Manchester United and Ronaldo both are passing a terrific time as they are edging closer to the wrong side of the expectations at the start of the season. However, in a crucial match against Tottenham, which is their rival for the last spot of next season’s UCL, United bounced back and it was Cristiano who scored a stunning hat trick to win the game for his club. The win was vital for the club. But more so for the player as Ronaldo becomes the highest ever scorer in the history of the game at a competitive level. CR7 scores 807 goals for his club and country till now and sits at the top of the list where only official matches and goals are considered. Who are the others, who make the list? Let’s take a look –
1. Josef Bican (805 goals):
Plenty of arguments, divided opinions are there about the number of goals scored by players when statistics were not collected and kept properly. Therefore, FIFA never reveals a list of the highest scorers. However, different organizations, journalists, and pundits gave their data and judgments. Based on that, we find the Czech Republican player Bican is the 2nd in the list of scorers with 805 goals. Data is available about Bican scoring more than a couple of thousand goals nevertheless, most of them are in unofficial matches.
2. Pele (765 goals):
Brazilian media and many others including the player himself claimed that the King of Football scored more than 1200 goals though IFFHS proclaimed the number of official goals of one of the greatest players in the history of the sport is 765. According to them, he is the 2nd on the list and the record was his for more than 50 years before the Portuguese Maestro broke it.
3. Lionel Messi (759 goals):
Messi is the highest goalscorer for the National team in Latin America and the highest scorer ever for a single club with his 672 goals for Barcelona. After departing from the Catalan club last summer for PSG, the little magician finds it hard to send the ball to the back of the net otherwise his goal tally would surely be higher.
4. Romario (753 goals):
The 1994 World Cup winner of Brazil is one of the most complete players of his generation and also one of the best in history. He scored 750+ goals in his entire playing career notwithstanding his own data. He claimed of scoring 1000+ goals but the official bodies of the sport didn’t recognize the others.
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5. Ferenc Puskas (729 goals):
‘The Galloping major’ was the face of the golden generation of the Hungary football team who were called ‘the Magical Magyars’. The legendary footballer played in Real Madrid and is a legend of the club. During his playing time, he scored more than 700 goals.
6. Jimmy Jones (647 goals):
The Northern Irish footballer Jimmy Jones is a legend in his homeland. One of the deadliest strikers of all time, Jimmy scored 647 goals.
7. Gerd Muller (634 goals):
‘Der Bomber was the nickname of Gerd Muller due to his ability of scoring goals relentlessly. He is a legend of Bayern Munich and Germany. He holds the record of scoring the most goals in a calendar year for club and country. Messi later broke it in 2012.
8. Eusebio (622 goals):
First-ever, superstar of Portuguese football, Eusebio was called ‘the Black Panther’. Before Ronaldo, he was the highest scorer in his country.
9. Joe Bambrick (616 goals):
Another Northern Irish player on the list. Joe was a spectacular scorer during his time who played in the English league football and on his home soil also.
