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THE GOAT continues to amaze the world as Lionel Messi now reigns supreme on the list of all-time World Cup goalscorers.
With his two goals against Austria in Argentina’s group stage match on June 22, Messi surpassed Germany’s Miroslav Klose’s long-standing record. It came a week after Messi scored his first career World Cup hat-trick in a win over Algeria, while also becoming the oldest player (38) to score a hat-trick at the tournament – surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo’s feat from 2022, when he was 33 years old.
But this list could change even more. France’s Kylian Mbappé has 16 goals all-time at the World Cup, tied for second most ever, and is already adding to his tally this summer. That said, here are the players with the most goals in WC men’s history. Let’s take a look.
1. Lionel Messi (Argentina): 18
Messi’s five goals at the 2026 World Cup have now given him another record on his CV. Messi has played in every World Cup since 2006, scoring in all but one (2010). He scored seven goals at the 2022 World Cup. Messi is also Argentina’s all-time leading goalscorer with 122 to his name and also holds the record for most World Cup matches played with 28.
T-2. Kylian Mbappé (France): 16
(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Mbappé has scored a whopping 16 goals in just 16 World Cup matches in his career. As a 19-year-old in 2018, he scored four goals for France, helping them win their first title since 1998, and then scored eight goals in 2022 – most notably with the second ever hat-trick in a World Cup final against Argentina. By the 2026 tournament, he has four so far.
T-2. Miroslav Klose (Germany): 16
(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Playing in four consecutive World Cups from 2002 to 2014, Klose scored in all four editions of the World Cup he took part in, capping it off by lifting the trophy in 2016. His 71 goals for Germany are also the most in the national team’s history.
4. Ronaldo (Brazil): 15
(Photo: Gunnar Berning/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Ronaldo is considered by many to be the best striker of all time as he scored more than 350 goals in club games and 62 for Brazil. Fifteen of those international goals came in the World Cup, en route to winning the Golden Ball in the 1998 tournament and the Golden Boot in 2002.
5. Gerd Müller (Germany): 14
(Photo by Werner Schulze/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
Arguably the greatest Bundesliga goalscorer of all time, Müller scored an astonishing 10 goals in 1970 and then another four in 1974 in Germany’s title run. He was Germany’s all-time leading goalscorer with 68 goals until Klose passed him.
6. Just Fontaine (France): 13
(Photo by dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Fontaine has one of the most incredible statistics in World Cup history, as all 13 of his goals came in the 1958 edition of the tournament – the record for most goals scored by a player at a single World Cup. It’s been 68 years since he set that record, and no one has come close to beating it.
7. Pelé (Brazil): 12
(Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)
The great Pelé scored in all four of his World Cup appearances from 1958 to 1970, winning three titles with Brazil in that time. Most notably, he scored in the 1958 final, becoming the youngest ever to do so aged just 17.
T-8. Jürgen Klinsmann (Germany): 11
(Photo by Mark Leech/Offside/Getty Images).
Klinsmann scored in three consecutive World Cups from 1990 to 1998, helping Germany lift the trophy in 1990. His 47 goals for Germany are tied for fourth most in national team history.
T-8. Sándor Kocsis (Hungary): 11
(Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
Kocsis’ 11 goals all came in 1954, when his Hungarian side scored 27 in five games before falling in the final to West Germany. He is the only player to hit double figures in a World Cup besides Fontaine and Müller.
Seven players have exactly 10 goals at the World Cup: Helmut Rahn (Germany), Gary Lineker (England), Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina), Teófilo Cubillas (Peru), Thomas Müller (Germany) and Grzegorz Lato (Poland).
