Ranking the 10 attackers with the most calendar year goals in the 21st century

#7 Lionel Messi - 60 goals (2010) | Barcelona & Argentina

Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award in 2010

Lionel Messi first breached the 60-goal mark in a calendar year in 2010. He enjoyed a great 2009-10 season, ending as the top scorer in the 2009-10 La Liga and Champions League campaigns.

While he enjoyed great outings with Barcelona that year, winning the La Liga title and Supercopa de Espana, he could not help Argentina beyond the quarter-finals in the FIFA World Cup. He only scored two goals for the national side in the calendar year. Despite that, he was voted the winner in the Ballon d'Or ceremony in January 2011.

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#6 Cristiano Ronaldo - 60 goals (2011) | Real Madrid & Portugal

Cristiano Ronaldo won his first title with Real Madrid in 2011

Cristiano Ronaldo's maiden appearance on our list comes on account of his fairly successful second season with Real Madrid. He scored 60 goals in 2011, the best output in a calendar year of his career then, as he was unable to breach the 50-goal mark with Manchester United.

He also won the first Pichichi trophy of his career in the 2010-11 campaign and the second European Golden Shoe award, thanks to 40 goals in the 2010-11 La Liga campaign.

He also won the first title in Spain, the Copa del Rey, in 2011. He also scored seven goals for Portugal in eight outings, which was again the highest tally for the national team in a year until then.

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#5 Cristiano Ronaldo - 61 goals (2014) | Real Madrid & Portugal

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 60 goals in a calendar year more than any other player in history

Cristiano Ronaldo's goalscoring exploits in the 2014 calendar year saw him win his first Champions League title with Real Madrid. He scored 17 goals in the competition, the bulk of them in the knockout stage as Real Madrid lifted the historic La Decima that season.

He was also the top-scorer in La Liga in the 2013-14 campaign and also bagged five goals for Portugal that year. Four trophies with Real Madrid in the calendar year saw him win the Ballon d'Or in January 2015.

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#4 Cristiano Ronaldo - 63 goals (2012) | Real Madrid & Portugal

Ronaldo scored 46 goals in La Liga in the 2011-12 season

Cristiano Ronaldo was on fire in the 2011-12 season and scored a whopping 46 goals in La Liga as Real Madrid lifted the league title in the summer. He also won his first Supercopa de Espana, which was just the second silverware during that calendar year.

His goalscoring form continued in the 2012-13 campaign too, which helped him take his tally for the calendar year to 63 goals, the second-highest he has ever reached in his career.

He only scored five goals for the Portugal national team, with three of them coming in EURO 2012 as they were eliminated in the semi-finals by arch-rivals Spain on penalties.