The five footballers with 900+ career goals: Lionel Messi joins elite club | OneFootball

Lionel Messi has reached the milestone of 900 career goals, joining an exclusive club featuring Cristiano Ronaldo and very few others.

According to the statistics gathered by the RSSSF (‘Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation’), just five players have officially than 900 goals, although other sources have varying figures. The likes of Romario and Pele are among the football legends who claim to have scored over 900 goals, but not according to this source.

Here are the five players in football history to have scored 900+ goals, according to the RSSSF.

5. Lionel Messi – 900 goals

He’s done it.

Not in the circumstances he would have liked, with his early goal against Nashville not enough to stop Inter Miami exiting the CONCACAF Champions Cup on away goals.

But the 900 goals is a good opportunity to take stock of Messi’s incredible career. And the fact he reached the milestone in even more impressive fashion – younger, and in fewer games – than his era-defining rival.

“I’ve been lucky enough to see most, or many, of the ​goals he’s scored, much closer than you all, and that’s a privilege,” Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano reflected.

“The number we’re talking about is insane, and that’s why Leo is a one of a kind.”

Given that Messi recently signed a new contract with Inter Miami through to 2031, he could easily move up a couple of places in this list if he fulfils and plays into his forties.

Moving up to the top spot one day is a tall order even for Messi, especially as one of these four names is still active and notching up the goals.

4. Ronnie Rooke – 934 goals

Rooke played between 1931 and 1961, scoring an extraordinary 934 goals in total, according to the RSSSF. His career spanned three decades, making him one of the most prolific scorers of his era.

He played for Fulham, Arsenal and Crystal Palace among others, later dropping into the lower leagues, with much of his tally coming in wartime football while he was on duty with the RAF.

Legendary football writer Brian Glanville, who only recently left us, recalled Rooke scoring one of the greatest goals he’s ever seen in a match between Arsenal and Manchester United in 1947:

“Beat three men from an inside-right position before finding the top right corner with his left-foot shot from 30 yards.”

3. Josef Bican – 950 goals

One of the 20th-century football icons you might have actually heard of, Bican represented both Austria and the Czech Republic at international level and was by all accounts an unstoppable force of nature in his 1930s and 1940s pomp.

The striker played for 10 different clubs, but he scored the majority of his goals over the course of an almighty 11-year stint at Slavia Prague in which he averaged almost two goals a game, notching 526 goals in 270 appearances.

Bican was the top scorer in the Czech top flight 11 times, winning six league titles, and according to UEFA stands above Messi and Ronaldo as the all-time top goalscorer in the history of the European leagues.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo – 965 goals

Ronaldo stands second on in the RSSSF’s all-time list, but he could move up to the top spot in a matter of months.

As of writing, he’s only 35 strikes away from becoming the first player to score 1,000 official goals.

“It’s hard to continue playing, but I am motivated,” he said at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai in December.

“My passion is high and I want to continue. It doesn’t matter where I play, whether in the Middle East or Europe. I always enjoy playing football and I want to keep going.

“You know what my goal is. I want to win trophies and I want to reach that number [1,000 goals] that you all know. I will reach the number for sure, if no injuries.”

1. Erwin Helmchen – 989 goals

The RSSSF lists Helmchen as the most prolific goalscorer in football history, with 989 goals from just 582 appearances.

While many legendary scorers achieved their numbers in top-flight leagues, the striker played largely in the lower divisions in Germany.

Helmchen’s career ran from 1923 to 1951, during which he reportedly scored almost a thousand goals.