THE WORLD'S BEST GOALSCORERS OF XXI CENTURY
The World’s Best Goal Scorers of XXI Century after 2024
Cristiano Ronaldo led the category of best goal-scorers in the world top football in XXI century after the end of 2024 with 916 goals, followed by second-placed Lionel Messi (850).
64 players in the world have scored 300+ goals in XXI century; active players are taken in bold.
For each player who started career in XX century, also his corresponding number is indicated, with a total amount in the next column (Total).
| BEST GOAL-SCORERS | XXI | CENTURY | 2001- | 2024 | ||||||
| Player | Nationality | Career | XXI | XX | Total | DL | DC | ICC | NT | |
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 2002- | 916 | 916 | 557 | 56 | 168 | 135 | |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 2004- | 850 | 850 | 518 | 71 | 149 | 112 | |
| 3 | Robert Lewandowski | Poland | 2006- | 654 | 654 | 402 | 57 | 111 | 84 | |
| 4 | Luis Suárez | Uruguay | 2005- | 583 | 583 | 409 | 48 | 57 | 69 | |
| 5 | Zlatan Ibrahimović | Sweden | 1999-2023 | 558 | 3 | 561 | 393 | 46 | 57 | 62 |
| 6 | Karim Benzema | France | 2005- | 483 | 483 | 300 | 45 | 101 | 37 | |
| 7 | Ali Ashfaq | Maldives | 2001- | 476 | 476 | 293 | 95 | 30 | 58 | |
| 8 | Edinson Cavani | Uruguay | 2005- | 460 | 460 | 280 | 61 | 61 | 58 | |
| 9 | Neymar | Brazil | 2009- | 439 | 439 | 257 | 43 | 60 | 79 | |
| 10 | Edin Džeko | Bosnia & H | 2003- | 436 | 436 | 274 | 32 | 63 | 67 | |
| 11 | Sergio Agüero | Argentina | 2003-2021 | 426 | 426 | 282 | 40 | 63 | 41 | |
| 12 | Aleksandar Đurić | Singapore | 1994-2014 | 425 | 36 | 461 | 304 | 57 | 37 | 27 |
| 13 | Eran Zahavi | Israel | 2006- | 416 | 416 | 282 | 50 | 49 | 35 | |
| 14 | Harry Kane | England | 2011- | 415 | 415 | 263 | 25 | 58 | 69 | |
| 15 | Samuel Eto'O | Cameroon | 1997-2019 | 410 | 13 | 423 | 282 | 28 | 49 | 51 |
| 16 | Fred | Brazil | 2003-2022 | 404 | 404 | 307 | 41 | 38 | 18 | |
| 17 | Romelu Lukaku | Belgium | 2009- | 392 | 392 | 230 | 26 | 51 | 85 | |
| 18 | Ricardo Oliveira | Brazil | 2000-2023 | 390 | 1 | 391 | 260 | 86 | 39 | 5 |
| 19 | Óscar Cardozo | Paraguay | 2004- | 388 | 388 | 287 | 30 | 59 | 12 | |
| 20 | David Villa | Spain | 2003-2012 | 385 | 385 | 280 | 18 | 28 | 59 | |
| 21 | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar | Netherlands | 2004-2021 | 382 | 382 | 257 | 28 | 55 | 42 | |
| 22 | Bader Al-Mutawa | Kuwait | 2003- | 372 | 372 | 172 | 86 | 59 | 55 | |
| 23 | Hulk | Brazil | 2005- | 368 | 368 | 254 | 34 | 69 | 11 | |
| 24 | Mohamed Salah | Egypt | 2009- | 367 | 367 | 229 | 19 | 60 | 59 | |
| 25 | Gonzalo Higuaín | Argentina | 2005-2022 | 366 | 366 | 279 | 17 | 39 | 31 | |
| 26 | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | Gabon | 2009- | 364 | 364 | 242 | 33 | 56 | 33 | |
| 27 | Wayne Rooney | England | 2002-2021 | 360 | 360 | 231 | 31 | 45 | 53 | |
| 28 | Omar Al Somah | Syria | 2008- | 358 | 358 | 236 | 61 | 40 | 21 | |
| 29 | Dejan Damjanović | Montenegro | 2005-2023 | 358 | 358 | 268 | 39 | 43 | 8 | |
| 30 | Ali Mabkhout | UAE | 2009- | 355 | 355 | 224 | 25 | 21 | 85 | |
| 31 | Luís Fabiano | Brazil | 1998-2017 | 355 | 15 | 370 | 235 | 52 | 40 | 28 |
| 32 | André-Pierre Gignac | France | 2006- | 354 | 354 | 293 | 18 | 36 | 7 | |
| 33 | Bafétimbi Gomis | France | 2004-2024 | 353 | 353 | 265 | 37 | 48 | 3 | |
| 34 | Firas Al-Khatib | Syria | 2000-2019 | 350 | 5 | 355 | 186 | 101 | 27 | 36 |
| 35 | Sunil Chhetri | India | 2001- | 349 | 349 | 185 | 50 | 20 | 94 | |
| 36 | Radamel Falcao | Colombia | 2004- | 348 | 348 | 230 | 23 | 59 | 36 | |
| 37 | Dayro Moreno | Colombia | 2003- | 347 | 347 | 306 | 23 | 15 | 3 | |
| 38 | Álvaro Saborío | Costa Rica | 2001-2023 | 346 | 346 | 281 | 5 | 24 | 36 | |
| 39 | Kylian Mbappé | France | 2015- | 345 | 345 | 201 | 44 | 52 | 48 | |
| 40 | Robbie Keane | Rep of Ireland | 1997-2018 | 342 | 27 | 369 | 224 | 34 | 23 | 61 |
| 41 | Nicolás Muñoz | Panama | 2000-2022 | 342 | 342 | 325 | 16 | 1 | ||
| 42 | Vágner Love | Brazil | 2004- | 340 | 340 | 251 | 27 | 58 | 4 | |
| 43 | Didier Drogba | Ivory Coast | 1999-2016 | 339 | 339 | 188 | 36 | 50 | 65 | |
| 44 | Thierry Henry | France | 1994-2012 | 332 | 79 | 411 | 232 | 15 | 42 | 43 |
| 45 | Abderrazak Hamdallah | Morocco | 2010- | 331 | 331 | 243 | 52 | 30 | 6 | |
| 46 | Sebastián Tagliabúe | UAE | 2008- | 329 | 329 | 242 | 60 | 22 | 5 | |
| 47 | Nemanja Nikolić | Hungary | 2008-2023 | 328 | 328 | 239 | 67 | 14 | 8 | |
| 48 | Magno Alves | Brazil | 1997-2020 | 328 | 57 | 385 | 244 | 69 | 15 | |
| 49 | Baghdad Bounedjah | Algeria | 2011- | 325 | 325 | 203 | 50 | 40 | 32 | |
| 50 | Hernán Barcos | Argentina | 2004- | 324 | 324 | 276 | 10 | 38 | ||
| 51 | Robin van Persie | Netherlands | 2001-2019 | 322 | 322 | 204 | 39 | 29 | 50 | |
| 52 | Marcus Berg | Sweden | 2005-2023 | 322 | 322 | 230 | 29 | 39 | 24 | |
| 53 | Carlos Tevez | Argentina | 2001-2021 | 322 | 322 | 225 | 41 | 43 | 13 | |
| 54 | Rhys Griffiths | Wales | 2001- | 320 | 320 | 272 | 44 | 4 | ||
| 55 | Cristian Gonzáles | Indonesia | 2002-2022 | 318 | 318 | 250 | 49 | 7 | 12 | |
| 56 | Antoine Griezmann | France | 2010- | 317 | 317 | 197 | 29 | 47 | 44 | |
| 57 | Rodrigo Tabata | Qatar | 2002- | 314 | 314 | 218 | 69 | 25 | 2 | |
| 58 | José Alfredo Castillo | Bolivia | 2000-2023 | 314 | 4 | 318 | 289 | 4 | 15 | 6 |
| 59 | Luis Tejada | Panama | 2000-2022 | 311 | 11 | 322 | 242 | 11 | 15 | 43 |
| 60 | Sebastián Soria | Qatar | 2002- | 311 | 311 | 218 | 39 | 15 | 39 | |
| 61 | Mario Gómez | Germany | 2004-2019 | 308 | 308 | 205 | 30 | 42 | 31 | |
| 62 | Martin Kamburov | Bulgaria | 1998-2021 | 306 | 2 | 308 | 287 | 18 | 1 | |
| 63 | Carlos Bacca | Colombia | 2007- | 302 | 302 | 219 | 35 | 32 | 16 | |
| 64 | Esteban Paredes | Chile | 2001-2022 | 300 | 300 | 243 | 23 | 22 | 12 |
DL – domestic leagues (national and regional top tiers)
DC – relevant domestic cups
ICC – international club competitions
NT – national team
Tie-breaker: more international goals (ICC + NT).
Period: from January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2024 (for the ranking XXI).