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Football, unlike other team ball sports like basketball or volleyball, is a low-scoring sport. Each goal scored makes a huge difference to the way a match progresses and its final outcome.
Games are often decided by a goal or two, and on most occasions, the combined goals scored do not exceed three. Due to this, players who have the knack of scoring goals have always been highly valued since the advent of the sport.
One can see this to be true through awards like the Ballon d'Or, which has been won by just one goalkeeper and three defenders in 65 editions. The award was given 61 times to players who added the most valuable thing to a team fighting for silverware, and that is goal contributions.
Lionel Messi, forward for Paris Saint-Germain and Argentina, recently won his seventh Ballon d'Or - an all-time record.
However, the award isn't the ultimate recognition for prolific goalscorers. Winning matches and team accolades will always remain the top honor in football.
Throughout the history of football, we have seen some stunning attackers revolutionize the game with their unique skills, techniques of kicking a ball, or just with their personality. They have put opponents to the sword, helping the team they represent win trophies.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the top 10 attackers to have played the beautiful game.
#10 Robert Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski is one of the most prolific and well-rounded strikers in world football. He uses his height, athleticism and sometimes acrobratics to score stunning goals that are unique to his skill set.
The Pole has won 10 domestic league titles and one UEFA Champions League in his career. Lewa has also won 12 domestic cups during his career. Such has been his dominance in the past six or seven years that Lewandowski has bagged over 50 individual awards for his performances.
He recently added to the impressive tally, winning the newly-coined Striker of the Year award for 2021.
The Polish striker has scored 486 goals and provided 162 assists for his teammates and is showing no signs of slowing down. He is nearing 700 career appearances and is currently on 656 appearances for club and country.
Lewandowski will look to win the Ballon d'Or he deserves next year. One can argue that in perfectly normal circumstances minus the COVID-19 pandemic, he would have had two Ballon d'Ors under his belt already.
#9 Ferenc Puskas
Ferenc Puskas was one of the greatest European strikers of all-time, and one of the sport's first global superstars, owing to his excellent achievements.
He scored a scorching 84 goals in 85 international matches for Hungary. At club level, Puskas had 625 goals in 629 games. His ability to deliver one goal per game throughout his career separated him from the rest.
Puskas became an Olympic champion in 1952 and led his nation to the final of the 1954 FIFA World Cup. He won three European Cups with Madrid, ten domestic league titles and eight individual scoring honors during his illustrious career. Those eight awards included four Pichichi awards - given to the top goalscorer in Spain's top flight - during his time with Real Madrid.
Since his death, FIFA have announced a yearly award given to the scorer of the 'most beautiful goal of the year.' It has been named the Puskas award as a commemoration of the late Hungarian legend.
#8. Alfredo di Stefano
Alfredo di Stefano was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and was regarded by many as the greatest footballer of all time. He was nicknamed 'Saeta Rubia', or 'blonde arrow' for his pace, power, great stamina and ability to perform anywhere on the pitch.
Di Stefano was instrumental in Real Madrid's domestic and European domination in the 1950s. He won eight La Liga titles and a record five European Cups with Los Blancos. Di Stefano also won the South American Championship in 1947 with Argentina.
He secured over 30 individual awards throughout his career, including two Ballon d'Ors in 1957 and 1959. Di Stefano was also Real Madrid's top scorer with 308 goals for several years before Raul (323) and Cristiano Ronaldo (450) overtook him years later.
Di Stefano ended his club career with 487 goals in 669 appearances across all of his clubs. A true legend of the sport!
#7 Ronaldo Nazario
Ronaldo Nazario was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and began his career at Cruzeiro in 1993. The Brazilian had successful stints at PSV, Barcelona and Inter Milan, making a name for himself as one of the top strikers playing in Europe during the 1990s.
He scored 125 goals for the three clubs, catching Real Madrid's eye, and was bought by Los Blancos in 2002 for a then record €46 million fee. Ronaldo gained immense fame and superstar status with the number of goals he scored, and in the way he did it. Nicknamed 'O Fenomeno' or 'The Phenomenon', he had a knack of rounding the keeper before scoring goals.
Ronaldo scored 295 goals in 453 club appearances, providing 99 assists along the way. He won two FIFA World Cups with Brazil and finished runner-up once. Likewise, Ronaldo won two Copa Americas with his nation and finished runner-up once.
The Brazilian also won two Ballon d'Or awards, making him arguably the greatest Brazilian since Pele and Garrincha.
Ronaldo is currently the president of Segunda Division club Real Valladolid.
His legacy with all his clubs and Brazil will live on forever.
#6 Gerd Muller
Gerd Muller was born in Nordlingen, Germany, and began his career with local side 1861 Nordlingen in 1963. Muller scored an unbelievable 51 goals in 31 games that year, earning him a move to Bayern Munich. It was with the Bavarians that Muller scaled near-insurmountable heights.
Muller was nicknamed 'Der Bomber' or 'The Bomber' for his goalscoring prowess. He won the European Footballer of the Year (now Ballon d'Or) in 1970, followed by the UEFA European Championship (1972) and the World Cup (1974).
Muller scored 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games and is the all-time top scorer in the league to this day.
He held the record for the most goals scored in a Bundesliga season until recently, when Robert Lewandowski (41) surpassed Muller's 40. Muller also held the record for all-time top scorer in the World Cup with 14 goals, one that stood for 32 years before being broken by Ronaldo Nazario.
He will go down in history as one of the greatest and most dynamic German strikers to play the game.
#5 Thierry Henry
Thierry Henry was a menace for defenders of any quality during his playing days. Henry's pace, power and intelligence helped him beat defenders at will. The Frenchman played with an audacity akin to that of Michael Jordan for the Chicago Bulls, and had an incredible appetite for scoring goals.
Henry is Arsenal's all-time top scorer with 228 goals. He is also France's top scorer with 51 goals. Surprisingly, and much to his credit, Henry is also France's top assist-provider.
The Frenchman has won an incredible four Premier League Golden Boots and finished in the Ballon d'Or top three twice, narrowly missing out on the win in 2003.
Among team honors, Henry has won two Premier League titles, incredibly going the entire 2003-04 season unbeaten en route to glory. Henry also won two FA Cups with the Gunners. Henry completed an incredible career trophy cabinet after winning the UEFA Champions League in 2009 with Barcelona.
Henry also won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and 2000 UEFA Euros with France, further cementing his legacy as the best French striker of all time.
#4 Diego Maradona
The late Diego Armando Maradona was one of the best footballers to have ever lived on this planet. He was the joint recipient of the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award along with Brazilian legend Pele.
Maradona's dribbling, vision, passing and ball control, combined with his short stature that gave him a low center of gravity, allowed him to manouvre better than most players. Due to his immense skill and ability to dribble past opponents like they were cones, Maradona was often singled-out by opposition players.
However, he nearly always found a way to get past them and score a goal as shown in this clip below.
Maradona ended his career with a total of 310 goals in 589 appearances for the clubs he represented. He also won two domestic league titles and five domestic cups during his club career. Maradona guided his national side to a triumph at the FIFA World Cup in 1986, helping him cement his legacy.
He was also known for his unique and flambuoyant warm-up drills.
Diego Maradona sadly passed away in November 2020 and will forever be remembered for the incredible spirit and energy he brought to the game.
#3 Pele
Pele was born in Brazil in 1940 and began his youth career at local club Bauru in 1953, before moving to Santos to kick-start his senior career aged 16 in 1956. He went on to become one of the most successful athletes of the 20th century.
Pele scored a scintillating 643 goals in 659 games for Santos, winning six Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A titles. He also picked up two Copa Libertadores titles, two Intercontinental Cups and 10 Campeonato Paulista titles with the Brazilian outfit.
Pele managed to win three World Cups with Brazil, for whom he scored 77 goals in 92 games, as well.
Pele is Brazil's all-time top scorer with his tally. His record of 1279 goals in 1363 games, including friendlies, is recognized as a Guinness World Record.
Since retiring in 1977, Pele has been a worldwide ambassador for football. In 1999, he was awarded an honorary Ballon d'Or owing to his services to the beautiful game.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo began his career playing for Sporting CP in Lisbon where he came through the youth ranks. A stunning display against Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United saw him move to England, as the Red Devils paid £12.24 million for him.
Following a successful spell with United, he moved to Real Madrid where the Portugal captain scaled great heights. Ronaldo won a stunning 15 trophies in a nine-year spell in Spain. That included four UEFA Champions League trophies, three of which came back-to-back between 2016-2018.
He is the top scorer in Champions League history with 140 total goals. He also won two La Liga titles during his stint at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Ronaldo has also been a mainstay among the names at the top of lists of individual award winners. He has five Ballon d'Ors credited to his name, along with one FIFA World Player of the Year (2008) and two FIFA's The Best awards (2016, 2017).
Ronaldo has also won the UEFA Euro 2016 and the UEFA Nations League in 2019 with Portugal, ending a long wait for international honors. That added to his already illustrious list of accolades.
Ronaldo's current tally stands at 686 goals scored and 300 assists provided in 914 club games. He will look to keep bettering that as he leads the line for Ralf Rangnick's resurgent Red Devils this season.
#1 Lionel Messi
Lionel Andres Messi was born in Rosario, Argentina, and played for few years of his youth in Argentina before moving to FC Barcelona in 2000. It was at Barcelona where he truly grew into a global icon and a superstar in the sporting world.
The Argentine won a mind-blowing 25 trophies during his time at the Camp Nou. Out of those, 10 were La Liga and four were UEFA Champions League titles. Messi also holds the record for the highest number of Ballon d'Or wins with seven, winning his latest one this year.
Messi 'completed' football this year, winning the Copa America with Argentina and ending his long-drawn wait for international honors.
Among his notable records, Messi is Barcelona's all-time top scorer with 672 goals in 786 games for the Catalan giants. He also has the most hat-tricks in La Liga with 36.
In 2012, Messi reached the peak of his career as he scored 91 goals that calendar year, breaking Gerd Muller's long standing record by six goals. The Argentine has also scored the most goals while playing for a single club with Barca.
Having moved to Paris Saint-Germain on a free, Messi will look to hit the ground running as the Parisians aim for European glory with the little master.
