Top Ten World Cup Goalscorers

The men that put the ball in the net, the boys at the business end of the field. Here’s the top ten most prolific World Cup Goalscorers.

7=)Grzegorz Lato – 20 Games/10 Goals – Lato was a key component of the golden generation of Polish football, which culminated in a third placed finish at the 1974 and 1982 World Cups. The pacy winger was top scorer in 1974 with an impressive gathering of seven goals in seven games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07HR8wrkRas

7=)Miroslav Klose 14/10 – The Polish born German striker is just six goals away from surpassing the great Ronaldo as the competitions leading marksman and could achieve that accolade in South Africa this summer. Klose scored five goals in Der Mannschaft’s run to the 2002 final and added another five on home turf in 2006, making him the first German winner of the Golden Shoe since Gerd Muller in 1970.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJeYJt3Rxss&feature=related

7=)Teofilo Cubillas 13/10 – Peru were a regular fixture at World Cups back in the day and didn’t do too badly when they were there. They were aided and abeited by Cubillas, a dynamic midfielder and the country’s top scorer of all-time with 26 goals in 81 caps. A man for the big occasion, 10 of those strikes came in 13 World Cup appearances, including a memorable brace against Scotland in 1978.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5hbhMI8Rrk&feature=related

7=)Gary Lineker – 12/10 – The only Englishman to finish as top scorer after his six goals in five games in 1986. Lineker had a penchant for important goals, his hat-trick against Poland saved England from elimination in Mexico and at Italia 90, England required Linker’s nous in a series of tight, low-scoring encounters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkaQDNjfJss

7=)Gabriel Batistuta 12/10 – The Angel Gabriel was the arch penalty box assassin and his record of ten goals in twelve World Cup appearances including a hat-trick against Jamaica in France 98 illustrated his deadly class. Batistuta provided the ammunition for the Argies, but a withering defence meant Batigol always fell short of a winners medal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkaQDNjfJss

7=)Helmut Rahn –10/10 – German forward Rahn scored a goal a game over two tournaments, his finest hour coming in the ‘Battle of Berne’ when he scored two as the West German’s humbled the much fancied Hungarians in the 1954 final.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPfhoox5HdI

6)Sandor Kocsis 5/11 - The Hungary team of 1954 are still considered one of the best sides to have never won a World Cup. The tournament in Switzerland featured a glutenous supply of goals, with the fluid Hungarians largely responsible for the almighty 5.38 goals per game average. The Mighty Magyars had taken England apart at Wembley in 1953, and boasting Ferenc Puskas, Zoltan Czibor, Jozsef Bozsik and Sandor Kocsis were regarded the best team around. In their two group games the Hungarians scored a preposterous 17 goals with Kocsis getting seven. He scored two more in each of the quarters and semi's against Brazil and Uruguay respectively, but was shut out by the ruthless West German’s in the final.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_TS2a1rYHo

5)Jurgen Klinsmann 17/11 - The Beatle driving amateur dramatics fanatic was the first player to score three goals or more at three different World Cups (a record later matched by Ronaldo.) His first tournament was Italia 90, a home from home with Jurgen the German plying his trade for Inter at the time. Klinsmann scored all three of his goals at the San Siro, as Franz Beckenbauers men lifted the trophy, USA 94 was good personally for Klinsi as he notched five in five before being sent home by Bulgaria, and even in France 98 at the ripe old age of 33, Klinsmann found the net a further three times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDczCjL-JrY

4)Pele 14/12 – Long before he was converted into a marketing gimmick by FIFA, Edson Arantes do Nascimento used to be a very handy player indeed. Aged just 17 in 1958, Pele became the youngest player to score a World Cup goal when he scored against Wales. He only played four games that year but still scored six including a hat-trick in the semi and two in the final. By 62 Pele was regarded as the best player in the world, and similar to 66 was subjected to some agricultural tackling which limited his participation but he was not to be stopped in 1970 as he spearheaded the fantastic Zagallo side to the Jules Rimet, scoring four goals en route to immortality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbKDqYBZHSM

3)Just Fontaine 6/13 – Third top scorer of all time is the Moroccan born French striker Just Fonatine who scored all of his goals in one tournament, Sweden 1958. In a run of form which is unlikely ever to be bettered, the Stade Reims striker cracked a hat-trick in his first match against Paraguay, two against Yugoslavia and another against Scotland. Two more followed against Northern Ireland, before Fontaine equalised in the semis versus Brazil, only for a young lad called Pele to score three and send the samba boys through to the final. In the third-fourth play-off, Fontaine smashed four past defending champions West Germany to finish with an amazing haul of thirteen goals in just six games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLyW4yldp0A

2)Gerd Muller 13/14 – Der Bomber, the ultimate penalty box predator and the most lethal goalscorer of the modern era. His instinctive poaching skills and insatiable thirst for hitting the back of the net resulted in a peerless goalscoring CV for club and country. His first tournament was a remarkable feat, banging in seven in three group games including two hat-tricks, another in the quarters and two in the semis meaning Muller went home with the Golden Shoe with ten in seven games. Another four goals followed in 1974 including the winners in the semi and final but Muller opted to retire from international football after the tournament, resting on the unbelievable record of 68 goals from 62 caps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulDyDqrfMBU

1) Ronaldo 19/15 – The phenomenal thing about il fenomeno is that he was one of the finest goalscorers of all-time, despite rarely being fully fit. An unused squad member in Brazil’s ’94 win, Ronaldo burst onto the scene in 98 with four goals before the ill fated final in Paris. The 2002 tournament was even more remarkable as the Inter ace had played just 24 times in three years before banging in eight goals including two in another final versus the German’s. Another three followed in 2006, the last of which against Ghana made Big Ron the world cup’s all time leading goalscorer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEKyl2yakOE