The 10 players with the most goals since the year 2000: Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar…
Former Barcelona, Real Madrid and Liverpool stars are among the 10 players with the most goals since the year 2000.
Scoring goals is the aim of the game and the 10 players on this list are rightly considered as the best forwards of their generation.
Including goals scored for club and country, here are the 10 players with the most goals across world football since the year 2000.
10. Hulk – 441 goals
Probably not the name that will immediately spring to mind when you think of prolific goalscorers, but Hulk has an unbelievable goal catalogue.
The 38-year-old is still going strong for Atletico Mineiro today, where he’s scored an impressive 125 goals over the last four and a half years.
With 441 strikes to his name in total, Hulk has scored more goals than the likes of Wayne Rooney, Sergio Aguero and David Villa.
9. Neymar – 450 goals
Currently with nine more goals than Hulk, Neymar is the highest-scoring Brazilian player of the 21st Century, although he is being rapidly caught up.
Of his 450 goals, 79 of them came on the international stage for Brazil. In 2023, he overtook Pele to become Brazil’s all-time top scorer, although he’s been plagued by injuries since then.
Fingers crossed that he gets himself back to full fitness before the World Cup next year.
8. Edinson Cavani – 458 goals
Still going strong for Boca Juniors at the age of 38, Cavani certainly ranks among the best strikers of his generation.
He enjoyed the peak years of his career playing for Napoli and PSG, where he scored 66% of his total career goals.
Currently taking part in the Club World Cup, he’ll be keen to add a few more goals to his tally before he decides to hang up the boots.
7. Harry Kane – 479 goals
Still in the prime scoring years of his career, Kane will likely be substantially higher on this list by the time he retires.
Impressively, he’s already surpassed the number of goals that Rooney scored for both club and country and he’s only 31 years old.
With an impressive 82 goals in 91 appearances for Bayern Munich as of writing, Kane still has plenty left in the tank.
6. Karim Benzema – 498 goals
While no longer at the very peak of his powers, Benzema is still adding to his tally while playing in Saudi Arabia for Al-Ittihad.
Of course, the Frenchman enjoyed the peak years of his career playing for Real Madrid, where he scored 354 goals in 648 appearances.
Despite not playing for France between 2016 and 2020, he also boasts a decent international record with 37 goals in 97 appearances.
5. Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 564 goals
When it comes to longevity, not many players can hold a candle to Ibrahimovic and the stellar career that he had.
In total, he scored 564 goals after the year 2000 and set countless records along the way.
Amazingly, of those 564 goals, he scored 341 of them after celebrating his 30th birthday.
READ: The 8 players in football history with the most goals after turning 30
4. Luis Suarez – 575 goals
He might no longer have that same burst of pace, but Suarez still knows a thing or two about hitting the back of the net.
Since leaving Europe behind, he’s continued to score goals for Nacional, Gremio and now Inter Miami.
The 38-year-old is Uruguay’s record scorer with 68 goals on the international stage and he’s still putting the goals away in MLS today. He should definitely be able to reach 600 career goals before he hangs up his boots.
3. Robert Lewandowski – 694 goals
Season after season, Lewandowski continues to score goals at a freakishly good rate.
The Polish forward has now scored more than 20 goals for 14 consecutive seasons at club level and he’s still got plenty left in the tank yet.
He ended the 2024-25 campaign with 42 goals for Barcelona across all competitions, the most he’s scored since his last season with Bayern Munich.
He’s also Poland’s all-time top scorer with 85 goals in 158 international appearances.
2. Lionel Messi – 865 goals
Still capable of conjuring moments of magic at the age of 37, Messi is truly one of a kind.
Along with being an elite playmaker and dribbler, the Argentine wizard is also one of the most ruthless finishers that the game has ever seen.
Taking into consideration the number of games that Messi has played throughout his career, there’s an argument to be made that he is statistically the best goalscorer of his generation.
However, he has been pipped to the top spot of this list.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo – 938 goals
Who else?
Ronaldo has made it no secret that he’s chasing down the record of 1000 goals and as of writing, he’s only 62 strikes away from reaching that landmark figure.
While most people are long retired by the time they turn 40, CR7 still looks as hungry as ever to score goals.
With him now set to remain at Al-Nassr, we reckon he can reach that 1000 goal landmark in the next two seasons.
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name the top 20 goalscorers in English top flight history?