Who is the top scorer in FIFA World Cup history?
The FIFA World Cup is known for its plethora of iconic goalscorers who have lit up the competition across their respective international careers.
But who currently stands along as the top goalscorer across the history of this iconic tournament?
Here's a look at the present list of top scorers in the men's FIFA World Cup:
GOALS | PLAYER | NATION |
|---|---|---|
21 | Lionel Messi | Argentina |
20 | Kylian Mbappe | France |
16 | Miroslav Klose | Germany |
15 | Ronaldo | Brazil |
14 | Harry Kane | England |
14 | Gerd Muller | West Germany |
13 | Just Fontaine | France |
12 | Pele | Brazil |
11 | Jurgen Klinsmann | Germany |
11 | Sandor Kocsis | Hungary |
11 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal |
10 | Gabriel Batistuta | Argentina |
10 | Teofilo Cubillas | Peru |
10 | Grzegorz Lato | Poland |
10 | Gary Lineker | England |
10 | Thomas Muller | Germany |
10 | Helmut Rahn | Germany |
9 | Ademir | Brazil |
9 | Roberto Baggio | Italy |
9 | Eusebio | Portugal |
9 | Jairzinho | Brazil |
9 | Paolo Rossi | Italy |
9 | Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | West Germany |
9 | Uwe Seeler | West Germany |
9 | Vava | Brazil |
9 | Christian Vieri | Italy |
9 | David Villa | Spain |
Lionel Messi became the outright top scorer in FIFA World Cup history in June 2026, with two goals against Austria in Argentina's second fixture of the finals. Having already drawn level with Klose after scoring a hat-trick against Algeria - 20 years to the day since his first FIFA World Cup goal - Messi moved clear of the German striker with his first strike against Austria.
Since then, Messi has extended his FIFA World Cup goal tally to 21 and has found the net at least once in each of Argentina's FIFA World Cup 2026 matches so far.
Kylian Mbappe is hot on Messi's heels though, with the Frenchman currently one behind his former Paris Saint-Germain teammate on 20 goals having scored against Senegal, Iraq, Paraguay and Morocco at FIFA World Cup 2026.
Brazilian legend Pele ended his career with 12 FIFA World Cup goals with half of those scored in 1958. Meanwhile, a couple of other World Cup legends registered nine goals in the tournament, such as Portugal's Eusebio and Jairzinho, also of Brazil.
Pele's total has since been exceeded by England's Harry Kane. The Three Lions' record goalscorer has registered six goals at FIFA World Cup 2026 so far, thus extending his overall number in the competition to 14 goals, level with Gerd Muller.
