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While club football might be where most of the attention and financial rewards lie, in the eyes of many footballers, representing their country signifies the highest achievements of their careers.
There is a certain level of pride that comes with donning a jersey to represent millions of your compatriots and for 90 minutes or more, the players act as global ambassadors for their countries, projecting it positively or otherwise to a global audience.
It is for this reason that a lot of players step up their performance levels while on national duties and go out of their way to achieve glory on the international scene.
The occasional nature of international fixtures mean that matches are not as frequent as those at club level, hence, there are fewer national team matches over the course of a player's career and each cap won is held in high esteem.
Some truly great footballers of the past like Pele, Ali Daei, Ferenc Puskas among others laid a mark on the international scene and are among the standard-bearers for international forwards to look up to.
With another international break upon us, we shall be having a rundown of the top five highest-scoring active footballers on the international scene.
Honourable mentions: Edin Dzeko (58 goals), Luis Suarez (58 goals)
Note: Goals and caps correct at the time of writing
#5 Robert Lewandowski: Poland (60 goals)
Robert Lewandowski has been one of the most consistent strikers in the last decade and he has a genuine claim to being considered the best centre-forward's of his generation.
The 32-year-old arrived in mainstream Europe when he signed for Borussia Dortmund in 2010 after finishing as the Polish League top scorer and he has grown from strength to strength since then.
He is a perennial winner of the Bundesliga Golden Boot, having won the accolade on four occasions and he has gone some way to making it five in total and three consecutively - scoring in every game so far this season.
Lewandowski has scored at least 40 goals in all competitions in each of the last four seasons and he has a trophy cabinet to match his immense talent in front of goal.
On the international scene, the former Lech Poznan man is unsurprisingly his country's all-time top scorer with 60 goals from 110 matches and he has captained his side through what has been a renaissance period.
Also check out: Champions league top scorers Champions League table Champions League Schedule
#4 Neymar: Brazil (61 goals)
Neymar is the latest in a long line of Brazilian global superstars and while he might have his attitudinal and off-field issues, it cannot be denied that the Mogi Das Cruzes native is an exceptionally talented player.
He broke through at the Santos academy and was instantly compared to Pele, with the comparisons reaching new heights when he inspired the club to their first Copa Libertadores since Pele himself represented the club.
It was only a matter of time before he got the call to Europe and that call came from none other than the great Barcelona.
His exploits at Camp Nou are well documented and prompted a world-record move to PSG although the Parisians are yet to fully reap dividends chiefly due to injury niggles.
Most Brazilians give their all in a bid to maintain the long-standing tradition of the Samba Boys and Neymar is no different, preferring to put in a performance on the international stage than the club scene, although two World Cup failures have tainted his legacy.
With Brazil, he has scored 61 goals from 101 matches and this tally is made more impressive when you consider that Neymar is just 27 years.
He currently sits third on the list of all-time goalscorers, one behind the great Ronaldo and 16 behind the mythical Pele and at this rate, it would be foolhardy betting against Neymar retiring as Brazil's all-time highest goalscorer.
#3 Lionel Messi: Argentina (68 goals)
Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest player in history and unarguably the joint-best of his generation.
Over the last 15 years, the Rosario native has cemented his legacy and has won everything winnable both on a personal and collective level on the club scene, but rather disappointingly, international success has eluded him.
It is not for want of trying though, and Messi is currently Los Albiceleste's highest goalscorer with 68 goals from 136 matches and has been the captain of his national team for the last six years.
Despite playing with numerous world-beaters like Sergio Aguero, Javier Mascherano, and Angel di Maria, Messi is yet to win a major trophy with Argentina and suffered the ignominy of losing three consecutive finals between 2014 and 2016.
The Copa America will be jointly hosted by Argentina and Uruguay next year would offer an opportunity to rectify this anomaly, but regardless, Messi's status as an all-time great is guaranteed.
#2 Sunil Chhetri: India (72 goals)
In a country more famed for its exploits in Cricket, Sunil Chhetri has made a name for himself in football and is unarguably the biggest footballing export from India.
He began his professional career with Mohun Bagan in 2002 and moved onto JCT in the Indian National Football League in 2005.
Further spells have been undertaken in foreign clubs like Kansas City Wizards and the B-team of Sporting Lisbon, while reports linked him with a transfer to QPR in 2009 which was hampered by a work-permit.
Chhetri is an Indian icon and he has helped spark the recent upsurge in interest in the Indian Super League, with his performances for Bengaluru FC, while he regularly uses his popularity to attract fans to follow Indian national team games.
He is popularly referred to as 'captain fantastic' and currently captains both the Bengaluru FC side and Indian national team.
With 72 goals from 113 matches, the 35-year-old is the second-highest scoring active player on the international scene and has won numerous individual accolades including helping India to qualify for the 2011 Asian Cup, marking the country's first qualification in 24 years.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo: Portugal (95 goals)
Cristiano Ronaldo made his professional debut in 2002 for Sporting Lisbon and in the intervening 17 years, he has become a global phenomenon both on and off the field.
His exploits over the course of his career have been nothing short of extraordinary and with five Ballon d'Or wins, he is the joint-highest winner of the award, while his trophy collection is the envy of many clubs.
On the international scene, the 34-year-old won his first cap in August 2003 and had his breakthrough at EURO 2004 a year later on home soil when he helped fire his nation to a runners-up finish.
Ronaldo captained his side to their finest hour in 2016 by lifting the European Championship and three years later, repeated the feat by inspiring his country to the maiden edition of the UEFA Nations League.
With 95 goals from 162 appearances, the Madeira native is the second-highest scoring player in the history of men's international football, sitting 14 goals behind Ali Daei of Iran and judging by his high performance levels, it is highly likely that he would end his professional career as the greatest goalscorer on the international stage.
