Sports Illustrated lists the players that stand above the rest when it comes to finding the back of the net.
The FIFA World Cup has showcased a number of world-class goal-scorers over the years, with over 2,000 goals scored in the 21 editions of the men’s tournament. However, only a few players stand among the rest as the World Cup’s all-time leading scorers.
Any player may break through during a single World Cup to win the Golden Boot–given to the player who scores the most goals in a particular tournament–but not many have had prolonged success in the international event. Germany’s Miroslav Klose reigns supreme as the men’s all-time scoring leader, with 16 goals across four competitions from 2002 to ’14.
Though Klose may hold the record for the men, his mark comes up just short of Brazil women’s star Marta. The standout forward scored 17 goals in five different tournaments from 2003 to ’19.
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France’s Just Fontaine holds the record most goals scored at a single World Cup (13), a mark he reached in 1958 that also lands him among the all-time scoring leaders. Gerd Müller of West Germany is the next closest in that category, having found the back of the net 10 times in 1970.
German strike Thomas Müller is the only active player to score more than 10 goals in World Cup play.
Check out the all-time list of goal-scorers below.
1. Miroslav Klose (Germany) – 16 goals
2. Ronaldo (Brazil) – 15 goals
3. Gerd Müller (West Germany) – 14 goals
4. Just Fontaine (France) – 13 goals
5. Pelé (Brazil) – 12 goals
T6. Jürgen Klinsmann (Germany), Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) – 11 goals
T8. Grzegorz Lato (Poland), Teofilo Cubillas (Peru), Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina), Gary Lineker (England), Helmut Rahn (Germany), Thomas Müller* (Germany) – 10 goals
T14. Ademir (Brazil), Eusébio (Portugal), Christian Vieri (Italy), Vavá (Brazil), David Villa (Spain), Paolo Rossi (Italy), Jairzinho (Brazil), Roberto Baggio (Italy), Karl Heinz-Rummenigge (West Germany), Uwe Seeler (West Germany) – 9 goals
T24. Guillermo Stábile (Argentina), Leônidas (Brazil), Óscar Míguez (Uruguay), Rivaldo (Brazil), Rudi Völler (West Germany/Germany), Diego Maradona (Argentina) – 8 goals
*denotes active player