FIFA World Cup Highest Goal Scorers in History
In the enriched history of the FIFA WC, the “Greatest Show on Earth” has witnessed a total of 2,720 goals in 964 games in the 22 editions. The number of goal scorers is also insanely large. But Who has scored the most goals in the World Cup history? Who has the most WC goals, Messi or Ronaldo? We will discuss all this topics and list out the FIFA World Cup History’s Highest Goal Scorer of All Time.
Highest Goal Scorer in FIFA World Cup History
Retired German striker Miroslav Klose is the best scorer in FIFA World Cup history. He has 16 WC goals beside his name in 24 games over 4 editions. He went past currently 2nd-placed Ronaldo Nazario’s 15 goals former record in 2014. The Phenomenon netted his 15 strikes at a 0.79 ratio. Gerd Muller comes 3rd with his 14 goals. 4th place is shared by Just Fontaine and Leo Messi, as both of these legends scored on 13 occasions. At this moment, Kylian Mbappe shares the 6th spot with Pele (12 goals for each). Sándor Kocsis & Jürgen Klinsmann, both have 11 WC strikes. 6 more superstars share the 10th spot and each of them are owners of 10 WC goals. Cristiano Ronaldo jointly shares the 26th spot and has 8 WC goals over 5 editions.
FIFA World Cup Highest Goal Scorers All Time
| Players (Rank) | Country | Number Of Goals | Ratio (Goals Per Game) |
| Miroslav Klose (1st) | Germany | 16 Goals | 0.67 |
| Ronaldo Nazario (2nd) | Brazil | 15 Goals | 0.79 |
| Gerd Muller (3rd) | West Germany | 14 Goals | 1.08 |
| Just Fontaine (4th) | France | 13 Goals | 2.17 |
| Lionel Messi (4th) | Argentina | 13 Goals | 0.50 |
| Pele (6th) | Brazil | 12 Goals | 0.86 |
| Kylian Mbappe (6th) | France | 12 Goals | 0.86 |
| Sándor Kocsis (8th) | Hungary | 11 Goals | 2.20 |
| Jürgen Klinsmann (8th) | West Germany / Germany | 11 Goals | 0.65 |
| Helmut Rahn (10th) | West Germany | 10 Goals | 1.00 |
| Gary Lineker (10th) | England | 10 Goals | 0.83 |
| Gabriel Batistuta (10th) | Argentina | 10 Goals | 0.83 |
| Teófilo Cubillas (10th) | Peru | 10 Goals | 0.77 |
| Thomas Müller (10th) | Germany | 10 Goals | 0.53 |
| Grzegorz Lato (10th) | Poland | 10 Goals | 0.50 |
| Ademir (16th) | Brazil | 9 Goals | 1.50 |
| Eusebio (16th) | Portugal | 9 Goals | 1.50 |
| Christian Vieri (16th) | Italy | 9 Goals | 1.00 |
| Vava (16th) | Brazil | 9 Goals | 0.90 |
| David Villa (16th) | Spain | 9 Goals | 0.75 |
| Paolo Rossi (16th) | Italy | 9 Goals | 0.64 |
| Jairzinho (16th) | Brazil | 9 Goals | 0.56 |
| Roberto Baggio (16th) | Italy | 9 Goals | 0.56 |
| Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (16th) | West Germany | 9 Goals | 0.47 |
| Uwe Seeler (16th) | West Germany | 9 Goals | 0.43 |
| Guillermo Stábile (26th) | Argentina | 8 Goals | 2.00 |
| Leonidas (26th) | Brazil | 8 Goals | 1.60 |
| Óscar Míguez (26th) | Uruguay | 8 Goals | 1.14 |
| Harry Kane (26th) | England | 8 Goals | 0.73 |
| Neymar (26th) | Brazil | 8 Goals | 0.62 |
| Rivaldo (26th) | Brazil | 8 Goals | 0.57 |
| Rudi Völler (26th) | West Germany / Germany | 8 Goals | 0.53 |
| Diego Maradona (26th) | Argentina | 8 Goals | 0.38 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo (26th) | Portugal | 8 Goals | 0.36 |
| Oldřich Nejedlý (35th) | Czechoslovakia | 7 Goals | 1.17 |
| Lajos Tichy (35th) | Hungary | 7 Goals | 0.88 |
| Careca (35th) | Brazil | 7 Goals | 0.78 |
| Johnny Rep (35th) | Netherlands | 7 Goals | 0.54 |
| Andrzej Szarmach (35th) | Poland | 7 Goals | 0.54 |
| Hans Schäfer (35th) | West Germany | 7 Goals | 0.47 |
| Luis Suarez (35th) | Uruguay | 7 Goals | 0.44 |
Among the top scorers, Hungary’s Sándor Kocsis has the best goals per game ratio (2.20). He has 11 goals in just 5 matches and played only in a single edition (1954). Just Fontaine holds the record of most goals scored in a single FIFA WC edition. He featured only in the 1958 edition in Sweden where he netted 13 times only in 6 games with a 2.17 ratio. Cristiano Ronaldo has fewer WC goals than Messi but he is the only player to score at least a goal in 5 different editions. Messi, Pele, Klose, and Seeler; all 4 have scored in 4 different editions. Diego Maradona has 8 WC goals and sits jointly on 26th spot.
