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Scoring goals is arguably the toughest and most important job in football. Some players have a knack for making the job look easy. They bang in goals left, right, and center and wheel away in celebration more frequently than others.
Today’s list is about the most efficient goalscorers in the business, for their clubs and country. The five on our list have breached the most stubborn defenses at will, winning their teams crucial points and trophies.
Here are the five active players with the best goal to game ratio in the world:
Special note: All footballing leagues have been included, not just the senior teams in the top-five European leagues. Goals at the Olympics have not been included.
Stats via: Transfermarkt
#5 Kylian Mbappe – 0.648 goals per game
Paris Saint-German ace Kylian Mbappe is a generational superstar. At just 23 years of age, Mbappe has won the World Cup, the Ligue 1 and the French Cup amongst other honors.
He is freakishly quick, intelligent, and can score from anywhere on the pitch. Courtesy of his unmatched skillset, the Frenchman can improve any team in the world.
Rising through the ranks at Monaco, Mbappe made his senior team debut in December 2015. Aged just 16 years and 347 days, the forward became Monaco’s youngest-ever senior team player, breaking Thierry Henry’s record.
Before leaving for PSG in 2017, Mbappe played 63 games for Monaco, scoring 30 times.
At PSG, the 23-year-old has comprehensively outshone Neymar in front of goal, netting 151 times in 200 appearances.
In France’s colors, Mbappe has scored 24 times in 53 games.
#4 Robert Lewandowski – 0.721 goals per game
The Best Men’s Player in the World has been in outrageous form for club and country over the last few years. Robert Lewandowski is not the quickest striker around and rarely turns heads with his celebrations.
But when it comes down to stone-cold finishing, there’s hardly anyone better than the Pole.
Lewandowski, who scored four goals against Real Madrid in the 2012-13 Champions League semi-finals, was with Borussia Dortmund between 2010 and 2014.
He netted 103 games in 187 appearances for BVB, helping them to two Bundesliga titles and a DFB Pokal.
Since joining Bayern in 2014, the Polish striker has struck 328 times in 357 games, shattering numerous records in the process. His exploits have led the Bavarians to seven consecutive league titles and a Champions League amongst other honors.
Apart from the two German clubs, Lewa has also represented Znicz Pruszkow and Lech Poznan, scoring a combined total of 62 goals in 114 appearances.
For Poland, the skipper has netted 74 times so far in his career.
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo – 0.728 goals per game
Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo needs no introduction. He has plied his trade in three of the five most respected leagues in Europe, succeeding in all of them.
Ronaldo started his career at Sporting CP as a teenager. The winger scored five times in 31 appearances for the Portuguese outfit before being picked up by Manchester United.
Between 2003 and 2009, Ronaldo won it all with the Red Devils, which helped him to his first Ballon d’Or in 2008. Having netted 118 goals for United, he left for Real Madrid where he turned himself into an unstoppable scoring machine.
He struck 450 times for Los Blancos in 438 games, guiding them to four Champions Leagues and two La Liga titles amongst other honors in nine years.
At Juventus, he didn’t enjoy the best of spells on a collective level. Individually, however, he was just as brilliant. He scored 101 times for the club in 134 games, becoming the quickest player in history to reach the 100-goal mark for the club.
Now back with Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo is eager to add a few more to his tally and help his team to a respectable finish.
The Euro 2016 winner has scored 115 goals in 184 appearances for Portugal in his career.
Last year, he became the men’s leading scorer in international football, breaking Iranian Ali Daei’s record of 109 goals.
#2 Erling Haaland – 0.750 goals per game
Erling Haaland is the youngest player on our list today and arguably the most explosive. After scoring 29 goals for RB Salzburg over the course of a year, Haaland, 19, moved to Borussia Dortmund.
Known for their world-class youth development system, BVB helped the Norwegian unlock his potential and are now reaping the rewards.
Since moving to the German club in January 2020, Haaland has played 79 games for Dortmund. He has struck 80 times for the Bundesliga outfit so far and provided 21 assists.
The 21-year-old has played only 15 times for Norway but has already added 12 international goals to his name.
#1 Lionel Messi – 0.794 goals per game
Arguably the best player in the history of football, Lionel Messi, is currently the most efficient goalscorer in the world. However, his goal per game average is not the only thing that sets him apart.
It is the amalgamation of destruction and creativity that makes him who he is. The Argentine has provided 362 assists since the start of his career; no player has had more assists in that span.
Before joining PSG last summer, Messi had spent his entire professional career at Barcelona. He scored 672 times in 778 games for the Blaugrana, helping them to 10 La Ligas and four Champions Leagues amongst other accolades.
For his brilliance, the 34-year-old won six Ballons d’Or during his Barcelona spell, making him the only player in history to win it more than five times.
Messi won his seventh Ballon d’Or in November, after moving to PSG, becoming the club’s first-ever Golden Ball winner. The Argentina international has played 18 games for the Parisians so far, finding the back of the net eight times.
As you’d expect, Messi has also impressed in Argentina’s colors. He has scored 80 times for his country so far and was the best player in their successful Copa America campaign last summer.
