The IFFHS World's Best International Goal Scorer is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

award given annually since 1991 to the world's top international goalscorer in the calendar year. The award is given by the

International Federation of Football History & Statistics The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

(IFFHS). Only international goals from 1 January to 31 December in international matches, Olympic tournaments,

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

, official matches between the topical continental club champions, and the continental club competitions of

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

, AFC,

CAF CAF or caf may refer to: Armed forces *Canadian Armed Forces (Canadian Forces), the Canadian Air Force, Army, and Navy *Canadian Air Force, now the Royal Canadian Air Force *Republic of China Air Force, the air force of the Republic of China (Tai ...

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...

CONMEBOL CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...

, OFC and

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

, as well as, the continental

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

matches of the six confederations are taken into consideration. If the number of goals is equal, the player who scored more goals in international matches is ranked higher.

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...

holds the record for most wins (5), and most goals in a calendar year (32 in 2017).

Dennis Bergkamp Dennis Nicolaas Maria Bergkamp (; born 10 May 1969) is a Dutch professional Association football, football coach and former Football player, player who was most recently the Assistant manager of Ajax. Originally a wide midfielder, Bergkamp was ...

Raí Raimundo Souza Vieira de Oliveira (born 15 May 1965), popularly known as Raí (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. The younger brother of Sócrates,

and César Obando won the award with the fewest goals (12 in 1992).

Neymar Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (; born 5 February 1992), also known as Neymar Júnior or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left winger, attacking midfielder or Forward (association foo ...

and

Gabriel Batistuta Gabriel Omar Batistuta (; born 1 February 1969) is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer. During his playing career, Batistuta was nicknamed Batigol () as well as El Ángel Gabriel (; Spanish for ''Archangel Gabriel, A ...

are the players with the most runner-up appearances (2). Cristiano Ronaldo is the player with most third-place finishes (3).

Ali Daei Ali Daei ( ; born 21 March 1969) is an Iranian Association football, football manager and former professional footballer. A Striker (association football), striker, he was the captain (association football), captain of the Iran national footbal ...

, Cristiano Ronaldo,

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

Robert Lewandowski Robert Lewandowski (; born 21 August 1988) is a Polish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club FC Barcelona, Barcelona. Widely regarded as one of the greatest strikers of a ...

and Romelo Lukaku are the only players who have won the award more than once. Ronaldo and Messi are the only players to win the award in successive seasons, with Ronaldo achieving this twice.

Ali Ashfaq Ali Ashfaq (; born 6 September 1985) is a Maldivian former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Nicknamed "Man of Steel" (), he is regarded as one of the best players in the South ...

scored the most goals without winning (23 goals in 2013).

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

are tied for the clubs with the most wins (5). In 2012, the IFFHS awarded the World's Best Goal Scorer of the First Decade, considering the years 2001 to 2010.

Men's winners

List of winners

Notes:

Statistics

The World's Best Top International Goal Scorer of the First Decade (2001–2010)

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The awards were part of the IFFHS World Football Gala 2012 which took place in Barcelona in May 2012. For the final list of 15 players, international goals scored from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2010 were taken into consideration.

All-time Best International Goal Scorer ranking

:Bold indicates players currently active. :* indicates player has scored at least 100 international goals for a single club.

Women's winners

List of winners

Statistics

References

External links

IFFHS official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer International Federation of Football History & Statistics Association football trophies and awards Association football player non-biographical articles

Men's winners

List of winners

Statistics

The World's Best Top International Goal Scorer of the First Decade (2001–2010)

All-time Best International Goal Scorer ranking

Women's winners

List of winners

Statistics

See also

References

External links