The top goalscorers for club & country in 2026 so far: Kane, Gyokeres, Yamal… | OneFootball

Big names from Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal and Bayern Munich feature alongside some surprise names in the most prolific goalscorers of the calendar year so far.

Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe remain in the race for this season’s European Golden Shoe, but surprisingly neither of them feature among the top goalscorers in Europe since New Year’s Day.

Drawn from Europe’s five major leagues, here are the top 10 goalscorers in 2026 across club and international competitions.

10. Alexander Sorloth – 11 goals

You’ll notice Erling Haaland’s name absent from this list.

Norway’s most in-form striker approaching the World Cup is actually Atletico Madrid’s Sorloth. Neither Haaland nor his strike partner scored over the recent international break, though, as they lost 2-1 to the Netherlands and drew 0-0 with Switzerland.

In fact, Sorloth only has one goal in his last nine appearances and isn’t always entrusted to start by Diego Simeone.

But he made a stonking start to the calendar year, with the highlight so far his Champions League knockout hat-trick in Atleti’s 4-1 victory over Club Brugge.

9. Joao Pedro – 11 goals

“Back in the day we had Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Romario, but if you look at football today, Brazil has players like that,” Pedro recently told ESPN.

“There’s Vini at Real Madrid, Raphinha at Barcelona, me and Estevao at Chelsea, and Andrey, too. They all play for top clubs.”

A bold call from the Chelsea forward to put himself in the same sentence as three Brazilian icons. He’s yet to open his account for the Selecao, now up to eight senior international caps, but he started the year in solid form for his club – including a hat-trick against Aston Villa.

8. Mikel Oryazabal – 11 goals

It remains curious that Oryazabal has rarely featured in the gossip columns, given he reportedly has a €75million, is Spain’s best striker, and scored a match-winning goal in a Euros final.

With seven goals in his last 10 appearances for La Roja and Real Sociedad, he’s approaching the World Cup in the form of his career. His brace against Serbia hints at a big, big summer ahead for Oryazabal.

7. Igor Thiago – 11 goals

A Brentford player has every chance to lead the line for Brazil in a World Cup. What a world we live in.

One of the stories of the Premier League season, Thiago is gradually gaining on Haaland in the Golden Boot race. He’s scored five more goals in the competition than the early frontrunner since the turn of the year.

The 24-year-old made his Brazil bow over the international break, appearing off the bench in their matches against France and Croatia. He scored his first goal for the Selecao to put them ahead with a late penalty against Croatia.

6. Lamine Yamal – 12 goals

Yamal has long been talked up as a Ballon d’Or contender and slowly but surely he’s getting the numbers to back it up.

The teenager’s goalscoring output has grown season on season and 2025-26 has been no exception.

February’s hat-trick against Villarreal was evidence of a player about to go truly stratospheric – which Barcelona will need in the run-in, given their form and injury issues elsewhere. That’s a lot of weight on the shoulders of an 18-year-old, but he wears it lightly.

5. Vinicius Junior – 12 goals

The Real Madrid forward was distinctly underwhelming for over a year after vowing “I’ll do it 10x if I have to. They’re not ready” following his Ballon d’Or snub back in 2024.

He’s taken his sweet time but he’s finally starting to make good on that promise – five of his 12 goals this calendar year have been clutch goals in the Champions League, with another two in a vital comeback victory over Atletico Madrid.

Vini still needs to replicate his best club form on the international stage, though. He drew a blank in both of their recent friendlies and his overall record for Brazil leaves a lot to be desired. Neymar, he ain’t.

4. Raphinha – 12 goals

The FOURTH Brazilian in the top 10, Carlo Ancelotti is absolutely spoilt when it comes to dangerous forwards.

Raphinha might be the most reliable of the lot when it comes to the international stage, and he’s similarly important for Barcelona.

Just as he was getting back to his best following a frustrating season beset by injuries, he’s suffered a hamstring injury in Brazil’s friendly against France and is set to be sidelined for a crucial period. Sickener.

3. Viktor Gyokeres – 13 goals

The jury is still out on Gyokeres, who remains a perplexing forward.

This calendar year has seen him look borderline anonymous as he’s drawn blanks against Wolves, Brighton, Bayer Leverkusen and Brentford. He was particularly ineffective in the League Cup final defeat to Man City.

And yet he’s scored just fired Sweden to the World Cup with a hat-trick against Ukraine and a late winner against Poland. He’s also scored important goals against Leeds, Sunderland, Tottenham and Everton in Arsenal’s title tilt.

Swings and roundabouts.

2. Deniz Undav – 14 goals

Another one-time Brighton striker who did a whole lot of nothing down on the south coast, Undav has reinvented himself as one of the Bundesliga’s most consistent goalscorers since moving to Stuttgart.

He’s scored 55 goals in 109 appearances for the Swabians and has been in particularly good form of late. There’s a very good chance he leads the line for Germany at the World Cup, having notched in their friendly victory over Ghana over the break.

1. Harry Kane – 18 goals

Arguably the finest player in world football right now. How often have you been able to say that about an Englishman?

Kane didn’t play for the Three Lions over the recent international break, having suffered a minor issue in training. His absence was certainly felt in the Wembley defeat to Japan.

The only player in Europe’s five major leagues to average a better-than-goal-a-game average so far this calendar year, the England captain has 18 goals in just 15 appearances for Bayern Munich in all competitions in 2026.

Thomas Tuchel will be praying his most important player arrives in North America this summer in good nick.