The 4 players in football history that have scored more goals than Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi is considered by many to be the greatest footballer in the history of the sport, but a select few footballing legends have scored more goals than the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner.
The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) put Messi as the second top goalscorer in football history, only behind old foe Cristiano Ronaldo, but a different historical statistical body, the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF), use a different methodology in totting up goals and place him fifth.
According to the RSSSF’s rankings, here are the four players in football history who have officially scored more than Messi’s tally of 858 goals.
4. Ronnie Rooke
You’ve heard of Jimmy Greaves. You might know about Nat Lofthouse. And if you were tracking Erling Haaland’s record chasing a couple of years back, you’ll recall Dixie Dean’s off-the-charts tallies. Ronnie Rooke, though? Only real history buffs know that name.
Born in Surrey and firing in goals before, during and after the war, Rooke turned out for Fulham, Arsenal and Crystal Palace in his heyday. But he wasn’t above the grind of non-league either, chalking up goals for the likes of Guildford City, Bedford Town and Haywards Heath.
The RSSSF haven’t pinned down an exact figure, but they estimate he notched at least 934 goals in 1030 appearances. Yes, really. Those are numbers from a glitchy Football Manager save; except this was the 1930s and ’40s and Rooke was doing it in real life, leather balls and all.
3. Cristiano Ronaldo
Messi’s era-defining rival has recently surpassed Rooke to move up to third in football’s all-time goalscoring charts, according to the RSSSF.
The 40-year-old forward scored the 934th goal of his professional career in Al Nassr’s AFC Champions League victory over Yokohama F. Marinos.
A contract extension with the Saudi Pro League club is reportedly imminent. The goal of a thousand goals, and moving further up this list, is within reach.
2. Josef Bican
If you’re the kind of footballing anorak (no judgements – you’re in good company here) who’s subscribed to When Saturday Comes, or has the works of Jonathan Wilson and David Goldblatt proudly adorning your bookshelf, here’s a historical name you ought to know.
Or maybe it rings a bell if you’ve ever gone down a Wikipedia rabbit hole of fantastical goalscoring records.
Long before Messi and Ronaldo hit their pomp and skewed the scales of what we thought possible in terms of sheer numbers, Austrian-Czech icon Bican threw down the gauntlet in a remarkable career that spanned from 1931 to 1957.
Bican is often lumped in with the likes of Pele and Romario, accused of counting every backyard kickabout in their tallies. But Bican’s numbers? They hold up. The IFFHS count his tally 722 goals for club and country. The RSSSF say 950+. That’s not a typo.
A few months back Ronaldo said, “There will be one difference: all of my goals have videos, so I can prove that,” in a subtle dig at Pele. Bican’s legacy suffers the same fate: buried under layers of old newspapers and faded match reports.
Still, if you’re willing to do the homework, the numbers speak for themselves. Bican didn’t just score goals — he devoured them.
1. Erwin Helmchen
Who? Erwin Helmchen: the most prolific goalscorer you’ve never heard of.
Forget Messi. Forget Ronaldo. Forget even Bican. Helmchen’s name is unlikely to come up in any pub chats, but he’s officially recognised as the all-time top goalscorer in the history of football by the RSSSF.
The striker played most of his football for PSV – not the Eredivisie giants, but rather lesser-known German outfit PSV Chemnitz. He never made a senior international for Deutschland, and there’s virtually no surviving footage. He was, for all intents and purposes, a ghost who haunted defences — and left behind a trail of jaw-dropping goal stats.
The RSSSF estimates he scored 987 goals in official matches. That’s not counting friendlies or goals he might’ve bagged on Sunday mornings for fun. Official. Competitive. Nearly a thousand of them.
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