Top 20 Highest Goal Scorers in Football 2023: A list of football players with highest national goals in their name

Football can be fairly considered the most popular sport in the world and it has produced many legendary sportsperson in time. The number of goals scored by any player forms a major criterion to define a good player in addition to of course other criteria as well. However, in this article, we are solely focusing on the national goals scored by various players in their football careers. Based on this, we have compiled and presented a list of the top 20 highest goal scorers in football in 2023 along with some other details about these players.

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Top 20 Highest Goal Scorers in Football 2023

Player	Goals	Nationality
Cristiano Ronaldo	123	Portugal
Ali Daei	108	Iran
Lionel Messi	104	Argentina
Sunil Chhetri	92	India
Mokhtar Dahari	89	Malaysia
Ferenc Puskás	84	Hungary
Ali Mabkhout	81	United Arab Emirates
Robert Lewandowski	81	Poland
Neymar	79	Brazil
Godfrey Chitalu	79	Zambia
Hussein Saeed	78	Iraq
Kunishige Kamamoto	75	Japan
Romelu Lukaku	75	Belgium
Bashar Abdullah	75	Kuwait
Majed Abdullah	72	Saudi Arabia
Kinnah Phiri	71	Malawi
Kiatisuk Senamuang	71	Thailand
Miroslav Klose	71	Germany
Abdul Kadir	70	Indonesia
Stern John	70	Trinidad and Tobago

Top 20 Highest Goal Scorers in Football 2023

1. Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo is an immensely popular football player from Portugal who holds multiple awards and records in his name. As of 2023, he is the highest goal score of all time with an impressive 123 goals in his name. Ronaldo is the most-followed person on Facebook and Instagram and the most-followed sportsperson on Twitter.

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2. Ali Daei

Ali Daei is a former football player from Iran regarded as one of the best players in Iran as well as Asia. He was the top goal scorer till 2021 with 108 goals in his name and is still the second-highest in 2023. Daei is also a businessperson and owns a sportswear manufacturing company.

3. Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi is one of the greatest football players of all time and the several awards and titles in his name are proof of that. He holds seven Ballon d’Or awards and six European Golden Shoes, most by any player as of 2023. With his efforts, Argentina won the 2022 FIFA World Cup adding one more achievement in Messi’s name.

4. Sunil Chhetri

Sunil Chhetri is one of the greatest Indian footballers of all time who plays for the Indian national team. For his contributions to the country, Chhetri has been presented with the prestigious Arjuna Award, Padma Shri Award, and Khel Ratna Award. Sunil is termed a legendary player in India and has popularized the game in the country to a great extent.

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5. Mokhtar Dahari

Mokhtar Dahari is the all-time top scorer for the Malaysian national team and one of the leading scorers overall with 89 goals in his name. Considered one of the greatest in Malaysian history, Dahari was known as Supermokh for his playing skills and strength. Dahari died at only the age of 37 years from motor neurone disease.

6. Ferenc Puskás

Ferenc Puskás termed the first international superstar of football, is also the sixth top goalscorer of all time as of 2023. The FIFA Puskás Award was introduced in his honor in 2009 and similarly, the team Puskás Akadémia FC and the tournament Puskás Cup were also introduced.

7. Ali Mabkhout

With 81 goals in his name, Ali Mabkhout ranks fifth in the list of the top 20 highest goal scorers in football. Mabkhout currently plays for UAE Pro League club Al Jazira and the United Arab Emirates national team. As of 2023, he is also the all-time leading goalscorer for UAE.

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8. Robert Lewandowski

Robert Lewandowski is the recipient of Polish Footballer of the Year for a record eleven times. Robert is considered one of the best strikers of all time and comes from a family with a sports history. His father was a judo champion who also played football and his mother is a former player of volleyball.

9. Neymar

Neymar is one of the best Brazilian players of all time and is also regarded as the best of all time. In 125 national matches played, Neymar currently has 79 goals in his name making him one of the highest goalscorers as of 2023. He has been included in the Times list of 100 most influential people in the world and the Forbes list of the highest-paid athletes.

10. Godfrey Chitalu

Godfrey Chitalu is counted among the best African footballers and is the greatest player from Zaire. While traveling to Senegal to take part in the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification games, his plane crashed into the sea killing the 45-year-old Chitalu. He was also popularly known as Ucar.

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11. Hussein Saeed

Hussein Saeed is a former footballer from Iraq and a former president of the Iraq Football Association considered one of the best not only in his country but in Asia as well. Saeed started his senior football career at the age of 17 years and also led a successful career as a football manager, both with the team Al-Talaba.

12. Kunishige Kamamoto

Kunishige Kamamoto is a former football player and politician from Japan who scored his first goal in his debut match itself in 1964. He is also the highest from Japan and one of the highest goal scorers overall with a total of 75 national goals in his career. Kamamoto also served as a manager for Yanmar Diesel and led the team towards some significant wins.

13. Romelu Lukaku

Romelu Lukaku comes from a family of football players and his father, cousin, and younger brother all play football at one level or another. In 2021, Lukaku was the most expensive player of all time in cumulative transfer fees and is still one of the highest football goal scorers as of 2023.

14. Bashar Abdullah

Bashar Abdullah is a former football player who scored 75 international goals for the national team of Kuwait. He started his youth career in 1987 at 10 years of age and began playing internationally at 19 years of age. Abdullah helped his national team win two Gulf Cups, become runner-up in the Arab Cup, and reach the semi-finals of the AFC Asian Cup.

15. Majed Abdullah

Majed Abdullah, popularly known as Arabian Jewel, is the record goalscorer for Al-Nassr and also one of the highest goalscorers of all time. He has 72 goals in his name that he achieved in his international career spanning around two decades. Majed is also one of the greatest strikers of all time of Asian.

16. Kinnah Phiri

Kinnah Phiri is a former player and football coach of Malawi who has scored 71 goals internationally in 115 games. He played as a striker for the teams Big Bullets and Manzini Wanderers as well as Malawi national team. Phiri also served as manager for various teams for over 15 years.

17. Kiatisuk Senamuang

Kiatisuk Senamuang, famously known as Thai Zico, is a former football player currently serving as a head coach of the football club Hoàng Anh Gia Lai. Kiatisuk has scored 70 goals for Thailand national team and is one of the leading international goal scorers. He is also a scholar who holds a BBA and an MBA degree.

18. Miroslav Klose

Miroslav Klose and holds the record for most goals in the FIFA World Cup (16) and is also known for scoring 71 international goals for his national team. In his debut World Cup in 2002, Klose scored five goals and is the recipient of Silver Shoe and Golden Shoe in FIFA.

19. Abdul Qadir

Abdul Qadir was a football player from Indonesia famous for his swiftness in moving the ball. For his ability, Qadir was also nicknamed The Deer. After his retirement as a player, Qadir joined the Krama Yudha Tiga Berlian team as their coach. He is known for scoring maximum goals for the Indonesia national team.

20. Stern John

The list of the top 20 highest goal scorers in football in 2023 concludes with former football player Stern John. Previously, Stern has played in the Major Soccer League as well as for  the Trinidad and Tobago national team. Currently, he is serving as a team manager for Saint Lucia

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