List of top association football goal scorers

This is a list of top goal scorers in association football.

List according to IFFHS

IFFHS listed The World‘s most successful Top Division Goal Scorers 1888–1996. They updated it in 2008 adding new players and allowing Campeonato Paulista and Campeonato Carioca as national championships.

Rank	Name	Country	Leagues	Goals
1.	Pele (Edson Arantes do Nascimento)		Brazil, USA	541
2.	Josef Bican		Austria & Czechoslovakia	518
3.	Ferenc Puskas		Hungary, Spain	511
4.	Romario (Romario de Souza Faria)		Brazil, Netherlands, Spain, Australia	489
5.	Roberto Dinamite (Carlos Roberto de Oliveira)		Brazil, Spain	470

Listings according to RSSSF

Official matches

This ranking is based just by the RSSSF, which does count club and national goals but does not count goals scored in friendly matches, by which definition it includes short tournaments such as the Ramón de Carranza Trophy. RSSSF also counts matches in lower divisions as well as in club's amateur and reserve teams, junior national teams and in other selection teams like some Pelé's matches in military team.

Rank	Name	Country	Years	Matches	Goals
1.	Josef Bican		1931–1956	530	805
2.	Romário (Romário de Souza Faria)		1985–2007	994	772
3.	Pelé (Edson Arantes do Nascimento)		1956–1990	831	767
4.	Ferenc Puskas		1943–1966	754	746
5.	Gerd Müller (Gerhard Müller)		1962–1983	793	735
6.	Ferenc Deak		1944–1954		576
7.	Uwe Seeler		1953–1972		575
8.	Ernst Willimowski		1933–1959		554
9.	Eusebio (Eusebio da Silva Ferreira)		1957–1980		552
10.	Jimmy McGrory (James Edward McGrory)		1922–1937		550

Total career goals

This list attempts to include all goals scored by a player at all levels. Because different sources count differently, it cannot be considered definitive.

Rank	Player	Country	Years	Matches	Goals
1.	Josef Bican		1931–1956	918	1468
2.	Gerd Müller (Gerhard Müller)		1962–1983	1216	1461
3.	Pelé (Edson Arantes do Nascimento)		1956–1970	1375	1284
4.	Romário (Romário de Souza Faria)		1985–2007	1188	968
5.	Ferenc Puskas		1943–1966	754	746

Notes:

• Includes amateur and/or youth matches, except Pelé's record
• According to Nuke Soccer, Brazilian Arthur Friedenreich (career 1909–1935) had 1329 goals in 1239 matches as RSSSF states 557 in 562. Also, Nuke Soccer mentions Franz Binder (career 1930–1949) having 1006 goals in 756 matches. In RSSSF, Binder has 546 goals in official matches.

See also

• List of top association football goal scorers by country
• List of association football players with 50 or more international goals
• Biggest club scorers in Brazil