How many goals have Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo scored at the World Cup? Who is all-time top scorer?
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Updated 19/12/2022 at 08:17 GMT
How many goals do Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have at the World Cup? You may be wondering who has scored the most goals on football's biggest stage? Find out who is the all-time top goalscorer, which player has scored the most goals at a single World Cup and whether Lionel Messi of Argentina or Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal has a better record at the World Cup.
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Goals, goals, goals – that’s what football is all about, and the player who finds the back of the net most at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is going to give their team a very good chance of winning the tournament.
Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were all tipped to be the leading goalscorer in this year’s World Cup, although the likes of Marcus Rashford and Cody Gapko also staked a claim following their group-stage heroics.
But who has the most World Cup goals ever, and which player has scored the most at one tournament? Here is a list of all records under threat at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Messi opened the scoring in Argentina's opening World Cup match against Saudi Arabia but Argentina would go on to lose the match 2-1.
Ronaldo had an opportunity in Qatar to become the first player to score at five consecutive World Cups - he previously scored one goal in 2006, 2010 and 2014, before getting four at Russia in 2018 - and the former Manchester United man duly delivered when he scored in Portugal's first game against Ghana, taking him to eight tournament goals in total.
In Argentina's second match on November 26, Messi scored his eighth World Cup goal with a fabulous effort on the edge of the area. That moved him level with Ronaldo.
Messi failed to get on the scoresheet in the 2-0 win over Poland after he missed from the spot, but was back amongst the goals in Argentina's last 16 victory over Australia.
In the quarter-finals, he set up the first goal for Nahuel Molina before adding the second from the penalty spot to give Argentina a 2-0 lead in the World Cup quarter-final. They would go on to win on penalties after the game finished 2-2 in extra-time. Lautaro Martinez scored the winning goal.
Messi then opened the scoring against Croatia in Argentina's semi-final - a match they went on to win 3-0.
And he got his 12th World Cup goal in the final against France, equalling the number Pele managed during his career.
In extra-time, Messi thought he scored the winner when he poked in a rebounded shot to put Argentina 3-2 ahead. Argentina needed penalties to win, but it meant Messi scored his 13th World Cup goal, which moves him up to fourth in the all-time list.
Messi scored once in 2006, failed to score at 2010, collected four at 2014 and added a further goal in 2018 to enter the 2022 World Cup on six goals. Following the six he has scored thus far in the 2022 World Cup he now has 12 World Cup goals.
Ronaldo won't have a chance to improve on his eight goals after he and Portugal were knocked out by Morocco thanks to a 1-0 win that made them the first African team to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup.
Mbappe currently has five goals from his six appearances.
Who has the most World Cup goals?
It’s not Pele, or Diego Maradona, or (the Brazilian) Ronaldo who has the most World Cup goals. It is, in fact, Germany’s Miroslav Klose.
His compatriot Gerd Muller held the record from 1974 with his 14th goal that came in the final for West Germany against the Netherlands. He surpassed France’s Just Fontaine, who scored 13 goals from six games.
Ronaldo took Muller’s mantle in 2006 when he netted his 15th World Cup goal, before Klose set a new target of 16 goals by scoring in Germany’s famous 7-1 victory against Brazil in the 2014 semi-final.
Of current players, Lionel Messi - with 13 - has the highest tally at World Cups, tying him fourth on the all-time list. However, Kylian Mbappe is already on 12 goals at the age of just 23 following his hat-trick in the 2022 World Cup final.
| Player | Country | World Cup matches | World Cup goals |
| Miroslav Klose | Germany | 24 | 16 |
| Ronaldo | Brazil | 19 | 15 |
| Gerd Muller | Germany | 13 | 14 |
| Just Fontaine | France | 6 | 13 |
| Lionel Messi | Argentina | 26 | 13 |
| Pele | Brazil | 14 | 12 |
| Kylian Mbappe | France | 14 | 12 |
| Jurgen Klinsmann | Germany | 17 | 11 |
| Sandor Kocsis | Hungary | 5 | 11 |
Most World Cup goals in a single tournament
Remember Fontaine from France we mentioned above? Astonishingly, his 13 goals all came from one tournament in 1958.
France didn’t even reach the final, as they finished third, but Fontaine’s hat-trick in the opening game was followed by two more braces and four goals in the third place play-off, with a couple more goals along the way.
He broke Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis' record of 11 goals which was set in the previous tournament in 1954.
Muller is next on the list with 10 goals in Mexico 1970, with Portugal’s Eusebio and Brazil’s Ademir on nine goals apiece.
The lowest number of goals for the top goalscorer at a World Cup is four, which was accomplished by six players in Chile 1962.
England’s Harry Kane was the Golden Boot winner last time out in Russia 2018 with six goals as the Three Lions finished fourth.
| Player | Country | Year | Goals |
| Just Fontaine | France | 1958 | 13 |
| Sandor Kocsis | Hungary | 1954 | 11 |
| Gerd Muller | Germany | 1970 | 10 |
| Eusebio | Portugal | 1966 | 9 |
| Ademir | Brazil | 1950 | 9 |
| Guillermo Stabile | Argentina | 1930 | 8 |
| Ronaldo | Brazil | 2002 | 8 |
Who has more World Cup goals – Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?
The never-ending Lionel Messi v Cristiano Ronaldo debate can’t yet be settled by the World Cup, with neither player totally shining on football’s biggest stage.
Both players have competed at every World Cup since 2006 and it was Ronaldo who had the slight edge coming into the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, having scored seven goals.
And he has made history in Qatar, becoming the first player to score at five consecutive World Cups with a goal against Ghana. His total tally stands at 8.
Messi had six goals at the World Cup coming into the tournament. He failed to score in South Africa 2010 where Argentina lost in the quarter-finals to Germany.
However, he opened his account against Saudi Arabia at the 2022 World Cup with 10 minutes on the clock to take his tally to seven. They would lose the match 2-1.
Ronaldo netted his eighth goal in a World Cup with a penalty in Portugal's opening match of the 2022 tournament against Ghana, becoming the first player to score in five tournaments.
Messi then matched that with a fabulous effort against Mexico in Argentina's second match. That goal took him to eight as well.
It looked like Ronaldo had added another against Uruguay when he jumped to flick in a cross, but he didn't get a touch and the goal was credited to Bruno Fernandes.
Messi had the chance to move ahead of his rival after Argentina were awarded a penalty in their final group game against Poland, however saw his kick saved by Wojciech Szczesny, while Ronaldo was taken off in the 65th-minute during the 2-1 defeat to South Korea without registering on the scoresheet.
Messi soon moved clear at the next opportunity after firing the opener in Argentina's clash with Australia in the last 16, whereas Ronaldo was denied the opportunity to add to his tally from the start after he was benched for the match against Switzerland.
The Argentine would then add another goal to his tally - a penalty - in the quarter-final against the Netherlands, giving his side a 2-0 lead. That goal took Messi to 10, with Ronaldo on eight. Argentina went on to win the shoot-out after the Dutch made it 2-2 and force extra-time. Lautaro Martinez of Inter Milan scored the winning penalty.
Ronaldo was then knocked out of the tournament after coming on as a second-half substitute when Portugal were beaten 1-0 by Morocco in the quarter-finals.
But Messi went on to the semis and found the net against Croatia to take his overall tally to 11.
He then built on that with a 12th World Cup goal with a penalty to open the scoring in the final against France.
| Year | Lionel Messi goals | Cristiano Ronaldo goals |
| 2006 | 1 | 1 |
| 2010 | 0 | 1 |
| 2014 | 4 | 1 |
| 2018 | 1 | 4 |
| 2022 | 6 | 1 |
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