Goal-scoring is undoubtedly the most difficult and crucial task in football. Some players have an uncanny ability to make the job appear simple. They score goals left, right, and center more frequently than others, and wheel away in celebration.
The goal scorers on today’s list are the most efficient in the industry, both for their clubs and for their countries. The five players on our list have routinely pierced the most tenacious defenses, securing critical points and titles for their teams.
The five active players with the best goal-to-game ratio in the world are as follows:
Kylian Mbappe: 0.648 goals per game
German ace for Paris Saint-Germain Kylian Mbappe is a superstar of a generation. Mbappe, who is only 23, has already won the World Cup, Ligue 1, and the French Cup, among other accolades. He is incredibly quick, intelligent, and capable of scoring from any position on the field. The Frenchman can improve any team in the globe because of his unrivaled skillset.
Mbappe made his senior squad debut in December 2015 after rising through the ranks at Monaco. The forward became Monaco’s youngest-ever senior team player at the age of 16 years and 347 days, beating Thierry Henry’s record. Mbappe scored 30 goals in 63 games for Monaco before joining PSG in 2017.
The 23-year-old has far outshined Neymar in front of a goal at PSG, scoring 151 goals in 200 outings. Mbappe has 24 goals in 53 games for the French national team.
Robert Lewandowski: 0.721 goals per game
Over the previous few years, the Best Men’s Player in the World has been in sensational form for both club and nation. Robert Lewandowski isn’t the fastest striker in the world, and his celebrations rarely draw attention. The Pole, on the other hand, is unrivalled when it comes to stone-cold finishing.
Between 2010 and 2014, Lewandowski was with Borussia Dortmund, where he scored four goals against Real Madrid in the 2012-13 Champions League semi-finals. He scored 103 goals in 187 games for BVB, helping them win two Bundesliga crowns and the DFB Pokal.
The Polish striker has 328 goals in 357 appearances since joining Bayern in 2014, shattering multiple records in the process. His achievements have contributed to the Bavarians winning seven consecutive league crowns as well as the Champions League.
In addition to the two German clubs, Lewa has played for Znicz Pruszkow and Lech Poznan, scoring 62 goals in 114 matches. So far in his career, the captain of Poland has scored 74 goals.
Cristiano Ronaldo: 0.728 goals per game
Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo is a player who does not require an introduction. He’s played in three of Europe’s five most prestigious leagues, and he’s won all of them. Ronaldo began his career as a teenager with Sporting CP. Before joining Manchester United, the winger scored five goals in 31 games for the Portuguese club.
Ronaldo won everything with the Red Devils between 2003 and 2009, including his first Ballon d’Or in 2008. After scoring 118 goals for United, he moved to Real Madrid, where he became an unstoppable goal machine.
He scored 450 goals in 438 appearances for Los Blancos, leading them to four Champions League crowns and two La Liga titles in nine years. On a collective level, he didn’t have the best of times at Juventus. He was, nevertheless, equally excellent on his own. In 134 games, he scored 101 goals for the club, making him the fastest player in club history to reach the century mark.
Cristiano Ronaldo is eager to add to his score and lead Manchester United to a decent finish now that he has returned to the club. In 184 appearances for Portugal, the Euro 2016 winner has scored 115 goals. He broke Iranian Ali Daei’s 109-goal record to become the men’s top scorer in international football last year.
Erling Haaland: 0.750 goals per game
Erling Haaland is the most explosive player on our list today while being the youngest. Haaland, 19, went to Borussia Dortmund after scoring 29 goals for RB Salzburg over a year. BVB, which is known for its world-class youth development system, assisted the Norwegian in realizing his full potential and are now reaping the benefits.
Haaland has appeared in 79 appearances for Dortmund since joining the German club in January 2020. So far, he has scored 80 goals and given 21 assists for the Bundesliga club. The 21-year-old has only appeared 15 times for Norway, but he has already scored 12 goals on the international stage.
Lionel Messi: 0.794 goals per game
Lionel Messi, arguably the greatest player in football history, is now the most efficient goalscorer on the planet. His goal per game average isn’t the only thing that distinguishes him. He is defined by his unique combination of destruction and creativity. Since the start of his career, the Argentine has racked up 362 assists, more than any other player.
Messi had spent his entire professional career with Barcelona before joining PSG last summer. For the Blaugrana, he scored 672 goals in 778 games, helping them win 10 La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues, among other honours.
During his time with Barcelona, the 34-year-old won six Ballons d’Or, becoming him the first player in history to win it more than five times. After joining PSG in November, Messi won his seventh Ballon d’Or, becoming the club’s first-ever Golden Ball champion. So far, the Argentina international has appeared in 18 games for the Parisians, scoring eight goals.
Messi has performed admirably in Argentina’s colours, as one might anticipate. He has 80 international goals to his name and was the finest player in his country’s triumphant Copa America campaign last summer.
Read: UCL: Top 10 football clubs with the most appearances in UEFA Champions League history
