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Football is a simple game. The team who scores the most number of goals over the course of 90 minutes wins the game. Therefore, it is only natural that it is the goalscorers who end up stealing the limelight on a regular basis.
Nothing gives you more joy in football than watching your team put the ball in the back of the opposition's net. While it's the strikers who are primarily tasked with scoring goals, they can come from any player. At the highest level of the game, scoring a lot of goals over the course of a season itself is a commendable job.
But keeping that form up for a decade and being the top goalscorer in the world during that time is a monumental feat. Without further ado, let's take a look at the top goalscorers in each of the last five decades.
#5 1970s - Gerd Muller (452 goals)
One of the most clinical finishers in the history of the game, Gerd Muller absolutely dominated the 1970s with his goalscoring exploits. He was an extremely prolific goalscorer. Muller has scored a total of 68 goals in 62 appearances for West Germany in his international career.
He held the record for most goals scored at FIFA World Cups (14) for 32 years until Ronaldo Nazario broke it in 2006. Muller also held the record for scoring the most number of goals in a single Bundesliga season (40) until Robert Lewandowski broke it in 2021-22 by netting 41.
The legendary Bayern Munich striker was nicknamed "Bomber der Nation" (The nation's bomber) and scored a whopping 452 senior goals in the 1970s. Muller famously scored the winning goal for West Germany in the 1974 FIFA World Cup.
#4 1980s - Hugo Sanchez (315 goals)
Mexican international Hugo Sanchez was phenomenal in the 80s. He was renowned for his incredible striking ability and has scored some wonderful goals in his career. Sanchez was a pacy striker who was extremely agile and has scored some spectacular acrobatic goals and sumptuous volleys in his career.
He trained to be a gymnast in his younger days and it lent to his acrobatic abilities on the pitch. Sanchez mastered the 'chilena' or the 'bicycle kick' and also practiced the 'scorpion kick' extensively to the point he is credited as its creator. However, he has never scored an official goal with a scorpion kick in his career.
Sanchez also popularized the 'backflip' and 'somersault' goal celebrations. He is widely regarded as the greatest Mexican footballer of all time and is one of the greatest goalscorers of the 80s. Sanchez scored a total of 315 goals in the 80s.
He played for Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid during that time. Sanchez was a standout performer for the Real Madrid side that won five back-to-back league titles between 1986 and 1990.
#3 1990s - Romario (340 goals)
Romario is considered one of the greatest footballers of all time. The Brazilian was a phenomenal striker and finished fifth in the FIFA Player of the Century poll in 1999. He scored over 750 career goals and won numerous titles.
Romario was Brazil's best player in their 1994 FIFA World Cup triumph and he won the Golden Ball for his heroics. In 1993, he moved from PSV to join Johan Cruyff's Barcelona Dream Team. Romario has netted 55 times in 70 appearances for the Selecao and is their fourth highest goalscorer of all time.
Ronaldo Nazario, who is considered one of the greatest goalscorers of all time, was Romario's strike partner in the late 90s. Speaking about Romario, El Fenomeno once said:
"Romário was the most decisive player who I played with, he was a great goal scorer, finisher, skillful, opportunist. I think I learnt all of that from him".
#2 2000s - Thierry Henry (313 goals)
Thierry Henry is considered to be one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of the greatest players in the history of the Premier League. The Frenchman was a force to be reckoned with for Arsene Wenger's Arsenal side in the early 2000s.
Henry was so consistently prolific in front of goal that he won the Premier League Golden Boot a record four times. Under Wenger, Henry burgeoned into one of the most well-rounded attackers of all time. He also shares the record for most assists in a single Premier League season (20) with Kevin De Bruyne.
Henry copped a move to Barcelona in 2007 and was part of the side that won the continental treble in the 2008-09 season. He scored a total of 313 senior goals in the 2000s.
#1 2010s - Lionel Messi (579 goals)
This stat ought to show you how ridiculously good Lionel Messi is. This stat ought to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he is in fact the greatest goalscorer in the history of the game. The diminutive Argentinian scored a whopping 579 goals in 2010s.
He holds the record for the most goals scored in a calendar year, netting 91 times for club and country in 2012. Messi, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, tore apart most of the goalscoring records of old during the 2010s. The 12 Ballon d'Or awards the duo share between themselves are testament to their ability.
Messi has won almost everything there is to be won and is still going strong at the age of 34. He just picked up his record seventh Ballon d'Or in late November 2021.
