Lionel Messi reached a historic milestone on March 18, scoring the 900th goal of his career in the opening minutes of Inter Miami’s CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16 clash against Nashville SC. The achievement places Messi among an elite group of goal scorers in men’s football, reinforcing his status as one of soccer’s most prolific scorers
Only Cristiano Ronaldo has surpassed the 900-goal mark in official counts. The Portuguese forward reached the milestone in September 2024 at the age of 39, taking roughly 100 more matches than Messi, who is set to turn 39 in June.
Indeed, goal scoring rankings are not as straightforward as one might think. The ranking of the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is the most popular one, and the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are known to be at the top.
There is, however, another ranking, which uses a different methodology. We're talking about the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) ranking. According to this ranking, Cristiano Ronaldo is actually in second place!
In this gallery, you'll get to know the top goal scorers in soccer history, according to the RSSSF.
Click on to discover them.
Note: + indicates a player may have scored more.