Scoring at the FIFA World Cup is one of football’s greatest achievements.
Scoring again and again across multiple World Cups puts a player in a completely different category.
For years, Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 World Cup goals appeared incredibly difficult to break.
Then came the 2026 World Cup.
Lionel Messi moved beyond Klose during Argentina’s run to the final, but his time at the top was remarkably short.
Kylian Mbappé finished the tournament with 10 goals, taking his career total to an extraordinary 22 World Cup goals and becoming the competition’s new all-time leading scorer.
Here are the greatest goalscorers in FIFA World Cup history, updated through the 2026 tournament.
All-Time World Cup Top Goalscorers
| Rank | Player | Country | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kylian Mbappé | France | 22 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 21 |
| 3 | Miroslav Klose | Germany | 16 |
| 4 | Ronaldo | Brazil | 15 |
| =5 | Harry Kane | England | 14 |
| =5 | Gerd Müller | West Germany | 14 |
| 7 | Just Fontaine | France | 13 |
| 8 | Pelé | Brazil | 12 |
| =9 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 11 |
| =9 | Jürgen Klinsmann | West Germany / Germany | 11 |
FIFA’s updated statistics place Mbappé first on 22, Messi second on 21 and former record-holder Klose third on 16.
1. Kylian Mbappé — 22 Goals
France
The new king of World Cup goalscoring.
Kylian Mbappé has produced an astonishing scoring record across only three World Cups:
2018 — 4 goals
2022 — 8 goals
2026 — 10 goals
That’s:
22 goals in 22 World Cup matches.
Exactly one goal per game across his World Cup career so far.
Mbappé was already a world champion at 19 after helping France win the 2018 tournament.
Four years later, he produced one of the greatest individual performances in World Cup final history, scoring a hat-trick against Argentina in the 2022 final.
France lost the shootout, but Mbappé finished the tournament with eight goals.
Then came 2026.
Mbappé scored 10 times in eight matches, won another Golden Boot and eventually overtook Messi to become the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer.
And remarkably, his World Cup story may not be finished yet.
2. Lionel Messi — 21 Goals
Argentina
Lionel Messi’s World Cup career lasted across an extraordinary six tournaments:
2006 — 1 goal
2010 — 0
2014 — 4
2018 — 1
2022 — 7
2026 — 8
Total:
21 goals in 34 matches.
For much of his career, Messi’s World Cup story was defined by what he hadn’t won.
That changed in 2022.
Messi scored seven goals as Argentina became world champions after defeating France on penalties in one of the greatest World Cup finals of all time.
But he wasn’t finished.
At 38, Messi returned in 2026 and scored eight more goals.
He briefly became the competition’s all-time leading scorer before Mbappé eventually moved ahead.
Messi finished the tournament with 21 World Cup goals, while also reaching a record 34 appearances.
3. Miroslav Klose — 16 Goals
Germany
Before Messi and Mbappé rewrote the record books in 2026, Miroslav Klose was the benchmark.
His World Cup record:
2002 — 5 goals
2006 — 5
2010 — 4
2014 — 2
Total: 16 goals in 24 matches.
Klose finally broke Ronaldo Nazário’s previous record during Germany’s historic 7–1 victory over Brazil in the 2014 semi-final.
Germany then defeated Argentina to win the tournament.
Klose remained the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer from 2014 until 2026.
4. Ronaldo Nazário — 15 Goals
Brazil
Before Klose, the record belonged to Brazil’s Ronaldo.
His World Cup career included:
1994 — 0 goals
1998 — 4
2002 — 8
2006 — 3
15 goals in 19 matches.
His greatest tournament came in 2002.
After serious injuries had threatened his career, Ronaldo returned to the World Cup and scored eight goals.
Two of them came against Germany in the final.
Brazil won 2–0, captured their fifth World Cup and Ronaldo completed one of football’s greatest comeback stories.
5. Harry Kane — 14 Goals
England
Harry Kane joined the elite group during the 2026 World Cup.
His tournament totals:
2018 — 6 goals
2022 — 2
2026 — 6
14 goals in 18 matches.
Kane won the Golden Boot in 2018 and added another six goals during England’s 2026 campaign.
That moved him level with one of the most feared goalscorers football has ever produced.
Gerd Müller.
5. Gerd Müller — 14 Goals
West Germany
The numbers surrounding Gerd Müller are remarkable.
He played only 13 World Cup matches.
He scored:
14 goals.
Ten came at Mexico 1970 alone.
Another four followed in 1974, including the winning goal against the Netherlands in the final as West Germany became world champions.
His goals-per-game rate remains extraordinary:
14 goals in 13 matches.
For more than three decades, Müller was the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer.
7. Just Fontaine — 13 Goals
France
Just Fontaine’s record is completely different from everyone around him.
He played at only one World Cup.
France — 1958.
Matches:
6
Goals:
13.
All thirteen of Fontaine’s World Cup goals came during the 1958 tournament in Sweden.
That remains the record for the most goals scored by one player at a single men’s World Cup. FIFA’s historical Golden Boot list confirms Fontaine finished 1958 with 13.
More than six decades later, nobody has matched it.
Think you know the legends who dominated football’s biggest stage? See how many icons you can recognize in our World Cup legends challenge.
8. Pelé — 12 Goals
Brazil
Pelé’s legacy cannot be measured only by goals.
But even his goalscoring numbers are exceptional.
He scored 12 goals in 14 World Cup matches across four tournaments.
More importantly, Pelé remains the only player to have been part of three men’s World Cup-winning squads:
1958
1962
1970
His final World Cup goal came against Italy in the 1970 final.
Brazil won 4–1 and completed one of the most iconic performances in the history of the competition.
9. Cristiano Ronaldo — 11 Goals
Portugal
Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup career stretched across six tournaments.
His scoring record:
2006 — 1
2010 — 1
2014 — 1
2018 — 4
2022 — 1
2026 — 3
11 goals in 27 matches.
His 2026 appearance added another historic achievement.
By scoring against Uzbekistan, Ronaldo became the first men’s player to score at six different World Cups. FIFA lists that milestone among the records broken at the 2026 tournament.
9. Jürgen Klinsmann — 11 Goals
West Germany / Germany
Jürgen Klinsmann completes our top ten.
He scored:
1990 — 3 goals
1994 — 5
1998 — 3
11 goals in 17 matches.
Klinsmann was also part of the West Germany team that won the 1990 World Cup.
His consistency across three consecutive tournaments helped establish him among the competition’s greatest goalscorers.
Mbappé vs Messi: The New World Cup Goalscoring Rivalry
The 2026 World Cup completely transformed the historical rankings.
Before the tournament:
Klose — 16
Messi — 13
Mbappé — 12
After the tournament:
Mbappé — 22
Messi — 21
Klose — 16
Messi scored eight times.
Mbappé scored ten.
For a short period during the tournament, Messi actually held the all-time record.
Then Mbappé overtook him and finished one goal ahead.
It was one of the biggest records broken during an extraordinary tournament.
You can explore more milestones in our guide to the World Cup 2026 records that made history.
Who Scored the Most Goals at a Single World Cup?
Despite Mbappé’s extraordinary 2026 performance, the record still belongs to:
Just Fontaine — 13 goals
The French striker achieved it at the 1958 World Cup.
Some other extraordinary single-tournament totals include:
| Player | World Cup | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Just Fontaine | 1958 | 13 |
| Sándor Kocsis | 1954 | 11 |
| Gerd Müller | 1970 | 10 |
| Kylian Mbappé | 2026 | 10 |
| Eusébio | 1966 | 9 |
| Ademir | 1950 | 9 |
| Ronaldo | 2002 | 8 |
| Mbappé | 2022 | 8 |
| Messi | 2026 | 8 |
Fontaine’s 13-goal record has therefore survived every World Cup since 1958.
Who Could Break Mbappé’s Record?
This is where Mbappé’s record becomes particularly interesting.
Unlike many previous all-time leaders, he reached the top while still potentially having more World Cups ahead of him.
His progression has been extraordinary:
4 → 12 → 22
And his overall rate after 2026 stands at:
22 goals in 22 matches.
That means the question may no longer simply be whether someone can break his record.
It may be:
How high can Mbappé take it?
Only future World Cups will answer that.
World Cup Goalscoring Records at a Glance
Most career World Cup goals:
Kylian Mbappé — 22
Second-most:
Lionel Messi — 21
Former record holder:
Miroslav Klose — 16
Most goals at one World Cup:
Just Fontaine — 13 (1958)
Most goals at World Cup 2026:
Kylian Mbappé — 10
Most World Cup appearances among these scorers:
Lionel Messi — 34
First man to score at six World Cups:
Cristiano Ronaldo
The Goalscorers Who Defined the World Cup
Every generation has produced a striker who seemed capable of rewriting World Cup history.
Gerd Müller established a record that lasted decades.
Ronaldo surpassed him.
Miroslav Klose went one better.
Then the 2026 World Cup changed everything.
Lionel Messi climbed all the way to 21 before Kylian Mbappé eventually overtook him with 22.
And because Mbappé’s World Cup career may still have chapters left to write, the record could move even further away.
Goals decide matches.
At the World Cup, they can also create legends.
