'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
If you ask any football fan about their favourite footballer, chances are that a vast majority will name a forward and understandably so because goalscorers take the limelight more often than not.
Even when there is a debate about the greatest player of all-time, most of the names thrown around are that of forwards like Pele, Diego Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
The most important parameter that separates the good forwards from the truly world class ones is the number of goals that they score.
Very few players have scored over 400 career goals in the history of the game and our generation is lucky enough to witness five such players.
These players have won numerous team and individual honours throughout their careers and the goals they racked up in the process is the reason why they stand out.
The career goals of a player includes all goals he has scored at club level in competitive games plus all the goals he has scored for his international team from the junior to senior level.
Note: All statistics are accurate as of 22/08/2018
#5 David Villa (415 goals)
In the fifth position is former Barcelona striker David Villa. The Spaniard is his country's all-time leading goalscorer with 59 goals in 98 games. However, Villa has never scored at the junior level for Spain.
At club level, the bulk of his goals were scored in the La Liga. He scored 231 goals in all competitions while playing for Real Zaragoza, Valencia, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in the Spanish top tier.
He has also scored 55 goals for Sporting Gijon and Sporting Gijon B in the lower divisions of Spain.
Villa currently plays for New York City FC in the MLS and he has scored 74 goals in 113 games for the US club. He also has two goals for Melbourne City in the Australian A-League.
The 36-year-old has won at least one trophy with every club he has played for in the La Liga. He was the tournament top scorer at Euro 2008 and the FIFA World Cup 2010 (shared), and Spain won both tournaments.
#4 Luis Suarez (430 goals)
Luis Suarez has scored goals in four different leagues in his career so far. He started from his hometown club Nacional for whom he scored 12 goals in 34 games in his first season as a professional footballer.
Suarez left Uruguay to join Groningen in the Netherlands and a year later, he was at Ajax. During his stint in the Netherlands, he scored 114 goals before moving to the Premier League to join Liverpool.
The Uruguayan scored 82 goals for the Reds including 31 in his final season to share the European Golden Boot with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Suarez left Liverpool to join Barcelona in 2014 and he has been with them since. He won the treble in his first season with the Catalan club and also became the only player to beat both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to win the European Golden Boot in the last nine seasons when he scored 40 goals in 35 LaLiga games in 2015/16.
The 31-year-old is the highest goal scorer for his country with 53 goals and he has also scored five goals combined for the Uruguay U20 and U23 teams.
#3 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (505 goals)
With 505 goals in 876 career games, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is third in this list and one of only 28 players ever to score over 500 career goals in top-level football.
The Swede has scored 436 goals at the club level and his tally is split between nine clubs in eight different leagues.
Zlatan started his career with Malmo in Sweden and he scored 18 goals for the club in the Swedish first division and second division combined before joining Ajax in 2001. He scored 48 goals for the Dutch giants before moving to his first Serie A club, Juventus.
He scored 26 goals for the Old Lady in two seasons before moving to rivals Inter Milan and he scored 66 times for Nerazzurri.
In 2009, he left Serie A to join Barcelona but after one season in Spain during which he scored 22 times, he returned to Italy to play for AC Milan.
After his stint with Milan, Zlatan has played for PSG, Manchester United and his current club LA Galaxy.
Although the UEFA Champions League has eluded him, he has won an impressive 31 trophies including league titles in Spain, Italy, France and Netherlands.
Zlatan is also the top scorer for Sweden with 62 goals to his name and no active player features in the Top 10 and the tenth placed player has only 27 goals to his name.
#2 Lionel Messi (646 goals)
With an impressive 646 goals in 822 games, only six players in the history of the game have more career goals than the Argentine.
Messi has played for Barcelona at the club level throughout his career and he has notched 554 goals for the senior team and 11 for the Barcelona B and C teams combined.
Also read: Top 5 contenders for LaLiga golden boot in 2018/19
In addition to his goals at the club level, the 31-year-old has 65 goals for Argentina senior team, 14 goals for the Argentina U20 team and two more for their U-23 team.
His tally of 65 goals at the senior level is the highest for the country by a margin of 11 goals and currently 26 goals more than any active player.
Messi has won 33 trophies with Barcelona during his career in addition to the numerous individual honours including the five Balon d’Or awards.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo (676 goals)
Cristiano Ronaldo tops this list with 676 goals in 952 games!
Ronaldo has scored 573 goals at the club level. He scored five goals for his first club Sporting CP, 118 goals for Manchester United and a jaw-dropping 450 goals in 438 games for Real Madrid.
Ronaldo has scored the bulk of his goals for the Los Blancos and he is the club’s all-time leading goalscorer by a margin of 127 goals and the next highest active player, Karim Benzema, has 193 goals.
Also read: 5 ridiculous stats that prove Cristiano Ronaldo is irreplaceable at Real Madrid
The 33-year-old is currently second in the list of players with most goals at the international level. His tally of 85 goals is second only to Iran’s Ali Daei and given Ronaldo’s fitness and goal-scoring prowess, the Portuguese might take the mantle before he hangs up his boots.
He joined Juventus in the summer and has a chance of adding to the numerous records already tied to his name.
