FIFA World Cup top goalscorers
Over 2300 goals scored at the 20 editions of the FIFA World Cup final tournaments.[1] Since the first goal of the tournaments scored by French player Lucien Laurent in the opening game of the 1930 FIFA World Cup,[1] over 1200 players have scored goals at the final tournaments. The top goalscorer at the 1930 tournament was the Argentinian player Guillermo Stábile with 8 goals. Including the 2014 tournament, only 22 players have scored more goals across multiple World Cup tournaments than he did at the initial tournament, and only four have scored more goals than him at a single tournament.
The threshold of eight goals was first surpassed by Hungarian player Sándor Kocsis when he scored a total of eleven goals at the 1954 tournament. He did not take part in the next tournament, when French player Just Fontaine managed to improve on Kocsis's record and score a total of 13 goals in only 6 games. At the 1966 Eusébio scored nine goals for Portugal, but failed to play in any more tournaments. Gerd Müller scored ten goals for Germany at the 1970 edition of the World Cup, and eventually broke the record when he scored his 14th goal at final tournaments during Germany's win at the 1974 final. His record stood for more than three decades when Ronaldo managed to score four, eight, and three goals respectively at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 World Cups. The Brazilian's record would only hold for two more tournament as Miroslav Klose managed to score in 4 consecutive tournaments between 2006 and 2014, with five, five, four, and two goals totaling a record 16 goals. Only seven players in total have managed to score over 10 goals at the final tournaments, including Pelé with 12 between 1958 and 1970, and Jürgen Klinsmann with 11 between 1990 and 1998.
| Goals | >10 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | <5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. players | 7 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 20 | 33 | >50 | >1200 |
Only six players have managed to score ten goals, nine have scored nine, seven have scored 8, 6 have scored
As per conventions, converted penalties during shoot-outs are excluded.
A total of 28 players have scored the most goals at a single tournament, and none of them achieved it twice in the 19 editions up to 2010. Five Brazilian players were the top goalscorers at four of the editions. There were three German top goalscorers, two Hungarians, Italians, Argentinians, and Russians, with the remaining ones representing 12 different nations. This corresponds to 9 top goalscorers from CONMEBOL and 19 from UEFA. All 28 were awarded either the Bolden Boot award, or were selected as part of the All-Star Team of the tournament, and 20 of them received both awards.
Top goalscorers
Note: Players in bold are still playing in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
- Tournaments in round brackets, e.g., (1982): Played in the tournament but did not score a goal
- Tournaments in square brackets: e.g., [1994]: Part of the squad for the tournament but did not play
| Rank | Nation | Player | Goals scored | Matches played | Goal average | Tournaments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Deutschland
|
Miroslav Klose | 16 | 23 | 0.70 | 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 |
| 2 |  Brasilien
|
Ronaldo | 15 | 19 | 0.79 | [1994], 1998, 2002, 2006 |
| 3 | West Germany
|
Gerd Müller | 14 | 13 | 1.08 | 1970, 1974 |
| 4 |  Frankreich
|
Just Fontaine | 13 | 6 | 2.17 | 1958 |
| 5 | Brasilien
|
Pelé | 12 | 14 | 0.86 | 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970 |
| 6 |  Ungarn
|
Sándor Kocsis | 11 | 5 | 2.20 | 1954 |
| Deutschland
|
Jürgen Klinsmann | 11 | 17 | 0.65 | 1990, 1994, 1998 | |
| 8 | West Germany
|
Helmut Rahn | 10 | 10 | 1.00 | 1954, 1958 |
 Argentinien
|
Gabriel Batistuta | 10 | 12 | 0.83 | 1994, 1998, 2002 | |
 England
|
Gary Lineker | 10 | 12 | 0.83 | 1986, 1990 | |
| Deutschland
|
Thomas Müller | 10 | 12 | 0.83 | 2010, 2014 | |
 Peru
|
Teófilo Cubillas | 10 | 13 | 0.77 | 1970, 1978, (1982) | |
 Polen
|
Grzegorz Lato | 10 | 20 | 0.50 | 1974, 1978, 1982 | |
| 14 |  Portugal
|
Eusébio | 9 | 6 | 1.50 | 1966 |
 Italien
|
Christian Vieri | 9 | 9 | 1.00 | 1998, 2002 | |
| Brasilien
|
Vavá | 9 | 10 | 0.90 | 1958, 1962 | |
 Spanien
|
David Villa | 9 | 11 | 0.82 | 2006, 2010, 2014 | |
| Italien
|
Paolo Rossi | 9 | 14 | 0.64 | 1978, 1982, [1986] | |
| Brasilien
|
Jairzinho | 9 | 16 | 0.56 | (1966), 1970, 1974 | |
| Italien
|
Roberto Baggio | 9 | 16 | 0.56 | 1990, 1994, 1998 | |
| West Germany
|
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | 9 | 19 | 0.47 | 1978, 1982, 1986 | |
| West Germany
|
Uwe Seeler | 9 | 21 | 0.43 | 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970 | |
| 23 | Argentinien
|
Guillermo Stábile | 8 | 4 | 2.00 | 1930 |
| Brasilien
|
Leônidas[2] | 8 | 5 | 1.60 | 1934, 1938 | |
| Brasilien
|
Ademir[3] | 8 | 6 | 1.33 | 1950 | |
 Uruguay
|
Oscar Míguez | 8 | 7 | 1.14 | 1950, 1954 | |
| Brasilien
|
Rivaldo | 8 | 14 | 0.57 | 1998, 2002 | |
| Deutschland
|
Rudi Völler | 8 | 15 | 0.53 | 1986, 1990, 1994 | |
| Argentinien
|
Diego Maradona | 8 | 21 | 0.38 | 1982, 1986, (1990), 1994 | |
| 30 |  Czechoslovakia
|
Oldřich Nejedlý[4] | 7 | 6 | 1.17 | 1934, 1938 |
| Ungarn
|
Lajos Tichy | 7 | 8 | 0.88 | 1958, 1962, [1966] | |
| Brasilien
|
Careca | 7 | 9 | 0.78 | 1986, 1990 | |
| Polen
|
Andrzej Szarmach | 7 | 13 | 0.54 | 1974, 1978, 1982 | |
 Niederlande
|
Johnny Rep | 7 | 14 | 0.50 | 1974, 1978 | |
| West Germany
|
Hans Schäfer | 7 | 15 | 0.47 | 1954, 1958, (1962) | |
| 36 |
A total of 20 players have scored 6 goals: Erich Probst, Bebeto, Rivelino, Hristo Stoichkov, James Rodríguez, Thierry Henry, Helmut Haller, Lothar Matthäus, Max Morlock, Asamoah Gyan, György Sárosi, Salvatore Schillaci, Dennis Bergkamp, Rob Rensenbrink, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Zbigniew Boniek, Oleg Salenko, Josef Hügi, Diego Forlán.
A total of 33 players have scored 5 goals: Gonzalo Higuaín, Lionel Messi, Tim Cahill, Hans Krankl, Marc Wilmots, Garrincha, Romário, Zico, Roger Milla, Tomáš Skuhravý, Jon Dahl Tomasson, Geoff Hurst, Michel Platini, Zinédine Zidane, Franz Beckenbauer, Lukas Podolski, Gyula Zsengellér, Alessandro Altobelli, Silvio Piola, Johan Neeskens, Robin van Persie, Peter McParland, Valentin Ivanov, Emilio Butragueño, Fernando Hierro, Fernando Morientes, Raúl, Kennet Andersson, Henrik Larsson, Landon Donovan, Pedro Cea, Juan Alberto Schiaffino, Luis Suárez
Timeline of top goalscorer
Top goalscorer by tournament
See also
- List of FIFA World Cup goalscorers
- List of FIFA World Cup hat-tricks
- FIFA World Cup milestone goals
- List of FIFA World Cup own goals
References
- ^ a b http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/fifafacts/mcwc/ip-301_02a_fwc_goals_22689.pdf
- ^ FIFA initially credited Leônidas with eight goals in 1938. However, FIFA changed it to seven goals in November 2006, meaning he scored a total of eight goals overall (he scored one goal in 1934). In some sources. Leônidas was credited with nine goals in the 1938 tournament, mis-crediting one Brazilian goal in the first-round match against Poland.
- ^ There was a controversy regarding the number of goals scored by Ademir in 1950 because of incomplete data from the final group round game against Spain, that ended in a 6-1 victory for Brazil. The fifth Brazilian goal was credited to Jair, but are now credited to Ademir.
- ^ FIFA initially credited Nejedlý with only four goals in 1934. However, FIFA changed it to five goals in November 2006, meaning he scored a total of seven goals overall (he scored two goals in 1938). [1]
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