With Cristiano Ronaldo reaching the 111 goal mark in international football, here is the complete lineup of players with the most number of goals for their country:
GK | Jose Luis Chilavert (Paraguay)
Games: 74
Goals: 8
The Paraguayan shot-stopper spent the majority of his club career in South America and scored four goals in Paraguay’s World Cup Qualification in 2002.
RB | Darijo Srna (Croatia)
Games: 134
Goals: 22
In his prime, Srna was a remarkable footballer and scored one goal every six games on average, an impressive return for a defender.
CB | Fernando Hierro (Spain)
Games: 89
Goals: 29
Hierro goes down as one of the best centre-backs to this day, and he scored five goals in six games in 1999 for the country, ranking him as one of the highest-scoring defenders.
CB | Sergio Ramos (Spain)
Games: 180
Goals: 23
The former Real Madrid skipper is no doubt the best defender of his generation and has won every major trophy there is to win in football.
LB | Dusit Chalermsan (Thailand)
Games: 96
Goals: 14
The talented Thai defender helped his nation to a fourth-place finish at both the 1998 and 2002 Asian Games.
CDM | Karim Bagheri (Iran)
Games: 87
Goals: 50
Bagheri played as a defensive midfielder and scored seven goals in one game against the Maldives. That year, he finished with 20 goals to his name, a remarkable return for a midfielder.
RM | Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Games: 151
Goals: 76
Messi recently won the Copa America with Argentina, which was his first trophy for the country. The captain of the national team is expected to add more goals to his tally in the months to come.
LM | Neymar (Brazil)
Games: 111
Goals: 68
Neymar is now just nine goals away from equalling Pele’s record of 77 in Brazil’s colours. Given that he’s still just 29, the PSG man should surpass that number with ease.
CAM | Tim Cahill (Australia)
Games: 108
Goals: 50
Cahill scored every year between 2004 and 2018. Scoring nine goals in 2015, Cahill is still the greatest footballer to ever come out of Australia.
ST | Ali Daei (Iran)
Games: 149
Goals: 109
The previous holder of the top scorer award, Daei scored 20+ goals for Iran in two separate years and also won a gold medal at the 1998 Asian Games.
ST | Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Games: 180
Goals: 111
Although it took him more games, CR7 is not only the highest goalscorer in international football but also the most capped player. His tally is only expected to grow in the years to come, with the Man Utd star showing no signs of slowing down.
