It is one of the most popular stats in the game and often cited by publications and looked up by fans. Goals scored remains a valuable marker for a player's longevity and quality on the international stage, especially with club football played much more frequently than games featuring national teams.
Iranian marksman Ali Daei's 109 goals has been the long-standing benchmark for this stat, but there is one very famous footballer closing in on the number. Cristiano Ronaldo is the only other footballer ever to breach the 100-goal mark and is breathing down Daei's neck. But who are the other active international footballers with the most goals?
As we will see in this countdown, the best of the best make up the top five, showing that this is a fool-proof number when it comes to judging a player's credentials on the international stage. One unlikely striker features high on the list, proving he is an all-time legend of the game in his country and international football, as a whole.
#5 Robert Lewandowski | 63
For many, he is the best center-forward in the game. Robert Lewandowski was always prolific, but he upped his game to a completely new level last season and there seems to be no stopping the Bayern Munich and Poland legend right now.
One of the greatest strikers in Bundesliga history, Lewandowski has scored more than 500 goals in his career, 63 of them coming for his nation.
Though his club career has been studded with silverware, Lewandowski has been the star of a mediocre Polish team for years now, with their best finish being a quarter-final appearance in Euro 2016.
#4 Neymar | 64
Neymar is often not given enough credit for his stellar record for the Selecao. That is because he has been part of Brazil teams that have not managed to reclaim the World Cup for the record winners in recent editions.
But the PSG forward, a serial winner with Barcelona before, has done exceedingly well for the national team on an individual level. His silken skills and dribbling have not only helped teammates find the net, but have also helped him score an astonishing 64 goals in just 103 games.
He is still just 28, so it is expected that Neymar will add many more to the tally in the coming years.
#3 Lionel Messi | 71
An all-time great at club level, but routinely derided as a national team player, Lionel Messi has had an interesting, and often tumultuous, relationship with La Albiceleste. But as his goal-return proves, Messi has not done too badly for his national team and lies third on this list.
The loss of three finals on the international stage, including the 2014 World Cup, drained the Barca talisman, but he again played a stellar role to rescue the team and take them to the next World Cup. Messi, who won an Olympic gold in 2008, continues his quest for a major title with the senior national team at 33.
He remains their best player (and one of the best in the world!) in the current World Cup qualifying campaign.
#2 Sunil Chhetri | 72
Over the years, 36-year-old Sunil Chhetri has truly become Indian football's ambassador to the world. Chhetri's goal-scoring exploits on the international stage have reached epical status and made him a known name around the world.
The Bengaluru FC forward has also won three Nehru Cups and two SAFF Championships for the Blue Tigers and still has some football up his sleeve in which he will continue to bring a smile to his fans' faces with his beautiful touches and finishing.
Chhetri has scored one less than Messi, but taken 112 games to Messi's 140 to reach the mark.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo | 101
With Portugal claiming both the European Championships and the UEFA Nations League, Cristiano Ronaldo has got rid of the albatross around his neck and gone one up on great rival Messi by winning international honors.
His goal-scoring exploits show no stopping for both club and country and the maestro recently brought up a century of goals for Portugal with a brace in the UEFA Nations League. Ronaldo, at 35, seems unstoppable; his physical prowess and technical virtuosity is also showing little signs of diminishing and sooner rather than later, he will go past Daei's record.
Will that add to the clamor to name him the best ever? Or will people still vouch for Messi's dexterity, Pele's brilliance or Maradona's magic? One gets the feeling that that is a debate that will never come to a conclusion.