# List of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals

In total, 82 male footballers to date have scored at least 50 goals with their national team at senior level, according to FIFA documents, RSSSF and IFFHS statistics. Since October 2021, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has also been publishing an according list, but only of the top 10. Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal holds the all-time record with 135 international goals.
Brazil, Hungary, Iran and Kuwait hold the record of having the most players to have scored 50 or more international goals with four each. England, Iraq, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand each have three players who have achieved the feat. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has the highest number of footballers who scored at least 50 international goals, with 35 players. Egypt is the only African team with more than one player who has scored at least 50 international goals, after Mohamed Salah achieved the feat on 24 March 2023.
Bader Al-Mutawa of Kuwait has played the most matches so far to score 50 international goals. He scored his 50th goal during his 155th international appearance, in a hat-trick against Myanmar on 3 September 2015, in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match.

## History

The first player to score 50 international goals was Imre Schlosser of Hungary. He achieved the feat when he scored a brace (two goals) in a 6–2 victory against Austria on 3 June 1917. In total, he scored 59 international goals in 68 matches, playing his last match on 10 April 1927. He remained the highest international goalscorer for 26 years, until his fellow countryman Ferenc Puskás broke the record in 1953. Puskás was the third player, after Poul Nielsen of Denmark, to achieve 50 goals in his international career. Nielsen achieved this feat on his 36th cap against Sweden in the 1924–28 Nordic Football Championship on 14 June 1925 and scored 52 goals in just 38 matches in his international career. Puskás netted his 50th goal on 24 July 1952, when he scored a brace in the semi-final match against Turkey at the 1952 Summer Olympics. However, Vivian Woodward scored 75 goals in 53 matches considered official internationals by the opposing sides, which would make him the first footballer to score 50 or more international goals, ahead of Imre Schlosser, and was the fastest to achieve the feat, scoring his 50th goal in his 32nd official international match, with a four-goal haul against Hungary on 31 May 1909.
Puskás overall scored 84 goals in his international career, and remained the highest international goalscorer for 24 years following his 84th goal in 1956 against Austria, until Mokhtar Dahari of Malaysia broke the record in the Merdeka Tournament after scoring his 85th goal on 27 October 1980 against Kuwait and he went on to score 89 goals for his country in 142 international appearances. In 2004, Ali Daei of Iran broke the record after scoring his 90th goal against Lebanon.
Daei also became the first player to score over 100 goals in international football, ending his career with 108 in total. His 100th goal came on 17 November 2004, when he scored a four-goal haul against Laos in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification match. However, the first player from Asia to reach 50 international goals was Malaya's Abdul Ghani Minhat. Furthermore, he was also the first player from outside Europe to achieve it. He achieved the feat on 15 December 1961 against Thailand and he went on to score 58 goals in 57 international appearances for his country which is 1.02 per match, making him one of the most prolific players in the world. Just two years after Puskás' scored his 50th goal, his teammate Sándor Kocsis did the same on 19 September 1954, in a friendly match against Romania. He became both the fourth player and the fourth European to achieve the feat. He went on to score a total of 75 goals in 65 matches in international football. Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal was the second player to score 100 international goals, as well as the first European to achieve the feat. He reached the milestone after scoring a brace against Sweden in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League on 8 September 2020. Lionel Messi of Argentina became the third player to reach and pass the milestone in a friendly match against Curaçao on 28 March 2023, as well as the first South American to achieve the feat.
Pelé of Brazil was the first player from South America to score at least 50 international goals. He attained this in a friendly match against the Soviet Union on 21 November 1965, and went on to score 77 international goals in 92 matches. Malawi's Kinnah Phiri was the first player from Africa, and also the youngest player, to score 50 international goals. He scored his 50th goal in a friendly match against Sierra Leone on 6 July 1978, aged 23 years, 8 months and 6 days. Stern John of Trinidad and Tobago was the first player from North America to score 50 international goals. He scored 70 goals in 115 matches, with his 50th goal coming in a friendly match against the Dominican Republic on 13 June 2004.

## By player

As of 31 December 2024 (UTC)
Players in bold are still active at international level.
* Indicates the top scorer of all FIFA's confederations.
* Indicates the top scorer of the respective confederation.
* Indicates the top scorer of the respective nation.
| Rank | Player | Nation | Confederation | Goals | Caps | Goals per match | Career span | Date of 50th goal |
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | UEFA | 135 | 217 | 0.62 | 2003– | 26 June 2014 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | CONMEBOL | 112 | 191 | 0.59 | 2005– | 29 March 2016 |
| 3 | Ali Daei | Iran | AFC | 108 | 148 | 0.73 | 1993–2006 | 9 January 2000 |
| 4 | Sunil Chhetri | India | AFC | 94 | 151 | 0.62 | 2005– | 31 December 2015 |
| 5 | Mokhtar Dahari | Malaysia | AFC | 89 | 142 | 0.63 | 1972–1985 | 22 August 1976 |
| 6 | Ali Mabkhout | United Arab Emirates | AFC | 85 | 115 | 0.74 | 2009– | 31 August 2019 |
| 6 | Romelu Lukaku | Belgium | UEFA | 85 | 120 | 0.71 | 2010– | 10 October 2019 |
| 8 | Ferenc Puskás | Hungary Spain | UEFA | 84 | 89 | 0.94 | 1945–1962 | 24 July 1952 |
| 8 | Robert Lewandowski | Poland | UEFA | 84 | 156 | 0.54 | 2008– | 5 October 2017 |
| 10 | Godfrey Chitalu | Zambia | CAF | 79 | 111 | 0.71 | 1968–1980 | 7 November 1978 |
| 10 | Neymar | Brazil | CONMEBOL | 79 | 128 | 0.62 | 2010– | 11 November 2016 |
| 12 | Hussein Saeed | Iraq | AFC | 78 | 137 | 0.57 | 1977–1990 | 17 March 1984 |
| 13 | Pelé | Brazil | CONMEBOL | 77 | 92 | 0.84 | 1957–1971 | 4 July 1965 |
| 14 | Vivian Woodward | England England amateurs | UEFA | 75 | 53 | 1.42 | 1903–1914 | 31 May 1909 |
| 14 | Sándor Kocsis | Hungary | UEFA | 75 | 68 | 1.1 | 1948–1956 | 19 September 1954 |
| 14 | Kunishige Kamamoto | Japan | AFC | 75 | 76 | 0.99 | 1964–1977 | 18 July 1972 |
| 14 | Bashar Abdullah | Kuwait | AFC | 75 | 134 | 0.56 | 1996–2007 | 25 December 2002 |
| 18 | Majed Abdullah | Saudi Arabia | AFC | 72 | 117 | 0.62 | 1977–1994 | 15 April 1984 |
| 19 | Kinnah Phiri | Malawi | CAF | 71 | 117 | 0.61 | 1973–1981 | 6 July 1978 |
| 19 | Kiatisuk Senamuang | Thailand | AFC | 71 | 134 | 0.53 | 1993–2007 | 23 January 2001 |
| 19 | Miroslav Klose | Germany | UEFA | 71 | 137 | 0.52 | 2001–2014 | 27 June 2010 |
| 22 | Piyapong Pue-on | Thailand | AFC | 70 | 100 | 0.7 | 1981–1997 | 30 January 1989 |
| 22 | Abdul Kadir | Indonesia | AFC | 70 | 111 | 0.63 | 1967–1979 | 8 August 1972 |
| 22 | Stern John | Trinidad and Tobago | CONCACAF | 70 | 115 | 0.61 | 1995–2012 | 13 June 2004 |
| 25 | Harry Kane | England | UEFA | 69 | 103 | 0.67 | 2015– | 7 June 2022 |
| 25 | Luis Suárez | Uruguay | CONMEBOL | 69 | 143 | 0.48 | 2007–2024 | 23 March 2018 |
| 25 | Hossam Hassan | Egypt | CAF | 69 | 177 | 0.39 | 1985–2006 | 25 February 1998 |
| 28 | Gerd Müller | West Germany | UEFA | 68 | 62 | 1.1 | 1966–1974 | 18 June 1972 |
| 28 | Carlos Ruiz | Guatemala | CONCACAF | 68 | 133 | 0.51 | 1998–2016 | 15 August 2012 |
| 28 | Robbie Keane | Republic of Ireland | UEFA | 68 | 146 | 0.47 | 1998–2016 | 4 June 2011 |
| 31 | Edin Džeko | Bosnia and Herzegovina | UEFA | 67 | 138 | 0.49 | 2007– | 28 March 2017 |
| 32 | Didier Drogba | Ivory Coast | CAF | 65 | 105 | 0.62 | 2002–2014 | 13 January 2012 |
| 33 | Teerasil Dangda | Thailand | AFC | 64 | 128 | 0.5 | 2007– | 14 December 2021 |
| 34 | Jasem Al-Huwaidi | Kuwait | AFC | 63 | 83 | 0.76 | 1992–2003 | 30 September 2000 |
| 35 | Ronaldo | Brazil | CONMEBOL | 62 | 98 | 0.63 | 1994–2011 | 19 November 2003 |
| 35 | Ahmed Radhi | Iraq | AFC | 62 | 121 | 0.51 | 1982–1997 | 18 August 1992 |
| 35 | Zlatan Ibrahimović | Sweden | UEFA | 62 | 122 | 0.51 | 2001–2023 | 4 September 2014 |
| 38 | Abdul Ghani Minhat | Malaya Malaysia | AFC | 61 | 71 | 0.86 | 1956–1966 | 15 December 1961 |
| 39 | Almoez Ali | Qatar | AFC | 60 | 121 | 0.5 | 2013– | 31 December 2023 |
| 40 | Imre Schlosser | Hungary | UEFA | 59 | 68 | 0.87 | 1906–1927 | 3 June 1917 |
| 40 | Aleksandar Mitrović | Serbia | UEFA | 59 | 98 | 0.6 | 2013– | 27 September 2022 |
| 40 | David Villa | Spain | UEFA | 59 | 98 | 0.6 | 2005–2017 | 11 October 2011 |
| 40 | Mohamed Salah | Egypt | CAF | 59 | 103 | 0.57 | 2011– | 24 March 2023 |
| 44 | Ali Ashfaq | Maldives | AFC | 58 | 98 | 0.59 | 2003–2023 | 29 March 2016 |
| 44 | Cha Bum-kun | South Korea | AFC | 58 | 136 | 0.43 | 1972–1986 | 5 September 1977 |
| 44 | Edinson Cavani | Uruguay | CONMEBOL | 58 | 136 | 0.43 | 2008–2022 | 18 November 2019 |
| 47 | Carlos Pavón | Honduras | CONCACAF | 57 | 101 | 0.56 | 1993–2010 | 28 March 2009 |
| 47 | Olivier Giroud | France | UEFA | 57 | 137 | 0.42 | 2011–2024 | 22 November 2022 |
| 47 | Clint Dempsey | United States | CONCACAF | 57 | 141 | 0.4 | 2004–2018 | 7 June 2016 |
| 47 | Younis Mahmoud | Iraq | AFC | 57 | 148 | 0.39 | 2002–2016 | 5 March 2014 |
| 47 | Landon Donovan | United States | CONCACAF | 57 | 157 | 0.36 | 2000–2014 | 5 July 2013 |
| 52 | Gabriel Batistuta | Argentina | CONMEBOL | 56 | 78 | 0.72 | 1991–2002 | 29 June 2000 |
| 52 | Sardar Azmoun | Iran | AFC | 56 | 89 | 0.63 | 2014– | 14 January 2024 |
| 52 | Samuel Eto'o | Cameroon | CAF | 56 | 118 | 0.47 | 1997–2014 | 3 September 2011 |
| 52 | Bader Al-Mutawa | Kuwait | AFC | 56 | 196 | 0.29 | 2003–2022 | 3 September 2015 |
| 56 | Romário | Brazil | CONMEBOL | 55 | 70 | 0.79 | 1987–2005 | 8 October 2000 |
| 56 | Kazuyoshi Miura | Japan | AFC | 55 | 89 | 0.62 | 1990–2000 | 7 September 1997 |
| 56 | Jan Koller | Czech Republic | UEFA | 55 | 91 | 0.6 | 1999–2009 | 8 September 2007 |
| 56 | Iswadi Idris | Indonesia | AFC | 55 | 97 | 0.57 | 1968–1980 | 19 November 1977 |
| 56 | Fandi Ahmad | Singapore | AFC | 55 | 101 | 0.54 | 1979–1997 | 16 December 1995 |
| 56 | Joachim Streich | East Germany | UEFA | 55 | 102 | 0.54 | 1969–1984 | 26 July 1983 |
| 62 | Yousef Nasser | Kuwait | AFC | 53 | 120 | 0.44 | 2009– | 5 September 2024 |
| 62 | Wayne Rooney | England | UEFA | 53 | 120 | 0.44 | 2003–2018 | 8 September 2015 |
| 64 | Poul Nielsen | Denmark | UEFA | 52 | 38 | 1.37 | 1910–1925 | 14 June 1925 |
| 64 | Mehdi Taremi | Iran | AFC | 52 | 91 | 0.57 | 2015– | 6 June 2024 |
| 64 | Phil Younghusband | Philippines | AFC | 52 | 108 | 0.48 | 2006–2019 | 22 March 2018 |
| 64 | Javier Hernández | Mexico | CONCACAF | 52 | 109 | 0.48 | 2009–2019 | 23 June 2018 |
| 64 | Jon Dahl Tomasson | Denmark | UEFA | 52 | 112 | 0.46 | 1997–2010 | 21 November 2007 |
| 64 | Adnan Al Talyani | United Arab Emirates | AFC | 52 | 161 | 0.32 | 1983–1997 | 19 November 1996 |
| 70 | Lajos Tichy | Hungary | UEFA | 51 | 72 | 0.71 | 1955–1971 | 25 April 1964 |
| 70 | Lê Công Vinh | Vietnam | AFC | 51 | 83 | 0.61 | 2004–2016 | 20 November 2016 |
| 70 | Asamoah Gyan | Ghana | CAF | 51 | 109 | 0.47 | 2003–2019 | 11 June 2017 |
| 70 | Hakan Şükür | Turkey | UEFA | 51 | 112 | 0.46 | 1992–2007 | 11 October 2006 |
| 70 | Thierry Henry | France | UEFA | 51 | 123 | 0.41 | 1997–2010 | 9 September 2009 |
| 70 | Son Heung-min | South Korea | AFC | 51 | 131 | 0.39 | 2010– | 14 November 2024 |
| 70 | Alexis Sánchez | Chile | CONMEBOL | 51 | 166 | 0.31 | 2006– | 27 September 2022 |
| 77 | Karim Bagheri | Iran | AFC | 50 | 87 | 0.57 | 1993–2010 | 9 January 2009 |
| 77 | Robin van Persie | Netherlands | UEFA | 50 | 102 | 0.49 | 2005–2017 | 13 October 2015 |
| 77 | Hwang Sun-hong | South Korea | AFC | 50 | 103 | 0.49 | 1988–2002 | 4 June 2002 |
| 77 | Tim Cahill | Australia | AFC / OFC | 50 | 108 | 0.46 | 2004–2018 | 10 October 2017 |
| 77 | Shinji Okazaki | Japan | AFC | 50 | 119 | 0.42 | 2008–2019 | 28 March 2017 |
| 77 | Zainal Abidin Hassan | Malaysia | AFC | 50 | 129 | 0.39 | 1980–1997 | 31 March 1997 |

## By nationality

As of 31 December 2024 (UTC)
*NB: The term "nationality" in this section refers to the nation(s) the player represented (the national team(s) he played for), not to the nationality-ies and/or citizenship(s) he holds.
| Players | Country | Confederation |
| 4 | Brazil | CONMEBOL |
| 4 | Hungary | UEFA |
| 4 | Iran | AFC |
| 4 | Kuwait | AFC |
| 3 | England England amateurs | UEFA |
| 3 | Iraq | AFC |
| 3 | Japan | AFC |
| 3 | Malaysia Malaya | AFC |
| 3 | South Korea | AFC |
| 3 | Thailand | AFC |
| 2 | Argentina | CONMEBOL |
| 2 | Denmark | UEFA |
| 2 | Egypt | CAF |
| 2 | France | UEFA |
| 2 | Germany West Germany | UEFA |
| 2 | Indonesia | AFC |
| 2 | United Arab Emirates | AFC |
| 2 | United States | CONCACAF |
| 2 | Uruguay | CONMEBOL |
| 1 | Australia | AFC / OFC |
| 1 | Belgium | UEFA |
| 1 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | UEFA |
| 1 | Cameroon | CAF |
| 1 | Chile | CONMEBOL |
| 1 | Czech Republic | UEFA |
| 1 | East Germany | UEFA |
| 1 | Ghana | CAF |
| 1 | Guatemala | CONCACAF |
| 1 | Honduras | CONCACAF |
| 1 | India | AFC |
| 1 | Ivory Coast | CAF |
| 1 | Malawi | CAF |
| 1 | Maldives | AFC |
| 1 | Mexico | CONCACAF |
| 1 | Netherlands | UEFA |
| 1 | Philippines | AFC |
| 1 | Poland | UEFA |
| 1 | Portugal | UEFA |
| 1 | Qatar | AFC |
| 1 | Republic of Ireland | UEFA |
| 1 | Saudi Arabia | AFC |
| 1 | Serbia | UEFA |
| 1 | Singapore | AFC |
| 1 | Spain | UEFA |
| 1 | Sweden | UEFA |
| 1 | Trinidad and Tobago | CONCACAF |
| 1 | Turkey | UEFA |
| 1 | Vietnam | AFC |
| 1 | Zambia | CAF |
| 82 | 49 | 5 |

## By confederation

As of 31 December 2024 (UTC)
| Confederation | Countries | Players |
| AFC | 17 | 35 |
| UEFA | 17 | 25 |
| CONMEBOL | 4 | 9 |
| CAF | 6 | 7 |
| CONCACAF | 5 | 6 |
| OFC | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 49 | 82 |
No OFC player has scored 50 goals in full internationals. The current record holder is Fiji player Roy Krishna, with 44 goals in 61 matches.

## Footnotes

* 1 2 Austrian sources reported that on 1 November 1908 Imre Schlosser scored a brace in a 5–3 victory against Austria; one Hungarian source credits the 4–2 to Béla Krempels, with UEFA also recognizing 59 goals in 68 appearances.
* 1 2 The match against Ecuador Olympic team was considered official for two decades before the Ecuador FA reconsidered, so FIFA no longer recognizes Ali Daei's goal there and, as a result, his number of goals has been reduced to 108 in 148 matches.
* ↑ RSSSF mistakenly count the match at 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification between Yemen and India but in-fact Sunil Chhetri only played in one match in the year 2006. It was in a 0–3 defeat to Japan in the same competition.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 Vivian Woodward scored 29 goals in 23 matches for the professional England team between 1903 and 1911, and 46 goals in 30 matches for the England amateur side between 1906 and 1914; all matches for the Amateur side were considered official internationals for their respective opponents. With the English Football Association counting the statistics separately for the professional England team and England amateurs, Harry Kane is the top scorer of the respective nation.
* ↑ The matches against Swaziland and Zambia in 2013 are not considered official internationals by FIFA, but they are recognised by the Egyptian Football Association.
* ↑ RSSSF does not include a goal in a match played on 29 July 2005 against UAE and a goal in a match played on 25 March 2022 against Latvia, and also wrongly attributes a goal on Al-Mutawa in the match played on 10 September 2018 against Iraq. NFT (National-Football-Teams) includes a goal in the match played on 17 December 2011 against Saudi Arabia (U-23), a match though recognized neither by FIFA nor by RSSSF, and therefore it is not included here.
* ↑ 4 Olympic matches are not recognised as official by FIFA, but were official for the East German FA.
* 1 2 3 Football Federation of Australia (FFA) was a member of OFC since its formation in 1966, but in 2006 FFA left OFC and joined AFC. Tim Cahill debuted for Australia in 2004 when FFA was an OFC member and ended his international career in 2018.
* ↑ Vivian Woodward played for both England and England amateurs.
* ↑ Abdul Ghani played both for Malaya and Malaysia.
* ↑ Ferenc Puskás played four matches for Spain; 1 in the World Cup qualifiers in 1961 and 3 in the 1962 World Cup, but did not score any goal in these matches.