The 24 footballers with 1000+ goals including Pele, Cristiano Ronaldo & Romario | OneFootball

Former Arsenal, Barcelona and Real Madrid stars are among the players who’ve scored more than 1000 goals across all competitions.

Using stats provided by the RSSSF, we’ve listed the 24 players who’ve scored over 1000 goals, including goals scored in friendly matches.

Here’s the full breakdown of the 24 highest-scoring players in football history, with non-official games included in the data.

24. Romario – 1002 goals

The Brazilian forward is one of the most lethal players of his generation.

While his official goal tally sits at just above 900 goals, he did score over 1000 when including friendly matches.

He’s Brazil’s fourth-highest scoring player of all time and is rightly recognised as an icon in the game.

23. Istvan Avar – 1007 goals

Avar’s career spanned from 1919 to 1943, where he was estimated to have scored around 1007 goals, including friendly matches.

22. Imre Schlosser – 1016 goals

Schlosser is the third-highest-scoring player in the history of the Hungarian top flight with 368 goals scored between 1906 and 1928.

As per the RSSSF, he reached around 1016 goals in total, including friendly matches.

21. Florian Albert – 1018 goals

The Hungarian forward spent his entire professional career playing for Ferencvaros.

He’s the club’s third-highest scoring player of all time, when only including his official tally.

=19. Abe Lenstra – 1031 goals

Lenstra played professionally from 1936 to 1963 and spent his entire professional career playing in the Netherlands.

He scored 790 goals in official matches, but his tally extends to around 1031 in total.

=19. Ronnie Rooke – 1031 goals

Rooke scored the bulk of his goals for Fulham during the Second World War.

While official matches were postponed during that period, Rooke was able to continue playing while simultaneously working in the RAF.

He also played for the likes of Arsenal and Crystal Palace, scoring 1031 goals in total throughout his career.

18. Cristiano Ronaldo – 1035 goals

While Ronaldo’s official tally currently sits at 959 goals, he has technically already surpassed the 1000-goal mark.

Of course, goals scored in club friendly matches aren’t included in his official record, but he’s still put the ball in the back of the net on over 1000 occasions.

With 41 more official goals to score until he reaches 1000, Ronaldo seems determined to reach that milestone before he retires.

“For me it’s the best mark that I can have in football, to reach, first 900 goals. After, my challenge is 1,000 goals,” CR7 said during an interview last year.

“All the goals that I score, they have video. So I can prove that it’s [real] … But if I don’t have injuries, I want that [goal tally].”

17. Nandor Hidegkuti – 1043 goals

Hidegkuti was one of the first players to play as a deep-lying centre-forward, which has since been renamed the false 9 role.

He was part of Hungary’s golden generation in the 1950s and is estimated to have scored 1043 goals in total.

16. Zsengeller Gyula – 1078 goals

Another Hungarian forward who makes the list is Gyula, who played from 1935 to 1953.

He enjoyed the peak years of his career playing for Ujpest FC in Hungary, but also enjoyed a short spell with Roma in Italy.

15. Ernst Wilimowski – 1079 goals

Nicknamed “Ezi”, the Polish-German forward scored 1079 goals when including his tally in friendly matches.

14. Gyorgy Sarosi – 1098 goals

Sarosi is recognised as Ferencvarosi’s all-time top scorer, having spent his entire professional career playing for the Hungarian side.

After hanging up his boots in 1943, he went into management and managed the likes of Juventus, Genoa and Roma.

13. Gyula Szilagyi – 1112 goals

Another Hungarian who makes our list is Szilagyi, who played from 1939 to 1960.

He spent the peak years of his career playing for Vasas SC and is estimated to have scored 1112 goals in 918 games in total.

12. Ferenc Szusza – 1156 goals

Szusza spent his entire professional career playing for Ujpesti Dozsa in Hungary and enjoyed his peak years in the 1940s.

In total, he scored 1156 goals in 1029 games according to the RSSSF.

11. Sandor Kocsis – 1187 goals

Kocsis scored the bulk of his goals while playing in Hungary, but spent the last seven years of his career playing for Barcelona.

During his time in Spain, he won five trophies, including two La Liga titles in 1958–59 and 1959–60.

10. Franz Binder – 1202 goals

The tall Austrian forward spent his peak years playing for Rapid Wien and is one of the club’s highest-scoring players of all time.

According to the RSSSF, he scored 1202 goals in just 833 appearances for club and country, averaging 1.44 goals per game.

9. Jozsef Takacs – 1218 goals

Amazingly, Takacs began his career as a goalkeeper and only made his debut as a striker due to an injury to one of his teammates.

He quickly made a name for himself as a number nine and didn’t look back from then on.

The striker spent his entire career playing in Hungary and enjoyed his best years playing for Ferencvaros between 1927 and 1934.

8. Pele – 1324 goals

The total number of goals that Pele scored during his career is widely disputed, but according to the RSSSF, his tally sits at 1324.

Around 778 of those games came in offical matches, while the other 546 were scored in friendly matches or exhibition games.

READ: The 15 footballers with 700+ career goals: Cristiano Ronaldo 3rd, Lionel Messi 5th, Pele 11th…

7. Ferenc Deak – 1374 goals

Deak was a Hungarian striker who played professionally from 1940 to 1959.

He still holds the European record for most goals scored in a single top-flight season with 66.

In total, around 795 of his goals came in offical matches, while the other 579 came in friendly matches.

6. Ferenc Bene – 1424 goals

Bene hung up his boots in 1985, having scored more than 1400 goals throughout his career.

He was twice named as the Hungarian player of the year and briefly went into management after retirement.

5. Gerd Muller – 1483 goals

Bayern Munich’s all-time top scorer, Muller earns a spot in our top five with 1483 goals scored through his career.

In total, 735 of his goals were scored in official matches, while the remaining 748 came in unofficial appearances.

Until 2014, he held the record as Germany’s all-time top scorer, but his record has since been broken by Miroslav Klose.

4. Ferenc Puskas – 1569 goals

Puskas scored 802 offical goals, but his tally stretches to 1569 when including unofficial appearances.

“I was fortunate to have seen him play and he was without question one of the greatest players of all time,” Sir Alex Ferguson said when describing the Hungarian forward.

“It was an honour to have met his wife Erzsebet, when I visited Hungary and I was impressed at how humble she was.

“Maybe his greatness spread everywhere.”

3. Erwin Helmchen – 1611 goals

According to the RSSSF, Helmchen is the highest-scoring player in football history with 989 goals in 582 offical matches.

When totting up the goals he scored in unofficial games, his total tally reaches 1611 goals, which earns him third spot on this list.

It does have to be said that while the majority of other players on this list scored their goals in a top division, Helmchen spent most of his career playing in the German lower divisions.

2. Josef Bican – 1813 goals

Different sources widely dispute the number of goals that Bican scored during his career.

According to the RSSSF, he scored 950 offical goals and another 863 in unofficial games, meaning his total tally sits at 1813.

In total, he made 1089 appearances throughout his career, meaning he averaged 1.66 goals per game throughout his career.

1. Lajos Tichy – 1917 goals

As per the stats from the RSSSF, Tichy is the unofficial top scorer in football history with 1917 goals.

Nicknamed “The Nation’s Bomber”, he spent his entire career playing in Hungary between 1952 and 1971.

Across his entire career, he made 1307 appearances and is estimated to have scored just shy of 2000 goals in total.