Who has scored the most goals in men's World Cup history?

Since 1930, the men's FIFA World Cup has featured some iconic soccer players competing for bragging rights in the world's most popular sport.

In the previous 22 men's World Cups, there have been 964 matches with a total of 2,720 goals scored.

Ahead of the expanded World Cup this summer in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, which increased the field from 32 to 48 teams, expect more thrilling strikes from the world's best.

On the list of the World Cup's all-time top scorers, two players at the 2026 event will have the chance to reach the top of the pile: Lionel Messi, who needs three goals to tie the record and Kylian Mbappé, who needs four.

Some interesting notes about the list: Just Fontaine scored all 13 of his World Cup goals in the 1958 tournament, and Brazil, which has appeared in every single World Cup, is the country with the most goals, 237.

Here are the top individual goal scorers in men's World Cup history:

World Cup men's goal leaders

• Miroslav Klose (Germany) – 16 goals
• Ronaldo (Brazil) – 15 goals
• Gerd Müller (Germany) – 14 goals
• Just Fontaine (France) – 13 goals
• Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 13 goals
• Kylian Mbappé (France) – 12 goals
• Pelé (Brazil) – 12 goals
• Jürgen Klinsmann (Germany) – 11 goals
• Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) – 11 goals
• Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina) – 10 goals
• Teófilo Cubillas (Peru) – 10 goals
• Grzegorz Lato (Poland) – 10 goals
• Gary Lineker (England) – 10 goals
• Thomas Müller (Germany) – 10 goals
• Helmut Rahn - (West Germany) – 10 goals