International football is an entirely different proposition to playing at club level. There are certain stars who perform far better for their country and vice versa. Considering how less football is played at international level, though, there aren’t as many chances to make an impact for your nation as there is for your club.

That said, some players have still managed to forge incredible legacies for their nations. The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Romelu Lukaku have all become heroes for their countries. We’ve taken a closer look at the top 35 goalscorers in the history of men’s international football.

35th-21st

Luis Suarez is tied with Hossam Hassan

Kicking off the list, the section between 35 and 21 features several huge names of the modern era. Sneaking into the top 35 is Serbia’s Aleksandar Mitrovic and Kuwait’s Jasem Al-Huwaidi, who are both tied on 63 goals, with Thailand’s Teerasil Dangda just ahead on 64. Then come Mohamed Salah and Didier Drogba, who are now both on 65 goals each after the former scored in Egypt’s 1-0 AFCON win against South Africa.

Just inside the top 30 is former Tottenham striker Robbie Keane, who has managed 68 goals for the Republic of Ireland. He’s level with Guatemala’s Carlos Ruiz and Germany legend Gerd Muller. The trio are just one goal behind Egyptian, Hossam Hassan and Uruguay’s Luis Suarez, while another three players follow on 70 goals — Stern John, Piyapong Pue-on and Abdul Kadir.

Numbers 23 to 21 and all tied on the same number of goals too. Die Mannschaft striker Miroslav Klose managed an impressive 71 goals in his career with the national side and also holds the record for the most goals scored in the FIFA World Cup with 16 strikes over four editions of the tournament between 2002 and 2014. His tally is the same as Thai forward Kiatisuk Senamuang and Malawi’s Kinnah Phiri.

20th-11th

Edin Dzeko, Pele and Harry Kane are the only major names

Moving into the top 20 of international football’s heaviest hitters, this section is largely comprised of names that might be unfamiliar to the majority of fans. Phiri, having managed 71 goals in fewer games than Klose and Senamuang, just sneaks in. He trails behind one of the only major stars to appear in this section, Edin Dzeko, who is Bosnia and Herzegovina’s record goalscorer, having hit the back of the net 72 times in his career. That’s the same number of goals Majed Abdullah managed for Saudi Arabia over 117 games.

Bashar Abdullah, who scored 75 goals for Kuwait, Kunishige Kamamoto, who scored 75 goals for Japan, and Sandor Kocsis, who scored 75 goals for Hungary, are all just in front of the pair. And following them is footballing icon Pele – who is, for good reason, widely regarded as one of the best footballers to ever play the beautiful game.

The Brazilian found the back of the net 77 times during his extraordinary career, a total which is just behind Hussein Saeed Mohammed and England’s all-time top scorer, Harry Kane. Still climbing the ranks in this list, he extended his record for the Three Lions with a 78th international goal under new boss Thomas Tuchel. Godfrey Chitalu rounds out this section on 79 strikes, meaning that the Zambia international is tied with the man in 10th.

10th-1st

Messi and Ronaldo are battling it out at the top

Entering the top 10, we’re dealing with the most elite international forwards of all time at this point. Neymar Jr is tied with Chitalu, with his 79 goals making him Brazil’s all-time top goalscorer, putting him ahead of some star names including the aforementioned Pele and Romario. Narrowly ahead of him is Ferenc Puskas, a cult hero for his national team, Hungary. The prolific striker scored 84 goals over the course of his international career.

Robert Lewandowski‘s 88 strikes for Poland have seen him recently move above Ali Mabkhout of the United Arab Emirates, who has scored 85 times for his country. And tied for a place in the top five is Romelu Lukaku, who is Belgium’s all-time top scorer with 89 goals to his name. Malaysia’s Mokhtar Dahari has the same amount, but in more games.

India’s Sunil Chhetri and Iran’s Ali Daei follow on 95 and 108 goals for their respective countries. Daei was the top scorer in international football for quite some time, but he’s since been usurped by the two greatest players ever – Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal. But how many goals have both scored for their respective nations?

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Following a brace in a 3-0 win over Venezuela, when Messi scored his 111th goal for the 2022 World Cup winners, he consolidated his place in the top two and has now scored an eye-catching total of 115 goals for Argentina. He’s still got quite some way to go to catch up with his biggest rival, though.

While Ronaldo – commonly admired as one of the best teenagers in football history – failed to find the back of the net a single time during Euro 2024, he is still leading the all-time goalscorer ranks and continues to add to his tally of 143 strikes for Portugal. His 1,000-goal pursuit could see him reach unfathomable heights.

All statistics courtesy of multiple sources, including Transfermarkt – correct as of 16/12/2025