Top 5 strikers in the world right now

The game of football is won by scoring more goals than the opposition. Thus, having strikers capable of bulging the net on a regular basis go a long way in establishing supremacy over the opposition.

At the World Cup this summer, a number of centre-forwards hogged the limelight with Harry Kane finally emerging with the ‘Golden Boot’. While the strikers are primarily tasked with putting the ball into the back of the net, they also need to link-up the play and bring their teammates into the game.

A striker can boast of different attributes. While some function solely as a ‘target man’, there are some strikers who pride themselves on being the ideal ‘false nine’. However, the best in the business are those who are able to adapt to any system and keep scoring consistently.

Through this article, we would look at the best strikers, plying their trade across the globe. The list includes players who are essentially centre-forwards. Thus, the likes of Messi, Ronaldo and Salah haven’t been considered.

The players that have made the cut are those who have come up with the goods, whenever needed, for their teams.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the premier frontmen in the game.

---

#5 Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint-Germain)

Edinson Cavani moved to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2013 after a fruitful spell in Naples. In his three seasons at Napoli, he scored 78 goals in the Serie A.

Despite his goal-scoring pedigree, he had to play second-fiddle to Zlatan Ibrahimovic at PSG. It was only after Zlatan’s departure in 2016 that he started to show PSG what he was capable of.

In the two seasons since then, he has scored 63 goals in Ligue 1 in addition to 15 goals in the Champions League. He had a good World Cup in Russia as well and scored 3 goals in 4 games, which included a sumptuous brace against Portugal in the Round of 16.

Cavani is a very good player with his back to the goal and creates space for his teammates to exploit. He is equally adept at finishing with his head or his feet. Though he misses the odd chance, he makes up for it by scoring bags of goals.

Cavani has been a consistent performer for his club and for Uruguay. He is a well-rounded striker and would have been higher on this list if not for his tendency to miss a few chances. Thus, he ranks as the 5th best striker in the world.

#4 Harry Kane (Tottenham)

Harry Kane, the English striker, has been in red-hot form since he was promoted to Tottenham’s starting eleven. He boasts of an enviable record in the Premier League, having scored 108 times in 153 appearances.

In the 2017-18 season, Kane was unlucky to miss out on the PL Golden Boot, courtesy a certain Mohammed Salah. However, his 30 goal haul meant that he had scored 20-plus goals for the fourth season running. Kane’s goals are a major factor in Spurs’ development over the years.

Kane has the uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time. It was on display at the World Cup, where he ended up making the net bulge 6 times on his way to the Golden Boot.

Kane is the epitome of a ‘fox in the box’ and is deadly inside the penalty area. Though his penalty area prowess is his strength, he isn’t too bad outside the area as well, having scored his fair share of screamers.

When he started off, he wasn’t that good a link-up player. However, with time, he is evolving into one of the most complete strikers on the planet. With age on his side, he can become the undisputed best striker in the years to come.

The only downside to his game is his tendency to fluff big chances in big games. The miss against Croatia and against Chelsea in 2016 quickly spring to mind. Even in the 207-18 season, he missed 18 big chances.

Therefore, Kane finds himself on this list at No.4.

#3 Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)

The Argentine was signed by Manchester City from Atletico Madrid to usher in a new era for the Cityzens. Over the course of his stay, he has powered Manchester City to three Premier League titles while propelling himself to the top of City’s goal-scoring charts.

Aguero played a pivotal role in City’s romp to the title in 2017-18. He scored 21 times while providing 6 assists. He did not enjoy a good World Cup and scored a solitary goal against Iceland.

Aguero possesses a low centre of gravity and dribbles past opponents for fun. Equally strong with both feet, he is a nightmare for defenders around the penalty area.

However, his most impressive aspect is his link-up play and movement. At City, he plays as the focal point of a mobile front three and wreaks havoc with Sterling and Sane.

Though his work rate has been questioned before, he has started putting in the hard yards under Pep and can be seen ‘pressing’ these days.

His biggest weakness is his injury-prone nature. Despite being at City for seven seasons, he has only made 207 appearances. It would be scary to think what Aguero could have achieved if he had managed to stay free from injury.

Aguero gets into our list for his ability to come up with the goods in crunch situations, like the famous goal against QPR. Being one of the most complete centre-forwards going around, Aguero slots in at No.3.

#2 Luis Suarez (FC Barcelona)

Luis Suarez has had his fair share of controversies but with the football at his feet, he is an absolute genius. After becoming a favourite at Anfield, Suarez moved to Spain in 2014, forming the famous ‘MSN’.

Over the past two seasons in the La Liga, he has rippled the net on 54 occasions while grabbing 25 assists. Though he was not at his best in Russia, he still managed to score a couple of goals and provided a delightful cross for Cavani to head home against Portugal.

Suarez is a master at dropping his shoulder and running past the defender. In addition to his acceleration, which is top-notch, he also possesses the required predatory instinct for a striker.

The biggest and most distinguishing aspect of Suarez however, is his ability to create goals as well as score them. Of all the forwards in the list, his creativity is second to none. It is his ability to create goals that gets him ahead of the likes of Aguero, Kane and Cavani.

However, at 31 years of age, he is feeling the after-effects of a long career in European football. Though he is still one of the best technically, he’s starting to lose a bit of his pace.

Suarez would have easily been at the head of the list, had it been compiled a season or two ago. At this juncture, though, he only gets the runner-up spot.

#1 Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

The Polish striker has been terrorising defences in the Bundesliga since 2010. He started off with Borussia Dortmund before his move to Bayern Munich.

At Bayern, he has been simply unstoppable and has 106 goals in 126 appearances. Over the course of the last season, he bagged 29 goals to go with his tally of 30 in 2015-16 and 2016-17. Though he did not enjoy a good World Cup with Poland, he has been producing the goods for Bayern with remarkable efficiency.

A few people had written Lewandowski off after his poor show in Russia. However, he gave them a timely reminder of the damage he is capable of, with a stunning hat-trick in the German Supercup against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Lewandowski’s greatest strength is his ability to find space in and around the penalty box. To supplement this, he is very quick at sorting out his feet and getting shots away. The most distinguishing feature of his game though is his clinical nature in front of goal. He rarely fluffs his lines and scores most chances that come his way.

Apart from this, he is good aerially and gets a variety of goals. He has the rare gift of scoring close-range goals while also coming up with screamers from outside the box.

At 29 years of age, he still has plenty to offer for his teams. At this juncture, he is at the peak of his powers and defenders endure a torrid time trying to tie him up.

For all these reasons, Lewandowski takes the numero uno spot and is the premier marksman in the world.