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All-Time Top Goal Scorers at the World Cup

All-Time Top Goal Scorers at the World Cup

The World Cup, the most prestigious international soccer competition, will kick off in Qatar on Sunday. And while fans’ eyes will be on which national team will claim the gold trophy, some players may have an additional goal: the Golden Boot. (These are the best men’s national soccer teams of 2022.)

The Golden Boot goes to the player who scores the most goals during the nearly month-long tournament, guaranteeing that person a place in football (soccer) history for all eternity.

To compile a list of the soccer players who have scored the most goals at the World Cup since the tournament began in 1930, 24/7 Tempo reviewed information from FIFA, the governing body of international soccer, as well as soccer-oriented sites such as Germany’s Weltfussball (World Football). We only included players who have scored at least seven World Cup goals. In case of ties, the player with the most goals per game was ranked higher. 

Whichever player wins the Golden Boot in 2022 will join true soccer greats such as Mozambique-born Portuguese legend Eusébio and France’s Just Fontaine. This year’s top goal scorer may be one already ranked among the greatest. At least four players, including Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, have a chance to move up the ranking if they score in Qatar. (These are the World Cups with the highest attendance per match.)

For now, Germany is the nation with the most top goal scorers on the list, with nine players, followed by Brazil with eight. Fontaine, who played in the 1958 World Cup, still holds the record for most goals scored in a single edition of the tournament: 13. He scored an average of 2.2 goals per match: which is a record he shares with Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis who scored 11 goals in five matches during the 1954 World Cup. (More recently, though, these are the most successful athletes in the world.)

Source: Matthias Hangst / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

37. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
> Total goals scored: 7 (in 17 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.4
> World Cups played: 4: 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018

Source: matimix / iStock via Getty Images

36. Hans Shepherd (Germany)
> Total goals scored: 7 (in 15 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.5
> World Cups played: 3: 1954, 1958, 1962

Source: Central Press / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

35. Johnny Rep (Netherlands)
> Total goals scored: 7 (in 14 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.5
> World Cups played: 2: 1974, 1978

Source: Michael Steele / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

34. Andrzej Szarmach (Poland)
> Total goals scored: 7 (in 13 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.5
> World Cups played: 3: 1974, 1978, 1982

Source: Pool / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

33. Luis Suárez (Uruguay)
> Total goals scored: 7 (in 13 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.5
> World Cups played: 3: 2010, 2014, 2018

Source: Miguel Schincariol / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

32. Careca (Brazil)
> Total goals scored: 7 (in 9 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.8
> World Cups played: 2: 1986, 1990

Source: Kotász Antal / Wikimedia Commons

31. Lajos Tichy (Hungary)
> Total goals scored: 7 (in 8 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.9
> World Cups played: 3: 1958, 1962, 1966

Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

30. Oldřich Nejedlý (Czechoslovakia)
> Total goals scored: 7 (in 6 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 1.2
> World Cups played: 2: 1934, 1938

Source: Getty Images / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

29. Diego Maradona (Argentina)
> Total goals scored: 8 (in 21 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.4
> World Cups played: 4: 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994

Source: Simon Hofmann / Bongarts via Getty Images

28. Rudi Völler (Germany)
> Total goals scored: 8 (in 15 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.5
> World Cups played: 3: 1986, 1990, 1994

Source: Buda Mendes / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

27. Rivaldo (Brazil)
> Total goals scored: 8 (in 14 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.6
> World Cups played: 2: 1998, 2002

Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

26. Oscar Miguez (Uruguay)
> Total goals scored: 8 (in 7 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 1.1
> World Cups played: 2: 1950, 1954

Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

25. Leonidas (Brazil)
> Total goals scored: 8 (in 5 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 1.6
> World Cups played: 2: 1934, 1938

Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

24. Guillermo Stabile (Argentina)
> Total goals scored: 8 (in 4 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 2.0
> World Cups played: 1: 1930

Source: Central Press / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

23. Uwe Seeler (Germany)
> Total goals scored: 9 (in 21 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.4
> World Cups played: 4: 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970

Source: Adam Pretty / Bongarts via Getty Images

22. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Germany)
> Total goals scored: 9 (in 19 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.5
> World Cups played: 3: 1978, 1982, 1986

Source: Tony Duffy / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

21. Paolo Rossi (Italy)
> Total goals scored: 9 (in 14 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.6
> World Cups played: 3: 1978, 1982, 1986

Source: Central Press / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

20. Jairzinho (Brazil)
> Total goals scored: 9 (in 16 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.6
> World Cups played: 3: 1966, 1970, 1974

Source: Shaun Botterill / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

19. Roberto Baggio (Italy)
> Total goals scored: 9 (in 16 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.6
> World Cups played: 3: 1990, 1994, 1998

Source: David Ramos / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

18. David Villa (Spain)
> Total goals scored: 9 (in 12 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.8
> World Cups played: 3: 2006, 2010, 2014

Source: Keystone / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

17. Vavá (Brazil)
> Total goals scored: 9 (in 10 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.9
> World Cups played: 2: 1958, 1962

Source: Martin Rose / Bongarts via Getty Images

16. Christian Vieri (Italy)
> Total goals scored: 9 (in 9 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 1.0
> World Cups played: 2: 1998, 2002

Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

15. Eusébio (Portugal)
> Total goals scored: 9 (in 6 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 1.5
> World Cups played: 1: 1966

Source: rob_sabino / Flickr

14. Ademir (Brazil)
> Total goals scored: 9 (in 6 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 1.5
> World Cups played: 1: 1950

Source: Bundesarchiv / Wikimedia Commons

13. Grzegorz Lato (Poland)
> Total goals scored: 10 (in 20 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.5
> World Cups played: 3: 1974, 1978, 1982

Source: Frank Augstein - Pool / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

12. Thomas Müller (Germany)
> Total goals scored: 10 (in 16 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.6
> World Cups played: 3: 2010, 2014, 2018

Source: Getty Images / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

11. Gary Lineker (England)
> Total goals scored: 10 (in 12 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.8
> World Cups played: 2: 1986, 1990

Source: Getty Images / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

10. Teófilo Cubillas (Peru)
> Total goals scored: 10 (in 13 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.8
> World Cups played: 3: 1970, 1978, 1982

Source: Stu Forster / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

9. Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina)
> Total goals scored: 10 (in 12 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.8
> World Cups played: 3: 1994, 1998, 2002

Source: Friedemann Vogel / Bongarts via Getty Images

8. Helmut Rahn (Germany)
> Total goals scored: 10 (in 10 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 1.0
> World Cups played: 2: 1954, 1958

Source: Getty Images / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

7. Jürgen Klinsmann (Germany)
> Total goals scored: 11 (in 17 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.6
> World Cups played: 3: 1990, 1994, 1998

Source: Nationaal Archief Fotocollectie Anefo / Wikimedia Commons

6. Sándor Kocsis (Hungary)
> Total goals scored: 11 (in 5 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 2.2
> World Cups played: 1: 1954

Source: Pictorial Parade / Archive Photos via Getty Images

5. Pelé (Brazil)
> Total goals scored: 12 (in 14 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.9
> World Cups played: 4: 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970

Source: Keystone / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

4. Just Fontaine (France)
> Total goals scored: 13 (in 6 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 2.2
> World Cups played: 1: 1958

Source: Getty Images / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

3. Gerd Müller (Germany)
> Total goals scored: 14 (in 13 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 1.1
> World Cups played: 2: 1970, 1974

Source: Alex Livesey / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

2. Ronaldo (Brazil)
> Total goals scored: 15 (in 19 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.8
> World Cups played: 4: 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006

Source: Michael Regan / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

1. Miroslav Klose (Germany)
> Total goals scored: 16 (in 24 matches)
> Avg goals per game: 0.7
> World Cups played: 4: 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014

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