Football World Cup Top Goal Scorers » Russia 2018 & All Time List
Since the competition was first inaugurated in 1930, more than 1,200 players have scored goals in FIFA World Cups. Just 90 of them, however, have scored five or more times. Given the wealth of talent the competition attracts, and that players can have a career of fifteen years or longer, it is perhaps surprising, that only seven players have ever scored more than ten goals in World Cup tournaments. Those players are:
- Miroslav Klose (Germany) 16 goals
- Ronaldo (Brazil) 15 goals
- Gerd Müller (West Germany) 14 goals
- Just Fontaine (France) 13 goals
- Pelé (Brazil) 12 goals
- Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) 11 goals
- Jürgen Klinsmann (Germany) 11 goals
Interesting Facts & Information About The World Cup Top Scorers
Additionally, Helmut Rahn (West Germany), Gary Lineker (England), Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina), Teófilo Cubillas (Peru), Thomas Müller (Germany) and Grzegorz Lato (Poland) are tied in equal 8th place, with exactly ten goals apiece.
The most concentrated spell of goal-scoring came from the phenomenal Just Fontaine of France who scored all 13 of his goals in just one tournament, the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.
Conversely, Brazil’s Pelé – who made his debut in that Swedish competition, aged 17-years-old – scored his 12 goals over the course of four tournaments, between 1958 and 1970.
Perhaps the player who deserves most sympathy is Jairzinho of Brazil, who became, in 1970, the only footballer to score seven goals in one World Cup without managing to become its top goalscorer. That honour went to Gerd Müller of West Germany, with 10 and the Golden Boot for the tournament.
No player has managed to be top goalscorer at more than one tournament.
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