IFFHS STATISTICS - LIONEL MESSI SECOND !

• Jun 5, 2022
• History Statistics

Picture : Messi before Pelé !

Messi lifts to 2nd position in All-Time Goal-scorers ranking

The goals scored by Lionel Messi in May in the French league for Paris SG allowed him to rise on 2nd place in IFFHS World’s All-Time Goal-scorers ranking surpassing Pelé.
Messi has increased his career tally to 764 top-level goals. Pelé is now third with 762. Cristiano Ronaldo leads the ranking with 813 goals.
Here we publish an updated ranking consisting of 23 players to score 500+ top-level goals throughout their careers; 5 of them are active (taken bold).
Some numbers are corrected. For example, the goal wrongly attributed to Pelé by CONMEBOL in 1965 Copa Libertadores game Santos vs Peñarol (5-4) is taken off from him (the goal on 38th minute; it was actually scored by Coutinho).

	WORLD's ALL-TIME	BEST GOAL-SCORERS
	Player	Nationality	Period	Goals				Sum
				NL+	NC+	ICC	NT+
1	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	2002-	497	51	150	115	813
2	Lionel Messi	Argentina	2004-	480	70	133	81	764
3	Pelé	Brazil	1957-1977	604	49	26	83	762
4	Romário	Brazil	1985-2007	544	93	54	64	755
5	Ferenc Puskás	Hungary, Spain	1943-1966	514	76	55	84	729
6	Josef Bican	Austria, Czechoslovakia, BM	1931-1955	518	129	41	32	720
7	Jimmy Jones	Northern Ireland	1947-1964	332	301	2	12	647
8	Gerd Müller	Germany	1964-1981	405	92	69	68	634
9	Eusébio	Portugal	1957-1978	422	97	59	41	619
10	Joe Bambrick	Northern Ireland	1926-1943	348	247		21	616
11	Robert Lewandowski	Poland	2008-	344	49	95	75	563
12	Glenn Ferguson	Northern Ireland	1987-2011	313	242	6		561
13	Zlatan Ibrahimović	Sweden	1999-	393	48	57	62	560
14	Fernando Peyroteo	Portugal	1937-1949	464	72	3	14	553
15	Jimmy McGrory	Scotland	1922-1937	409	131		12	552
16	Uwe Seeler	Germany	1954-1978	446	41	21	43	551
17	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Argentina, Spain	1945-1966	376	55	70	29	530
18	György Sárosi	Hungary	1930–1948	351	31	102	42	526
19	Luis Suárez	Uruguay	2005-	356	43	53	68	520
20	Roberto Dinamite	Brazil	1971-1992	476	8	5	22	511
21	Hugo Sánchez	Mexico	1976-1997	390	49	38	30	507
22	Imre Schlosser	Hungary	1905-1928	417	18	10	59	504
23	Franz Binder	Austria, Germany	1930–1949	296	93	87	26	502

Abbreviatures:
NL+ = National Leagues (top divisions) plus relevant Regional Leagues (taken in account only having the strength comparable to national league; Campeonato Carioca and Campeonato Paulista for Romário, Pelé and Roberto Dinamite, Lisbon Championship for Peyroteo, Oberliga Nord for Seeler).
NC+ = National Cups plus other relevant domestic tournaments (Torneio Rio-São Paulo etc.)
ICC = International Club Competitions
NT+ = National Team plus other relevant selections (state or league selections, final tournaments of Olympic Games until 1988)