Who scored the most goals in the 21st century? In this article, we are going to talk about ten players with the most goals scored in this century.
You can guess the top two players on our list. Every record of our century belongs to Messi or Ronaldo. But before these two Goats, who were the great goalscorers in football? Who has the highest goals in history? Well, different sources have different answers.
All we know is that if we want to count friendly matches, too, no one can beat Pele on this matter. The great Brazilian legend scored over a thousand goals only for Santos. Has anyone scored 1000 goals? Maybe Erwin Helmchon, Josef Bican, or Ronnie Rooke.
Although the numbers are inaccurate and uncertain about the far decades, everything is accurately recorded in our century. So let’s get into it. Who has scored the most goals this century?
Most Goals Scored
The list of ten players with the most goals scored in 21st century is as follows:
- 1- Cristiano Ronaldo – 865
- 2- Lionel Messi – 832
- 3- Robert Lewandowski – 662
- 4- Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 572
- 5- Luis Suarez – 554
- 6- Karim Benzema – 484
- 7- Edinson Cavani – 443
- 8- David Villa – 441
- 9- Neymar – 439
- 10- Sergio Aguero – 426
Read More: Football Players with most Champions League titles
Sergio Aguero – 426 Goals
Aguero was one of the best strikers of his generation. He is among the players with the most goals scored in this century. The Argentinian is the top non-British goalscorer in Premier League history, ahead of Thierry Henry, Mohamed Salah, and Robin van Persie. With a tally of 260, Aguero is the top scorer in Manchester City history.
Sergio Aguero played for four clubs during his career. At the beginning of his career, he scored 23 goals for Independiente in 56 matches. Aguero was then transferred to Europe and played five seasons for Atletico Madrid. He scored 101 goals in 234 appearances for the Spanish club.
Sergio Aguero joined Manchester City in the summer of 2011 and made history with the Sky Blues. He played 10 seasons for the Citizens. Aguero wore the Man City shirt 390 times and scored 260 goals. He scored +20 goals in six different Premier League campaigns. With a tally of 184, Aguero is the fifth top scorer in the competition’s history.
In the 2014-15 season, Sergio Aguero scored 26 league goals and won the Premier League Golden Boot. He won five Premier League titles with the club.
At the international level, Sergio Aguero made 101 caps for his country and scored 41 goals. He is the third top scorer in the Argentina national team.
Read More: Sergio Aguero Biography
Neymar – 439 Goals
He is the only Brazilian on this list. That means that Neymar has scored the most goals in the 21st century among the Brazilian players. He is the greatest Brazilian footballer of his generation.
Neymar is among the few players to have scored over 100 goals for three different clubs. He has scored 136 goals in 225 matches for Santos. He then joined Barcelona and scored 105 goals for the club in 186 appearances. Neymar then smashed the record for the most expensive player of all time and transferred to PSG. Neymar played 173 matches for the French club and scored 118 goals.
At the international level, Neymar has recorded 128 caps for his country and scored 79 goals. He is the all-time top scorer for the Brazil national team, ahead of Pele, Ronaldo, Romario, and all those great Brazilian footballers. What a huge achievement for the former Barcelona man.
Read More: Neymar Jr Biography
David Villa – 441 Goals
Davia Villa is regarded as one of the greatest Spanish players of all time. He is one of the players with the most football goals scored in 21st century.
Villa spent the best part of his career at Valencia. The Spanish striker scored 130 goals for Valencia in 225 matches. Villa played three seasons for Barcelona and scored 48 goals for them, winning two La Liga titles and one Champions League title with the club.
At the international level, David Villa made 98 caps for the national team and scored 59 goals. Villa is the all-time top scorer for his country. He played for Spain in the 2008 European Championship and the 2010 World Cup, winning both tournaments. He won the UEFA Euro 2008 Golden Boot and scored five goals for his country in the 2010 World Cup.
Read More: David Villa Biography
Edinson Cavani – 443 Goals
Edinson Cavani is another great South American striker who spent a high-profile career in European football. Cavani is one of the footballers with the most goals scored in the 21st century.
The best spell of Cavani’s career was spent in two clubs, Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain. The Uruguayan striker played three seasons for Napoli and won the Serie A top scorer on one occasion. He made 138 appearances for the Italian club and scored 104 goals.
He then joined PSG and played for them for seven seasons. In 301 appearances, Cavani scored 200 goals for the French club. Cavani is the second top scorer in the club’s history. During his tenure at Paris Saint-Germain, Cavani became the Ligue 1 top scorer twice.
At the international level, Edinson Cavani has recorded 58 goals for the Uruguay national team in 136 caps. He is the second top scorer for his country.
Read More: Edinson Cavani Biography
Karim Benzema – 484 Goals
The second top scorer in Real Madrid history; this is no small achievement for Karim Benzema. The French striker is one of his generation’s most prolific goal scorers, and one of the players with the most goals scored in the 21st century.
Benzem was a Real Madrid player from 2009 to 2023. He wore the club’s jersey 648 times and scored 354 goals. Benzema won the Pichichi Trophy and the Champions League top scorer in the 2021-22 season. He won the Ballon d’Or in 2022.
Karim Benzema won four La Liga titles, five Champions League titles with Real Madrid, and fifteen other major trophies. He played 152 times in the Champions League and scored 90 goals. Benzema is the fourth top scorer in the history of the competition.
At the international level, Karim Benzema played for the France national team 97 times and recorded 37 goals.
Read More: Best French Footballers of All Time
Luis Suarez – 554 Goals
Luis Suarez is among the 5 players with most goals in the 21st century. During his career, he scored 111 goals for Ajax, 82 for Liverpool, and 198 for Barcelona. The Uruguayan striker is the third top scorer in Barcelona history. Suarez is one of only four players to win the European Golden Shoe with two different clubs.
Luis Suarez scored 20+ goals in 13 different seasons during his career. Suarez is one of only five players to score 500+ goals in this century. He is considered one of the greatest strikers of all time.
At the international level, Luis Suarez has recorded 68 goals in 137 matches for the Uruguay national team and holds the record for the most goals scored for his country so far.
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 572 Goals
He has scored in all of the previous four decades. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored for nine clubs during his long career. Most of these goals were attained in the first level of European football.
The Swedish striker became the top scorer twice in Serie A and three times in the Ligue 1. During his four seasons at PSG, Zlatan scored 156 goals for the French club. With a tally of 572, Zlatan is one of the players with the most goals scored in the 21st century. He also scored 1 goal in the 20th century.
Ibrahimovic is the only player who has scored for six different clubs in the Champions League. He scored 48 goals in this competition. Zlatan scored 156 goals in Serie A, making him the fourth non-Italian top scorer in the history of the competition.
With a tally of 62, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the all-time top scorer in the Sweden national team.
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Robert Lewandowski – 662 Goals
Robert Lewandowski is one of only twelve football players who scored +600 goals. Lewa is one of the players with the most goals scored in the 21st century. Only two players have scored more goals than him in this century. You know the names.
Lewandowski is the second top scorer in the history of Bayern Munich and the second all-time Bundesliga goalscorer. He is the third top scorer in the Champions League history, behind only those two names.
Robert Lewandowski has scored 20+ goals in each of the past twelve campaigns. All these twelve seasons have been spent at the top level of European football. He has scored +30 goals in each of his last eight seasons. He has seven Bundesliga top scorers, a Pichichi Trophy, and two European Gold Shoes.
Lewa is one of the greats of our time. He only scored and scored and scored in front of our eyes. Our image of him is the symbol of a man who scores. Two fists tied toward each other.
Robert Lewandowski played 144 international matches. He scored 81 goals for his country. Lewa holds the record for both the most appearances and the most goals scored for the Poland national team.
Read More: Interesting facts about Robert Lewandowski
Lionel Messi – 832 Goals
There is only one thing Messi is not better than Ronaldo at Scoring!
Messi has played 1078 matches at the senior level and scored 832 goals. Ronaldo has scored 865 official goals in 1196 official appearances. Messi has scored 11 goals in Inter Miami so far, and Ronaldo has scored 22 goals in the current season with Al-Nassr shirt. Looks like neither of the two legends intended to stand back in this battle.
But the days pass mercilessly; Lionel Messi is 36, and Cristiano Ronaldo is 38. Oh, good old days! When Messi and Ronaldo scored more goals in a season than the Premier League champion. A brilliant, and perhaps not so short, run. But we wanted to experience those times forever…
Messi is the top scorer in Barcelona’s history, and Ronaldo is the top scorer in Real Madrid’s history. He is the all-time top scorer in the Argentina national team, and Ronaldo is the all-time top scorer in the Portugal national team. Messi is the top scorer in La Liga history, and Ronaldo is the top scorer in Champions League history.
He is the only player who has scored +40 goals for twelve consecutive seasons, and Ronaldo is the only player to be the top scorer in the Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A. Messi is the top scorer in the history of the top five European leagues, and Ronaldo is the top scorer at the international level.
Just look at this crazy stat: Messi scored 496 goals in the top five European leagues, and Ronaldo scored 495 goals.
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Cristiano Ronaldo – 865 Goals
But wait! We said it all in the previous section! Nothing to say about Cristiano Ronaldo except this: He was the biggest rival of Lionel Messi.
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