List of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals
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In total, 76 male
footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
s to date have scored at least 50 goals with their national team at senior level, according to
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
documents and
RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...
statistics. Since October 2021, the
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
(IOC) has been also publishing an according list, but only of the top 10.
Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...
of
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
holds the all-time record with 118 international goals. Unofficially, if matches against non full A-level national teams and against non national teams are counted,
Mokhtar Dahari Dato' Mohd Mokhtar bin Dahari (13 November 1953 – 11 July 1991) was a Malaysian football player from Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, he played for F.A. Selangor for most of his life. He is considered a legendary footballer in Malaysian football hi ...
holds the record, having amassed 125 goals in 167 matches with the shirt of
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
.
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
and
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
hold the record of having the most players to have scored 50 or more international goals with four each.
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,
Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
, Malaysia and
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
each have three players who have achieved the feat. The
Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...
(AFC) has the highest number of footballers who scored at least 50 international goals, with 30 players.
Bader Al-Mutawa Bader Ahmed al-Mutawa ( ar, بدر أحمد المطوع; born 10 January 1985) is a Kuwaiti professional footballer who plays for Qadsia and the Kuwait national team, where he usually operates as a second striker. He wears the jersey number ...
of Kuwait has played the most matches so far to score 50 international goals. He scored his 50th goal during his 155th international appearance, in a
hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...
against
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
on 3 September 2015, in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match.


History

The first player to score 50 international goals was
Imre Schlosser Imre Schlosser (also known as Imre Schlosser-Lakatos; 11 October 1889 – 18 July 1959) was a Hungarian footballer of Danube Swabian ancestry who played as a forward. He still holds the record as the highest goalscorer in the history of the H ...
of Hungary. He achieved the feat when he scored a brace (two goals) in a 6–2 victory against
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
on 3 June 1917. In total, he scored 59 international goals in 68 matches, playing his last match on 10 April 1927. He remained the highest international goalscorer for 26 years, until his fellow countryman Ferenc Puskás broke the record in 1953. Puskás was the third player, after
Poul Nielsen Niels Poul "Tist" Nielsen (25 December 1891 – 9 August 1962) was a Danish footballer who is the joint all-time best goalscorer for the Denmark national team with 52 goals in 38 matches. Nielsen won a silver medal with the national team at ...
of
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
, to achieve 50 goals in his international career. Nielsen achieved this feat on his 36th
cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...
against
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
in the
1924–28 Nordic Football Championship The 1924–28 Nordic Football Championship was the first Nordic Football Championship staged. Three Nordic countries participated, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The tournament was arranged by the Danish Football Association (DBU) which celebr ...
on 14 June 1925 and scored 52 goals in just 38 matches in his international career. Puskás netted his 50th goal on 24 July 1952, when he scored a brace in the semi-final match against
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
at the
1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...
. However,
Vivian Woodward Vivian John Woodward (3 June 1879 – 31 January 1954) was an English footballer who enjoyed the peak of his career from the turn of the 20th century to the outbreak of the First World War. He played for Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. He capt ...
scored 75 goals in 53 matches considered official internationals by the opposing sides, which would make him the first footballer to score 50 or more international goals, ahead of Imre Schlosser, and was the fastest to achieve the feat, scoring his 50th goal in his 32nd official international match, with a four-goal haul against Hungary on 31 May 1909. Puskás overall scored 84 goals in his international career, and remained the highest international goalscorer for 24 years following his 84th goal in 1956 against
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, until
Mokhtar Dahari Dato' Mohd Mokhtar bin Dahari (13 November 1953 – 11 July 1991) was a Malaysian football player from Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, he played for F.A. Selangor for most of his life. He is considered a legendary footballer in Malaysian football hi ...
of
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
broke the record in the
Merdeka Tournament Merdeka Tournament or Pestabola Merdeka is a friendly football tournament held in Malaysia to commemorate the Independence Day. The competition bears the Malay word for independence. As of 2022, it has been held 40 times, and decreasingly in ...
after scoring his 85th goal on 27 October 1980 against
Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
and he went on to score 89 goals for his country in 142 international appearances. In 2003,
Ali Daei Ali Daei ( fa, ; born 21 March 1969) is an Iranian football manager and former player. A striker, he was the captain of the Iranian national team between 2000 and 2006 and played in the German Bundesliga for Arminia Bielefeld, Bayern Munich ...
of
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
broke the record after scoring his 90th goal against
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
. Daei also became the first player to score over 100 goals in international football, ending his career with 109 in total. His 100th goal came on 17 November 2004, when he scored a four-goal haul against
Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification match. However, the first player from
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
to reach 50 international goals was Malaya's
Abdul Ghani Minhat Abdul Ghani bin Minhat (Jawi script, Jawi: عبدالغاني منحة; ‎ 23 December 1935 – 28 September 2012) was a Association football, football player who represented the team Selangor FA and Negeri Sembilan FA in the 1950s until th ...
. Furthermore, he was also the first player from outside Europe to achieve it. He achieved the feat on 15 December 1961 against
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
and he went on to score 58 goals in 57 international appearances for his country which is 1.02 per match, making him one of the most prolific players in the world. Just two years after Puskás' scored his 50th goal, his teammate
Sándor Kocsis Sándor Péter Kocsis (; ; 21 September 1929 – 22 July 1979) was a Hungarian footballer who played for Ferencváros TC, Budapest Honvéd, Young Fellows Zürich, FC Barcelona and Hungary as a striker. During the 1950s, along with Ferenc Pu ...
did the same on 19 September 1954, in a friendly match against
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
. He became both the fourth player and the fourth European to achieve the feat. He went on to score a total of 75 goals in 65 matches in international football.
Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...
of
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
is the only other player apart from Daei to score 100 international goals, as well as the first European to achieve the feat. He reached the milestone after scoring a brace against
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League on 8 September 2020. Pelé of Brazil was the first player from
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
to score at least 50 international goals. He attained this in a friendly match against the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
on 21 November 1965, and went on to score 77 international goals in 92 matches.
Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...
's
Kinnah Phiri Kinnah Phiri (born 30 October 1954) is a Malawian football coach and former player who is the head coach of Jwaneng Galaxy. Playing career Born in Blantyre, Kinnah began playing football for local side Big Bullets F.C., and in 1982 was offered a ...
was the first player from
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, and also the youngest player, to score 50 international goals. He scored his 50th goal in a friendly match against
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
on 6 July 1978, aged 23 years, 8 months and 6 days. Stern John of
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
was the first player from
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
to score 50 international goals. He scored 70 goals in 115 matches, with his 50th goal coming in a friendly match against the
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
on 13 June 2004.


By player

Players in bold are still active at international level.


By nationality

''*NB: The term "nationality" in this section refers to the nation(s) the player represented (the national team(s) he played for), not to the nationality-ies and/or citizenship(s) he holds.''


By confederation

No OFC player has scored 50 goals in full internationals. The current record holder is
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...
player Commins Menapi, with 34 goals in 36 matches between 2000 and 2007.


Footnotes


See also

*
List of women's footballers with 100 or more international caps This list summarizes women's association football players with 100 or more international appearances. As of 15 November 2022, a total of 394 women have played 100 or more international matches for their respective nations. The all-time lead ...
* List of top international men's football goalscorers by country *
List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps In men's association football, a cap is traditionally awarded in international football to a player making an official match appearance for their national team. In total, over 600 players have played in 100 or more international matches. The re ...
*
List of men's footballers with the most official appearances This is a list of footballers who have played at least 1,000 official football matches at all age levels: regarding junior levels, only the matches with national teams are counted, because such data for club levels cannot be found for the majo ...
*
List of men's footballers with 500 or more goals In top-level football competitions, 23 players have scored 500 or more goals over the course of their career in both club and international football, according to research by the , first published in 2007. Taking into account competitions of a ...
*
List of goalscoring goalkeepers Goals scored by goalkeepers are a somewhat rare event in football. Goalkeepers spend the majority of a match in the penalty area of their own team, a marked area around the goal they are defending in which they can handle the ball, in order to ...
*
List of hat-tricks These are lists of hat-tricks: Cricket * List of One Day International cricket hat-tricks * List of hat-tricks in the Ranji Trophy * List of Test cricket hat-tricks * List of Twenty20 International cricket hat-tricks * List of women's internat ...


References


External links

{{International football statistics * international goals Men's over 50 goals Career achievements of association football players