In the history of the FIFA World Cup, 2,548 goals were scored in 900 matches played so far.
Miroslav Klose, who participated in the World Cup four times with Germany in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014, became the top scorer in the history of the tournament with a total of 16 goals. He netted five goals each in 2002 and 2006, 4 goals in 2010 and 2 goals in 2014.
Brazilian Ronaldo de Nazario follows Klose with 15 goals, while German player Gerd Muller placed third in the top scorer list with 14.
France’s Just Fontaine scored 13 goals in the 1958 World Cup held in Sweden, became the top scorer of the tournament and recorded most goals scored in a cup.
Russian Oleg Salenko, who once played for Turkish club Istanbulspor, scored 5 goals against Cameroon in the tournament held in the US in 1994 and became the player to score the most goals in a match in the World Cup history.
Brazilian Pele and German Uwe Seeler, who both participated in the tournaments in 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, along with Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and German Miroslav Klose in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, became the players who scored in four different World Cups.
The top scorers of all time in the history of the World Cup are listed as follows:
Player
Nation
Goals
World Cups
Miroslav Klose
Germany
16
2002, 2006, 2010, 2014
Ronaldo
Brazil
15
1994, 1998, 2002, 2006
Gerd Muller
Germany
14
1970, 1974
Just Fontaine
France
13
1958
Pele
Brazil
12
1958, 1962, 1966, 1970
Jurgen Klinsmann
Germany
11
1990, 1994, 1998
Sandor Kocsis
Hungary
11
1954
Gabriel Batistuta
Argentina
10
1994, 1998, 2002
Gary Lineker
England
10
1986, 1990
Thomas Muller
Germany
10
2010, 2014, 2018
Helmut Rahn
Germany
10
1954, 1958
Teofilo Cubillas
Peru
10
1970, 1978, 1982
Grzegorz Lato
Poland
10
1974, 1978, 1982
Eusebio
Portugal
9
1966
Ademir
Brazil
9
1950
Jairzinho
Brazil
9
1966, 1970, 1974
Vava
Brazil
9
1958, 1962
David Villa
Spain
9
2006, 2010, 2014
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
Germany
9
1978, 1982, 1986
Uwe Seeler
Germany
9
1958, 1962, 1966, 1970
Roberto Baggio
Italy
9
1990, 1994, 1998
Paolo Rossi
Italy
9
1978, 1982, 1986
Christian Vieri
Italy
9
1998, 2002
Source: Anadolu Agency
