With the FIFA World Cup 2022 kicking off in Qatar soon, football fans all over the world will be excited about their favourite nation’s chances at this brand new edition of the competition which will be held in the Middle East for the first time in its history.
With world-renowned goal-scorers such as Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar Jr., and Harry Kane on show, we can expect this year’s World Cup to be packed full of goals when it gets underway on 20 November 2022.
Let’s take a look at the five all-time top goal-scorers ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2022.
1. Miroslav Klose – 16
The German striker has scored more goals than anyone else in the World Cup. He has banged in 16 goals in 24 matches across four different editions of the prestigious competition.
Klose made his World Cup debut scoring a hattrick for Germany in a dominant 8-0 win over South Korea back in 2002. He went on to win the golden boot in the 2006 version of the competition.
2. Ronaldo – 15
The Brazilian striker has got one of the best goals-to-game ratios in the World Cup. He registered 15 goals in 19 appearances across all editions of the tournament.
Ronaldo made his debut back in the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France where he found the back of the net four times in seven matches.
3. Gerd Muller – 14
The West German striker deserves a lot of credit for netting 14 goals after playing in just two World Cup tournaments. He scored 10 times and won the golden boot in the 1970 FIFA World Cup. Muller ended up scoring back-to-back hattricks against Bulgaria and Peru at Mexico in that tournament.
4. Just Fontaine – 13
Fontaine has scored the most goals in a single World Cup tournament. His first and only appearance came in the 1958 edition of the competition when he scored 13 times in just six matches. He netted 57% of France’s total goals in the tournament.
5. Pele – 12
The Brazilian legend scored 12 goals in four different World Cup tournaments for Brazil. He failed to win a golden boot award but managed to be named the best player in the 1970 FIFA World Cup which was held in Mexico.
Other names on the all-time list include greats like German striker Jürgen Klinsmann and Hungarian forward Sándor Kocsis (11 goals). There are six names that share the honour of scoring 10 times in the World Cup. They are Grzegorz Lato (Poland), Teofilo Cubillas (Peru), Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina), Gary Lineker (England) and Germans Helmut Rahn and Thomas Müller.
