The 3 players in football history to have scored more goals than Messi & Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are considered by many to be the two greatest goalscorers in football history. The numbers certainly bear that out, having scored 899 and 838 goals respectively.
In fact, according to The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football, Ronaldo and Messi are the top two goalscorers in the history of football. However, there’s some debate over the matter.
A separate football historical body, the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF), places Ronaldo and Messi at fourth and fifth respectively in football’s all-time scoring charts. Using their methodology, we’ve taken a closer look at the three players deemed to have scored more than the two modern-day icons.
3. Ronnie Rooke
If you know your English football history, chances are you’ll have at least a passing knowledge of legendary goalscorers like Dixie Dean, Nat Lofthouse and Jimmy Greaves. One name you might not have come across is Ronnie Rooke, who sounds like one of the supporting cast of Roy Of The Rovers.
The centre-forward from Surrey played between the years of 1929 and 1961 and represented the likes of Fulham, Arsenal and Crystal Palace alongside a host of other local clubs further down the football pyramid including Guildford City, Bedford Town and Haywards Heath Town.
By the RSSSF’s methodology, they don’t put an exact number on his goalscoring tally but they estimate it to be at least 934 in 1030 appearances.
2. Josef Bican
Here’s one you probably have heard of.
The Czech football phenomenon is cited among the likes of Romario and Pele when it comes to outrageously fantastical goalscoring numbers.
However, unlike those two Brazilian greats – who are 10th and 11th in RSSSF’s list with 785 and 778 goals respectively – Bican’s numbers have been ratified, at least via one source.
While the IFFHS estimates that Bican scored 722 goals for club and country, the RSSSF makes that number 950+
“There will be one difference: all of my goals have videos, so I can prove that,” Ronaldo recently said of his ambition to retire with 1000+ goals.
That comment was generally read as an unnecessary drive-by on Pele, but it could be equally applicable to Bican – whereby you need to dust off the history books and do a proper deep dive into obscure old match reports to find an estimate.
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1. Erwin Helmchen
The man estimated to be the all-time top goalscorer by the RSSSF is a name that you’ll rarely come across.
German striker Helmchen’s career spanned from 1924-1951 – that’s pre-Bundesliga – and it’s said that he scored at least 989 goals in 582 appearances, averaging a rate of 1.7 per match. Football was pretty different back then, so it’s not that unbelievable.
It’s believed that Helmchen scored over 456 appearances in just 232 appearances for PSV Chemnitz, who nowadays play in the lower reaches of the German football pyramid.