, O Fenômeno returned with a vengeance in 2002, scoring 8 goals in Japan and South Korea, including a brace in the final against Germany to secure the trophy.
Ronaldo held the all-time record until 2014, when it was broken by… a German.
1. Miroslav Klose (Germany) – 16 Goals
The striker born in 1978 cannot compare to Messi or Ronaldo in terms of global fame or flair, but he holds the one record that matters most: the most goals in World Cup history.
Starting with a hat-trick against Saudi Arabia at the 2002 World Cup (an 8-0 win), Klose continued to deliver at every subsequent tournament.
In 2014, on Brazilian soil, his goal to make it 2-0 against the Seleção in the semi-final allowed him to surpass Ronaldo—a Brazilian legend—right in front of the home crowd.
As we all know, Germany went on to destroy Brazil 7-1 and then defeated Argentina in the final thanks to Mario Götze’s goal, allowing Klose to retire as a world champion and the undisputed king of World Cup goals.
