IFFHS MEN'S WORLD BEST GOAL SCORER 2023
IFFHS Men’s World Best Global Goal Scorer 2023: Cristiano Ronaldo
A dramatic culmination determined the winner of the IFFHS Men’s Best Global Goal Scorer 2023 award. With just few days before the year end, Cristiano Ronaldo took over the lead and finished on top with 54 goals.
CR7 left behind Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé, who amassed 52 goals each. They both went on vacation quite early, when Cristiano Ronaldo still had 3 games left (what he took advantage of).
Mbappé, the 2022 winner, got now the 2nd place in the final ranking due to the tie-breakers. With the same number (13) of international goals between him and Kane as well, Mbappé is ranked higher thanks to larger number of goals for the national team (10 against Kane’s 9).
Erling Haaland, who led the race with a month to go, missed almost the entire Manchester City program in December due to injury and was left out of the podium as a result.
Back to Cristiano Ronaldo, this is already his 9th IFFHS annual award. He previously won in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019 (World's Best International Goal Scorer) and in 2014, 2015, 2020 (World's Best Top Division Goal scorer).
His current victory is the most amazing, because Cristiano Ronaldo managed to beat all other prolific goal-scorers at the age of 38!
THE RANKING 2023
| Player | Total | Goals | Country | Clubs (Leagues) | ||||
| NL | NC | ICC | NT | |||||
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 54 | 34 | 1 | 9 | 10 | Portugal | Al Nassr (Saudi Arabia) |
| 2 | Kylian Mbappé | 52 | 34 | 5 | 3 | 10 | France | PSG |
| 3 | Harry Kane | 52 | 38 | 1 | 4 | 9 | England | Tottenham, Bayern (Germany) |
| 4 | Erling Haaland | 50 | 29 | 3 | 12 | 6 | Norway | Manchester City (England) |
| 5 | Garbhan Coughlan | 42 | 39 | 3 | Rep of Ireland | Cashmere Technical (New Zealand) | ||
| 6 | Romelu Lukaku | 40 | 17 | 1 | 7 | 15 | Belgium | Inter, Roma (Italy) |
| 7 | Denis Bouanga | 40 | 25 | 13 | 2 | Gabon | Los Angeles (USA) | |
| 8 | Germán Cano | 40 | 26 | 1 | 13 | Argentina | Fluminense (Brazil) | |
| 9 | Barnabás Varga | 39 | 24 | 2 | 9 | 4 | Hungary | Paks, Ferencvaros |
| 10 | Santiago Giménez | 39 | 31 | 3 | 3 | 2 | Mexico | Feyenoord (Netherlands) |
| 11 | Nemanja Bilbija | 39 | 29 | 5 | 5 | Bosnia and H | Zrinjski | |
| 12 | Bérgson | 39 | 21 | 14 | 4 | Brazil | Johor Darul Ta'zim (Malaysia) | |
| 13 | Hugo Cuypers | 38 | 24 | 1 | 13 | Belgium | Gent | |
| 14 | Eran Zahavi | 38 | 22 | 5 | 10 | 1 | Israel | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 15 | Karim Benzema | 38 | 22 | 6 | 10 | France | Real Madrid (Spain), Al Ittihad (Saudi Arabia) | |
| 16 | Lautaro Martínez | 37 | 29 | 4 | 4 | Argentina | Inter (Italy) | |
| 17 | Mohamed Salah | 36 | 24 | 2 | 4 | 6 | Egypt | Liverpool (England) |
| 18 | Vangelis Pavlidis | 36 | 27 | 2 | 7 | Greece | AZ (Netherlands) | |
| 19 | Mauro Icardi | 36 | 30 | 1 | 5 | Argentina | Galatasaray (Turkey) | |
| 20 | Sam Philip | 36 | 32 | 4 | New Zealand | Christchurch United | ||
| 21 | Aleksandar Mitrović | 35 | 21 | 4 | 5 | 5 | Serbia | Fulham (England), Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) |
| 22 | Michael Olunga | 35 | 24 | 2 | 6 | 3 | Kenya | Al Duhail (Qatar) |
| 23 | Pedro | 35 | 22 | 6 | 7 | Brazil | Flamengo | |
| 24 | Dorny Romero | 35 | 25 | 4 | 6 | Dominican Rep | Always Ready (Bolivia) | |
| 25 | Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba | 35 | 27 | 2 | 5 | 1 | Togo | Al Ain (UAE) |
| 26 | Victor Osimhen | 34 | 24 | 5 | 5 | Nigeria | Napoli (Italy) | |
| 27 | Amahl Pellegrino | 34 | 24 | 2 | 8 | Norway | Bodø/Glimt | |
| 28 | Igor Thiago | 34 | 23 | 3 | 8 | Brazil | Ludogorets (Bulgaria), Club Brugge (Belgium) | |
| 29 | Agustín Auzmendi | 34 | 27 | 7 | Argentina | Olancho, Motagua (Honduras) | ||
| 30 | Enner Valencia | 33 | 25 | 1 | 5 | 2 | Ecuador | Fenerbahce (Turkey), Internacional (Brazil) |
| 31 | Gift Orban | 32 | 18 | 14 | Nigeria | Gent (Belgium) | ||
| 32 | Luuk de Jong | 32 | 23 | 1 | 8 | Netherlands | PSV | |
| 33 | Talisca | 32 | 22 | 2 | 8 | Brazil | Al Nassr (Saudi Arabia) | |
| 34 | Václav Jurečka | 32 | 25 | 3 | 3 | 1 | Czech Republic | Slavia Prague |
| 35 | Abderrazak Hamdallah | 32 | 24 | 5 | 3 | Morocco | Al Ittihad (Saudi Arabia) | |
| 36 | Mehdi Taremi | 31 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 12 | Iran | Porto (Portugal) |
| 37 | Paulinho | 31 | 22 | 2 | 7 | Brazil | Atlético Mineiro | |
| 38 | Kyogo Furuhashi | 31 | 21 | 6 | 2 | 2 | Japan | Celtic (Scotland) |
| 39 | Omar Al-Somah | 31 | 22 | 6 | 3 | Syria | Al Arabi (Qatar) | |
| 40 | Zeki Amdouni | 30 | 13 | 4 | 7 | 6 | Switzerland | Basel, Burnley (England) |
| 41 | Dominik Stolz | 30 | 27 | 3 | Germany | Swift Hesperange (Luxembourg) | ||
| 42 | Hulk | 30 | 26 | 1 | 3 | Brazil | Atlético Mineiro | |
| 43 | Serhou Guirassy | 30 | 25 | 3 | 2 | Guinea | Stuttgart (Germany) | |
| 44 | Matteo Prandelli | 30 | 30 | Italy | Cosmos (San Marino) | |||
| 45 | Peter Shalulile | 29 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 3 | Namibia | Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) |
| 46 | Ikoma-Loïs Openda | 29 | 25 | 4 | Belgium | Lens (France), RB Leipzig (Germany) | ||
| 47 | Roger Guedes | 29 | 23 | 3 | 3 | Brazil | Corinthians, Al Rayyan (Qatar) | |
| 48 | Dorielton | 29 | 22 | 4 | 3 | Brazil | Bashundhara Kings (Bangladesh) | |
| 49 | Tiquinho Soares | 29 | 21 | 5 | 3 | Brazil | Botafogo | |
| 50 | Martín Prost | 29 | 22 | 6 | 1 | Argentina | Nacional Potosí (Bolivia) | |
| 51 | Luis Suárez | 29 | 24 | 5 | Uruguay | Grêmio (Brazil) | ||
| 52 | Lionel Messi | 28 | 10 | 10 | 8 | Argentina | PSG (France), Inter Miami (USA) | |
| 53 | Antoine Griezmann | 28 | 21 | 5 | 2 | France | Atlético Madrid (Spain) | |
| 54 | Jonathan David | 28 | 20 | 2 | 2 | 4 | Canada | Lille (France) |
| 55 | Robert Lewandowski | 28 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 4 | Poland | Barcelona (Spain) |
| 56 | Julián Quiñones | 28 | 23 | 5 | Colombia | Atlas, América (Mexico) | ||
| 57 | Odion Ighalo | 28 | 21 | 2 | 5 | Nigeria | Al Hilal, Al Wehda (Saudi Arabia) | |
| 58 | Ali Mabkhout | 28 | 22 | 2 | 4 | UAE | Al Jazira | |
| 59 | Jamie Maclaren | 28 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 3 | Australia | Melbourne City |
| 60 | Chris Bedia | 28 | 22 | 2 | 4 | Côte d'Ivoire | Servette (Switzerland) | |
| 61 | Andrej Ilić | 28 | 23 | 3 | 2 | Serbia | RFS (Latvia), Valerenga (Norway) | |
| 62 | Marco Pérez | 28 | 28 | Colombia | Águilas Doradas | |||
| 63 | Rafaelson | 28 | 27 | 1 | Brazil | Nam Định (Vietnam) | ||
| 64 | Alexandre Lacazette | 28 | 24 | 4 | France | Lyon |
All goals at top senior level are counted: top national and regional leagues (NL), national cups (NC), official international club tournaments (ICC), official games between national teams (NT).
Period: from 1 January to 31 December 2023.
Tie-breaking criteria in case of equal number of total goals: 1) international goals (ICC + NT), 2) goals scored for national team (NT), 3) goals scored in domestic league (NL), 4) strength of the league (on IFFHS ranking), 5) number of total games played.
