FIFA World Cup All-time Goalscorers
Image Credit: 磊 周
On June 16, 2026, Argentina opened its 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with a 3-0 victory against Algeria. Argentina star forward Lionel Messi scored all three goals, which raised his number of World Cup goals from 13 to 16, equalizing the all-time scoring record held by German forward Miroslav Klose. Five days later, the Inter Miami forward recorded a brace against Austria, becoming the tournament’s all-time leading scorer with 18 goals. The 39-year-old added three more goals across Argentina’s final group-stage match against Algeria (a 3-1 victory), its round of 32 match against Cape Verde (a 3-2 victory after extra-time), and its round 16 match against Egypt (a 3-2 comeback victory). Despite not scoring — for the first time in the tournament — against Switzerland in the quarterfinals, at that time, Messi led all players in World-Cup scoring with 21 goals.
By the end of the tournament, however, Kylian Mbappé won the 2026 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot after scoring 10 goals: four goals in the group stage and six goals in the knockout stage, including a brace in the third-place match against England. Despite being only 27 years old, Mbappé’s 10 goals places him as the highest scoring player in World Cup history, at 22 goals.
That said, neither Messi nor Mbappé managed to break the record for most goals in a single World Cup tournament. That record — 13 goals — is held by the late French forward Juste Fontaine, who scored all of them across six matches at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.
Ultimately, the 2026 World Cup will be remembered for not one, but two players breaking the long-standing scoring record. Other active contenders — all of whom are forwards — near the top of the all-time scoring record include Harry Kane, with 14 World Cup goals for England, and Cristiano Ronaldo, with 11 for Portugal. German forward Thomas Müller, who has scored 10 World Cup goals, is another active player in this list; however, the Vancouver Whitecaps forward retired from international football after the 2024 UEFA European Championship.
The figure below shows the top 17 all-time goalscorers in FIFA World Cup history (1930–2026). Each scorer has recorded at least 10 World Cup goals.
