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Since the turn of the century, there has been a bevy of prolific goalscorers who have graced the game.
The 2000s saw the likes of Thierry Henry, Michael Owen and Ruud van Nistelrooy run riot. Towards the end of the decade, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi emerged on the scene.
While the duo are still going strong despite being on the wrong side of 30, there have been a few other prolific goalscorers to have emerged in the last decade. Luis Suarez, Robert Lewandowski, Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku have consistently scored goals aplenty. More recently, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Braut Haaland have also proved themselves to be fantastic goalscorers.
Considering the attacking talent on offer over the last two decades, there have been many memorable calendar-year performances in this period. On that note, let's take a look at the ten most prolific single-year goalscoring performances by a player since the turn of the century. The tally includes goals scored for both club and country during the year.
Without further ado, let's get started:
#10 Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich/Poland) - 54 goals (2019)
Robert Lewandowski has been on a tear, especially for Bayern Munich, in the last few seasons, scoring at least 40 goals in all competitions. Last season, the Pole scored 41 goals to break Gerd Muller's record for most goals in a Bundesliga season en route to 48 strikes for the season.
In terms of calendar-year performances, Lewandowski's most prolific goalscoring year was 2019, as he scored 54 goals from 58 games. After a strong end to his 2018-19 campaign, the Pole began the 2019-20 season like a house on fire. He became the first player to score in the first 11 Bundesliga games of a season.
In the Champions League, Lewandowski scored ten goals in five group-stage games, including the quickest-ever quadruple in the competition's history. He also scored six goals for Poland, including a hat-trick against Latvia, in their successful Euro 2020 qualification campaign.
The 2021-22 season is yet to start, but Lewandowski has already scored 47 goals for the year, the most by any player. He looks set for the most prolific year of his illustrious career yet.
#9 Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur/England) - 56 goals (2017)
Harry Kane had a memorable scoring year in 2017. He started the year by scoring 21 goals in the second half of the 2016-17 Premier League. Kane registered four hat-tricks, two of them coming in the last two games of the season.
After ending the campaign with 29 league goals, Kane would go one better the next campaign. He closed the first half of the 2017-18 season with 18 goals. His hat-trick against Southampton - sixth in the league in 2017 - meant Kane broke Alan Shearer's record for most Premier League goals in a year.
In the process, Kane, who also scored six goals for England during the year, overtook a certain Lionel Messi to emerge as the top scorer of the year.
Kane said after breaking Shearer's record:
"It's been a fantastic year. It is always about improving every year. That's what I always have done throughout my career and it is what I will continue to do."
The Englishman ended the season with a career-best tally of 30 goals. But despite Kane's exploits, Tottenham Hotspur finished a whopping 23 points off champions Manchester City.
#8 Cristiano Ronaldo - 57 goals (2015)
Cristiano Ronaldo had a memorable year in 2015, amassing 57 goals in as many games for club and country. All but three of these strikes came for his then club Real Madrid.
Ronaldo scored 20 goals in the second half of the 2014-15 La Liga season. He netted four hat-tricks, including three in his last four games of the campaign and a five-goal outing against Granada. He also scored five goals in the Champions League knockout stage, but Real Madrid's title defense ended against Juventus in the semi-finals.
The Portuguese started the 2015-16 season on fire, hitting two hat-tricks, including a four-goal outing. It set up a fantastic goalscoring campaign as Ronaldo scored 11 group-stage goals in the Champions League.
In La Liga, Ronaldo made an uncharacteristically slow start, failing to score in six games either side of a five-goal outing against Espanyol. But he soon picked up the pace to move to 14 league goals at the halfway mark. The Portuguese also scored a hat-trick for Portugal.
Unfortunately, despite the Portuguese tallying 50 goals in a calendar for the fourth-straight year, Real Madrid failed to win La Liga or the Champions League.
#7 Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina) - 59 goals (2016)
Lionel Messi enjoyed another goal-rich year in 2016. The Argentine started the year by amassing 20 league goals as Barcelona successfully defended their La Liga title. But despite Messi scoring five times in the Champions League knockout stage, Barcelona's title defense ended against Atletico Madrid in the quarterfinals.
After missing the first three league games of the new season due to injury, Messi had managed 12 La Liga goals in the first half of the season. But it was in the Champions League, where he truly dazzled. He hit hat-tricks against Borussia Monchengladbach and Manchester City en route to ten goals in six group-stage games. Those were also his sixth and seventh hat-tricks in the competition.
During the year, Messi also scored a Copa del Rey hat-trick and one against Panama in the Copa America Centenario in the USA. But Argentina endured shootout heartbreak against Chile in their second-consecutive Copa final. This prompted a heartbroken Messi to announce his international retirement, a decision he would soon rescind.
#6 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal) - 60 goals (2011)
Cristiano Ronaldo had his first truly goal-rich year as he amassed 60 goals in as many games for club and country in 2011.
The Portuguese began the year with 23 goals in the second half of the 2010-11 La Liga season, including four hat-tricks. But he underwhelmed in the Champions League knockout stages, scoring only twice as Real Madrid endured a semi-final exit against arch-rivals Barcelona.
Ronaldo endured a slow start to his 2011-12 Champions League campaign, scoring only thrice in four games. But he enjoyed rich dividends in La Liga, netting 20 times, including a staggering five hat-tricks.
He also scored five times for Portugal to round off a stellar year. Thanks to his blistering start in La Liga, Ronaldo won his first Spanish top-flight title later that season.
#5 Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina) - 60 goals (2010)
Lionel Messi truly had a memorable year in 2010. The Argentine scored goals galore, especially in La Liga. Messi recorded 25 goals in the second half of the 2009-10 season to help his club successfully defend their league title.
The 2009 Ballon d'Or winner also sizzled in the Champions League. After a brace against Stuttgart, Messi produced a four-goal salvo against Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals. However, Barcelona were stopped by Inter Milan in the last four.
Messi endured an uncharacteristically poor campaign at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, failing to score in five games, though he assisted thrice. Nevertheless, he started the 2010-11 season on fire, netting 17 league goals to set Barcelona on their way to a La Liga three-peat.
Overall, Messi scored 60 goals in 64 games during the year en route to winning his second Ballon d'Or award.
#4 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal) - 61 goals (2014)
Cristiano Ronaldo had a memorable goalscoring year for club and country in 2014. He scored goals galore, both in La Liga and the Champions League. Real Madrid won their much-awaited La Decima in the latter competition that year, with the Portuguese scoring eight times in the knockout rounds, including a goal in the final.
That made Ronaldo the first player to score for two different winning teams in a Champions League final. He also became the first player to score 17 times in a single edition of the competition, a record that still stands.
Ronaldo started the 2014-15 season on fire, netting a staggering 25 goals to set the pace for another record-breaking campaign.
Thanks to Ronaldo's blistering exploits - 61 goals in 60 games - that year, Real Madrid won the Copa Del Rey, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup titles. The Portuguese clinched his third Ballon d'Or award, second on the trot, for his exploits in 2014.
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal) - 63 goals (2012)
Carrying on from his exploits the previous year, when he netted 60 goals, Cristiano Ronaldo was at his prolific best in 2012 as well.
The Portuguese's blistering form in the first half of the 2011-12 La Liga season spilled over into the new year as well. Ronaldo scored 26 goals to end his campaign with 46 league strikes for the season. His winner at Camp Nou also sealed Real Madrid's first La Liga title in four years.
Ronaldo scored seven goals in the knockout stages of the Champions League. But these were of little significance as Real Madrid were eliminated by Bayern Munich in a penalty shootout in the semifinals.
Ronaldo opened the new season with 14 La Liga goals and netted another six in the Champions League. He also scored five goals for Portugal that year, three of them at Euro 2012.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal) - 69 goals (2013)
After his blistering exploits in 2011 and 2012, when the Portuguese netted at least 60 goals apiece, Cristiano Ronaldo took things up a notch in 2013.
He began the year with 20 league goals, including two hat-tricks. In the Champions League, though, there was more heartbreak in store for Ronaldo and Real Madrid. Los Blancos were eliminated by Borussia Dortmund in the semis despite their Portuguese ace netting six knockout-stage goals.
However, there were better things in store for Ronaldo in the first half of the 2013-14 season. After going without a goal in the first two games, the then 28-year-old netted 18 league goals to close the year. Ronaldo enjoyed another strong start to his Champions League campaign, scoring eight group-stage goals.
Ronaldo also netted a Copa del Rey hat-trick and two more with Portugal, for whom he scored ten times. He closed a career-best year with a rich tally of 69 goals.
He would win his second Ballon d'Or title that year and his first since moving to Real Madrid.
#1 Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina) - 91 goals (2012)
In 2012, Lionel Messi produced arguably the best-ever single-year performance by any player in the history of the game. The Argentine scored a staggering 91 goals for club and country.
During the year, Messi became the first player to breach the 50-goal mark in a La Liga season, or for that matter, in any top-five league on the continent. But Real Madrid beat Barcelona to the league title. The Blaugrana were knocked out by eventual champions Chelsea in the Champions League semi-finals and had to be content with just the Copa Del Rey title that year.
Messi was imperious in the first half of the 2012-13 season too. He ended the year with more goals than Manchester United, PSG, Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund. What's even more impressive is that Messi conjured this tally of 91 goals during the year in just 69 games.
During the year, the Argentine scored 79 goals for his club and 12 for Argentina. In the process, Messi broke Gerd Muller's record of most goals (85 goals) by a player in a calendar year. Though Messi averaged a staggering 1.32 goals per game that year, it was a tad short of Muller's average of 1.42 (85 goals in 60 games).
Nevertheless, thanks to his blistering exploits that year, Messi became the first player to win four consecutive Ballon d'Or awards.
