# IFFHS World's Best International Goal Scorer

The IFFHS World's Best International Goal Scorer is a football award given annually since 1991 to the world's top international goalscorer in the calendar year. The award is given by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).
Only international goals from 1 January to 31 December in international matches, Olympic tournaments, FIFA Club World Cup, official matches between the topical continental club champions, and the continental club competitions of FIFA, AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC and UEFA, as well as, the continental Super Cup matches of the six confederations are taken into consideration. If the number of goals is equal, the player who scored more goals in international matches is ranked higher.
Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record for most wins (5), and most goals in a calendar year (32 in 2017). Dennis Bergkamp, Raí and César Obando won the award with the fewest goals (12 in 1992). Neymar and Gabriel Batistuta are the players with the most runner-up appearances (2). Cristiano Ronaldo is the player with most third-place finishes (3). Ali Daei, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski and Romelo Lukaku are the only players who have won the award more than once. Ronaldo and Messi are the only players to win the award in successive seasons, with Ronaldo achieving this twice. Ali Ashfaq scored the most goals without winning (23 goals in 2013). Real Madrid and Barcelona are tied for the clubs with the most wins (5).
In 2012, the IFFHS awarded the World's Best Goal Scorer of the First Decade, considering the years 2001 to 2010.

## Men's winners
### List of winners

| Year | Rank | Winner | Club(s) | Goals |
| 1991 | 1st | Jean-Pierre Papin | Marseille | 16 |
| 1991 | 2nd | Gabriel Batistuta | Boca Juniors Fiorentina | 12 |
| 1991 | 3rd | Darko Pančev | Red Star Belgrade | 12 |
| 1992 | 1st | Dennis Bergkamp | Ajax | 12 |
| 1992 | 2nd | Raí | São Paulo | 12 |
| 1992 | 3rd | César Obando | Motagua | 12 |
| 1993 | 1st | Saeed Al-Owairan | Al Shabab | 18 |
| 1993 | 2nd | Kazuyoshi Miura | Tokyo Verdy | 16 |
| 1993 | 3rd | Luís Roberto Alves | América | 14 |
| 1994 | 1st | Hristo Stoichkov | Barcelona | 17 |
| 1994 | 2nd | Hwang Sun-hong | Pohang Steelers | 16 |
| 1994 | 3rd | Romário | Barcelona | 15 |
| 1995 | 1st | Jürgen Klinsmann | Tottenham Hotspur Bayern Munich | 17 |
| 1995 | 2nd | Mário Jardel | Grêmio | 16 |
| 1995 | 3rd | Enzo Francescoli | River Plate | 14 |
| 1996 | 1st | Ali Daei | Persepolis Al Sadd | 22 |
| 1996 | 2nd | Natipong Sritong-In Hernán Crespo | Thai Farmers Bank River Plate | 16 |
| 1996 | 3rd | – | – | – |
| 1997 | 1st | Ronaldo | Barcelona Inter Milan | 22 |
| 1997 | 2nd | Karim Bagheri | Persepolis Arminia Bielefeld | 20 |
| 1997 | 3rd | Romário Kazuyoshi Miura | Flamengo Valencia Tokyo Verdy | 19 |
| 1998 | 1st | Jasem Al-Huwaidi | Al-Salmiya | 20 |
| 1998 | 2nd | Gabriel Batistuta | Fiorentina | 14 |
| 1998 | 3rd | Luis Hernández | Necaxa | 13 |
| 1999 | 1st | Raúl | Real Madrid | 14 |
| 1999 | 2nd | Rivaldo Alex | Barcelona Palmeiras | 13 |
| 1999 | 3rd | – | – | – |
| 2000 | 1st | Rivaldo | Barcelona | 21 |
| 2000 | 2nd | Romário | Vasco da Gama | 21 |
| 2000 | 3rd | Ali Daei | Hertha BSC | 20 |
| 2001 | 1st | Hani Al-Dhabit | Dhofar | 22 |
| 2001 | 2nd | Kiatisuk Senamuang Archie Thompson Raúl | Warriors FC Marconi Stallions Real Madrid | 16 |
| 2001 | 3rd | – | – | – |
| 2002 | 1st | Ruud van Nistelrooy | Manchester United | 14 |
| 2002 | 2nd | Miroslav Klose Jon Dahl Tomasson | 1. FC Kaiserslautern Feyenoord Milan | 13 |
| 2002 | 3rd | – | – | – |
| 2003 | 1st | Thierry Henry | Arsenal | 15 |
| 2003 | 2nd | David Trezeguet | Juventus | 15 |
| 2003 | 3rd | Raúl | Real Madrid | 14 |
| 2004 | 1st | Ali Daei | Saba Battery | 17 |
| 2004 | 2nd | Carlos Tevez | Boca Juniors | 16 |
| 2004 | 3rd | Adriano Didier Drogba | Inter Milan Marseille Chelsea | 15 |
| 2005 | 1st | Adriano | Inter Milan | 18 |
| 2005 | 2nd | Wilmer Velásquez | Olimpia | 15 |
| 2005 | 3rd | Ronaldinho Emad Moteab | Barcelona Al Ahly | 14 |
| 2006 | 1st | Humberto Suazo | Colo-Colo | 17 |
| 2006 | 2nd | Peter Crouch | Liverpool | 16 |
| 2006 | 3rd | Mohamed Aboutrika | Al Ahly | 14 |
| 2007 | 1st | Trésor Mputu | TP Mazembe | 20 |
| 2007 | 2nd | Salvador Cabañas | América | 18 |
| 2007 | 3rd | Juan Román Riquelme | Boca Juniors | 17 |
| 2008 | 1st | Rico | Al-Muharraq | 19 |
| 2008 | 2nd | Ahmad Ajab | Qadsia | 15 |
| 2008 | 3rd | Miroslav Klose | Bayern Munich | 15 |
| 2009 | 1st | Shinji Okazaki | Shimizu S-Pulse | 15 |
| 2009 | 2nd | Didier Drogba | Chelsea | 15 |
| 2009 | 3rd | Abdelmalek Ziaya | ES Sétif | 15 |
| 2010 | 1st | Bader Al-Mutawa | Qadsia | 17 |
| 2010 | 2nd | Samuel Eto'o | Inter Milan | 17 |
| 2010 | 3rd | David Villa | Barcelona | 16 |
| 2011 | 1st | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 19 |
| 2011 | 2nd | Radamel Falcao | Porto Atlético Madrid | 17 |
| 2011 | 3rd | Hassan Abdel-Fattah Mario Gómez | Al-Kuwait Bayern Munich | 15 |
| 2012 | 1st | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 25 |
| 2012 | 2nd | Neymar | Santos | 21 |
| 2012 | 3rd | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 18 |
| 2013 | 1st | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 25 |
| 2013 | 2nd | Ali Ashfaq | New Radiant | 23 |
| 2013 | 3rd | Issam Jemâa | Al-Kuwait | 20 |
| 2014 | 1st | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 20 |
| 2014 | 2nd | Neymar | Barcelona | 19 |
| 2014 | 3rd | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 18 |
| 2015 | 1st | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | 22 |
| 2015 | 2nd | Ahmed Khalil | Shabab Al-Ahli | 20 |
| 2015 | 3rd | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 19 |
| 2016 | 1st | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 24 |
| 2016 | 2nd | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 21 |
| 2016 | 3rd | Edinson Cavani | Paris Saint-Germain | 16 |
| 2017 | 1st | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 32 |
| 2017 | 2nd | Kim Yu-song | April 25 | 16 |
| 2017 | 3rd | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | 15 |
| 2018 | 1st | Baghdad Bounedjah | Al Sadd | 20 |
| 2018 | 2nd | Romelu Lukaku | Manchester United | 15 |
| 2018 | 3rd | Ayoub El Kaabi | RS Berkane | 15 |
| 2019 | 1st | Cristiano Ronaldo | Juventus | 21 |
| 2019 | 2nd | Ali Mabkhout | Al Jazira | 19 |
| 2019 | 3rd | Harry Kane | Tottenham Hotspur | 19 |
| 2020 | 1st | Romelu Lukaku | Inter Milan | 16 |
| 2020 | 2nd | Erling Haaland | Borussia Dortmund | 14 |
| 2020 | 3rd | Neymar | Paris Saint-Germain | 11 |
| 2021 | 1st | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | 24 |
| 2021 | 2nd | Harry Kane | Tottenham Hotspur | 22 |
| 2021 | 3rd | Cristiano Ronaldo | Juventus Manchester United | 19 |
| 2022 | 1st | Lionel Messi | Paris Saint-Germain | 22 |
| 2022 | 2nd | Kylian Mbappé | Paris Saint-Germain | 21 |
| 2022 | 3rd | Julián Álvarez | River Plate Manchester City | 15 |
| 2023 | 1st | Romelu Lukaku | Inter Milan Roma | 22 |
| 2023 | 2nd | Erling Haaland | Manchester City | 18 |
| 2023 | 3rd | Mehdi Taremi | Porto | 14 |
| 2024 | 1st | Soufiane Rahimi | Al Ain | 20 |
| 2024 | 2nd | Ayoub El Kaabi | Olympiacos | 19 |
| 2024 | 3rd | Erling Haaland Viktor Gyökeres | Manchester City Sporting CP | 17 |
Notes:
* ↑ While Romário finished the year with as many goals as Rivaldo, the latter was crowned winner because of more international club goals.
* ↑ While Trezeguet finished the year with as many goals as Henry, the latter was crowned winner because of more international club goals.
* ↑ Since 2009, they awarded the player with the most goals for their national team in case of a tie. That year, Okazaki had scored more goals for his national team than Drogba.
* ↑ While Eto'o finished the year with as many goals as Al-Mutawa, the latter was crowned winner because of more national team goals.

### Statistics

Winners (1991–present) :
| Player | Wins | Years |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 5 | 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019 |
| Lionel Messi | 3 | 2011, 2012, 2022 |
| Ali Daei | 2 | 1996, 2004 |
| Robert Lewandowski | 2 | 2015, 2021 |
| Romelu Lukaku | 2 | 2020, 2023 |
| Jean-Pierre Papin | 1 | 1991 |
| Dennis Bergkamp | 1 | 1992 |
| Saeed Al-Owairan | 1 | 1993 |
| Hristo Stoichkov | 1 | 1994 |
| Jürgen Klinsmann | 1 | 1995 |
| Ronaldo | 1 | 1997 |
| Jasem Al-Huwaidi | 1 | 1998 |
| Raúl | 1 | 1999 |
| Rivaldo | 1 | 2000 |
| Hani Al-Dhabit | 1 | 2001 |
| Ruud van Nistelrooy | 1 | 2002 |
| Thierry Henry | 1 | 2003 |
| Adriano | 1 | 2005 |
| Humberto Suazo | 1 | 2006 |
| Trésor Mputu | 1 | 2007 |
| Rico | 1 | 2008 |
| Shinji Okazaki | 1 | 2009 |
| Bader Al-Mutawa | 1 | 2010 |
| Baghdad Bounedjah | 1 | 2018 |
| Soufiane Rahimi | 1 | 2024 |
Most international goals in a year :
| Rank | Player | Year | Goals |
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 2017 | 32 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | 2012 | 25 |
| 2 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 2013 | 25 |
| 4 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 2016 | 24 |
| 4 | Robert Lewandowski | 2021 | 24 |
Winners by club :
| Club | Total | Players |
| Real Madrid | 5 | 2 |
| Barcelona | 4 | 3 |
| Inter Milan | 3 | 3 |
| Bayern Munich | 3 | 2 |
| Al Sadd | 2 | 2 |
| Ajax | 1 | 1 |
| Al-Kuwait | 1 | 1 |
| Al-Muharraq | 1 | 1 |
| Al Shabab | 1 | 1 |
| Arsenal | 1 | 1 |
| Colo-Colo | 1 | 1 |
| Dhofar | 1 | 1 |
| Juventus | 1 | 1 |
| Qadsia | 1 | 1 |
| Manchester United | 1 | 1 |
| Marseille | 1 | 1 |
| Motagua | 1 | 1 |
| Paris Saint-Germain | 1 | 1 |
| Saba Battery | 1 | 1 |
| São Paulo | 1 | 1 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 1 | 1 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 1 | 1 |
| TP Mazembe | 1 | 1 |
| AS Roma | 1 | 1 |
| Al Ain | 1 | 1 |
Winners by nationality :
| Nationality | Total | Players |
| Brazil | 5 | 5 |
| Portugal | 5 | 1 |
| Argentina | 3 | 1 |
| France | 2 | 2 |
| Kuwait | 2 | 2 |
| Netherlands | 2 | 2 |
| Iran | 2 | 1 |
| Poland | 2 | 1 |
| Belgium | 2 | 1 |
| Algeria | 1 | 1 |
| Bulgaria | 1 | 1 |
| Chile | 1 | 1 |
| DR Congo | 1 | 1 |
| Germany | 1 | 1 |
| Honduras | 1 | 1 |
| Japan | 1 | 1 |
| Oman | 1 | 1 |
| Saudi Arabia | 1 | 1 |
| Morocco | 1 | 1 |

### The World's Best Top International Goal Scorer of the First Decade (2001–2010)

The awards were part of the IFFHS World Football Gala 2012 which took place in Barcelona in May 2012.
For the final list of 15 players, international goals scored from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2010 were taken into consideration.
Top 15 goal scorers :
| Rank | Player | Nation | Club(s) | Goals for country | Goals for club(s) | Total goals |
| 1 | Ruud van Nistelrooy | Netherlands | Manchester United Real Madrid Hamburger SV | 33 | 53 | 86 |
| 2 | Thierry Henry | France | Arsenal Barcelona | 43 | 42 | 85 |
| 3 | Didier Drogba | Ivory Coast | Marseille Chelsea | 45 | 38 | 83 |
| 4 | Miroslav Klose | Germany | 1. FC Kaiserslautern Werder Bremen Bayern Munich | 58 | 23 | 81 |
| 5 | Samuel Eto'o | Cameroon | Mallorca Barcelona Inter Milan | 44 | 35 | 79 |
| 6 | Flávio Amado | Angola | Petro Atlético Al Ahly Al Shabab | 32 | 41 | 73 |
| 7 | Dimitar Berbatov | Bulgaria | Bayer Leverkusen Tottenham Hotspur Manchester United | 46 | 25 | 71 |
| 8 | Raúl | Spain | Real Madrid Schalke 04 | 26 | 45 | 71 |
| 9 | David Villa | Spain | Zaragoza Valencia Barcelona | 44 | 24 | 68 |
| 10 | Andriy Shevchenko | Ukraine | Milan Chelsea Dynamo Kyiv | 32 | 36 | 68 |
| 11 | Alexander Frei | Switzerland | Servette Rennes Basel | 42 | 21 | 63 |
| 12 | Henrik Larsson | Sweden | Celtic Barcelona Manchester United Helsingborgs IF | 25 | 36 | 61 |
| 13 | Jon Dahl Tomasson | Denmark | Feyenoord Milan VfB Stuttgart Villarreal | 43 | 16 | 59 |
| 14 | Jared Borgetti | Mexico | Santos Laguna Pachuca Bolton Wanderers Al-Ittihad Morelia | 41 | 17 | 58 |
| 15 | Adriano | Brazil | Parma Inter Milan São Paulo Flamengo | 27 | 31 | 58 |

### All-time Best International Goal Scorer ranking

    As of 2 January 2025
    Bold indicates players currently active.
    * indicates player has scored at least 100 international goals for a single club.
Players with at least 100 international goals :
| Rank | Player | CL | CWC | CC2 | OCs | SC | WC | OICs | Country | Total | Years |
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo* | 151 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 135 | 303 | 2002–present |
| 2 | Lionel Messi* | 131 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 112 | 261 | 2004–present |
| 3 | Robert Lewandowski | 101 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 84 | 195 | 2008–present |
| 4 | Neymar | 58 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 79 | 139 | 2009–present |
| 5 | Karim Benzema | 90 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 37 | 138 | 2009–present |
| 6 | Gerd Müller | 34 | 20 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 68 | 137 | 1964–1981 |
| 7 | Romelu Lukaku | 21 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 85 | 136 | 2009–present |
| 8 | Edin Džeko | 33 | 0 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 130 | 2003–present |
| 9 | Harry Kane | 34 | 0 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 127 | 2011–present |
| 10 | Luis Suárez | 33 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 69 | 126 | 2005–present |
| 11 | Ferenc Puskás | 36 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 84 | 125 | 1943–1966 |
| 12 | Raúl | 71 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 44 | 123 | 1994–2015 |
| 13 | Ali Daei | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 108 | 121 | 1994–2007 |
| 14 | Zlatan Ibrahimović | 49 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 119 | 1999–2023 |
| 15 | Mohamed Salah | 50 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 119 | 2009–present |
| 16 | Edinson Cavani | 36 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 119 | 2005–present |
| 17 | Didier Drogba | 45 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 65 | 116 | 2002–2016 |
| 18 | Andriy Shevchenko | 59 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 115 | 1992–2012 |
| 19 | Sunil Chhetri | 15 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 94 | 114 | 2002–present |
| 20 | Ronaldo | 21 | 5 | 15 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 62 | 112 | 1993–2011 |
| 21 | Thierry Henry | 51 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 110 | 1994–2012 |
| 22 | Romário | 24 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 55 | 107 | 1985–2007 |
| 23 | Ali Mabkhout | 16 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 85 | 106 | 2008–present |
| 24 | Samuel Eto'o | 33 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 56 | 105 | 1999–2019 |
| 25 | Sergio Agüero | 47 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 104 | 2003–2021 |
| 26 | Pelé | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 77 | 103 | 1957–1977 |
| 27 | Sándor Kocsis | 8 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75 | 103 | 1945–1965 |
| 28 | Miroslav Klose | 15 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 71 | 102 | 1999–2016 |
| 29 | Thomas Müller | 56 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 101 | 2008–present |
| 30 | Olivier Giroud | 25 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 100 | 2010–present |
| 31 | Bader Al-Mutawa | 12 | 0 | 31 | ++ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 100 | 2003–present |
| 32 | Kylian Mbappé | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 100 | 2015–present |
| 33 | Eusébio | 46 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 100 | 1957–1978 |
| 34* | Hossam Hassan | 17 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 69 | 99+ | 1984–2008 |

## Women's winners
### List of winners

| Year | Rank | Winner | Club(s) | Goals |
| 2021 | 1st | Ellen White | Manchester City | 21 |
| 2021 | 2nd | Vivianne Miedema | Arsenal | 17 |
| 2021 | 3rd | Lea Schüller | Bayern Munich | 17 |
| 2022 | 1st | Sam Kerr | Chelsea | 17 |
| 2022 | 2nd | Beth Mead | Arsenal | 15 |
| 2022 | 3rd | Ewa Pajor | VfL Wolfsburg | 15 |
| 2023 | 1st | Barbra Banda | Shanghai Shengli | 15 |
| 2023 | 2nd | Salma Paralluelo | Barcelona | 14 |
| 2023 | 3rd | Sam Kerr | Chelsea | 13 |
| 2024 | 1st | Lea Schüller | Bayern Munich | 14 |
| 2024 | 2nd | Marie-Antoinette Katoto | Paris Saint-Germain | 13 |
| 2024 | 3rd | Aitana Bonmatí | Barcelona | 13 |

### Statistics

Winners (2021–present) :
| Player | Wins | Years |
| Ellen White | 1 | 2021 |
| Sam Kerr | 1 | 2022 |
| Barbra Banda | 1 | 2023 |
| Lea Schüller | 1 | 2024 |
Most goals in a year :
| Rank | Player | Year | Goals |
| 1 | Ellen White | 2021 | 21 |
| 2 | Sam Kerr | 2022 | 17 |
| 2 | Vivianne Miedema | 2021 | 17 |
| 2 | Lea Schüller | 2021 | 17 |
| 5 | Beth Mead | 2022 | 15 |
| 5 | Ewa Pajor | 2022 | 15 |
| 5 | Barbra Banda | 2022 | 15 |
| 8 | Salma Paralluelo | 2023 | 14 |
| 8 | Lea Schüller | 2024 | 14 |
Wins by club :
| Club | Total | Players |
| Chelsea | 1 | 1 |
| Manchester City | 1 | 1 |
| Shanghai Shengli | 1 | 1 |
| Bayern Munich | 1 | 1 |
Wins by nationality :
| Nationality | Total | Players |
| Australia | 1 | 1 |
| England | 1 | 1 |
| Zambia | 1 | 1 |
| Germany | 1 | 1 |