Highest Goal Scorer in World Cup History (Men’s Category)

The FIFA World Cup is the pinnacle of football competition. In 2014, Germany’s Miroslav Klose broke Ronaldo’s record for the most men’s World Cup goals by scoring against Brazil.

Lionel Messi tied the record in the 2026 World Cup by scoring a hat trick against Algeria in the group stage.

The following players have scored the most goals in men’s World Cup history:

• Miroslav Klose (Germany), 16
• Lionel Messi (Argentina), 16
• Ronaldo (Brazil), 15
• Kylian Mbappé (France), 14
• Gerd Müller (Germany), 14
• Just Fontaine (France), 13
• Pelé (Brazil), 12
• Jürgen Klinsmann (Germany), 11
• Sándor Kocsis (Hungary), 11
• Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina), 10
• Teófilo Cubillas (Peru), 10
• Grzegorz Lato (Poland), 10
• Gary Lineker (England), 10
• Thomas Müller (Germany), 10
• Helmut Rahn (Germany), 10