Stats: Top 10 active goal scorers in international football
Football fans the world over are set for a busy summer with a number of international tournaments and qualifiers to be played. The Copa America Centenario is already underway in the United States while Euro 2016 is set to kick off in France next weekend. The 2016 Olympics is also on the calendar making it a scheduling nightmare for die-hard fans of the game.
With so many international fixtures set to be played over the coming months, we take a look at the top goalscorers among the active players. There is no surprise that most of the top goalscorers are already in their 30s – except for a certain Argentine forward.
Robbie Keane is currently the highest goal scorer among active players with 67 goals. The Republic of Ireland captain, who now plays for LA Galaxy in the MLS, is still not 100% fit for Euro 2016 and is not certain start the first game in the group stages. The 35-year-old striker made his debut for the Green Army in 1998 and has since scored in every calendar year except 2016. He has a chance to keep that trend going at Euro.
Second on the list is Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. A club football legend who is a serial winner of league titles has not found the same success with the Scandinavian outfit but has put in some notable one-man-army-like performances in the yellow and blue kit. He is currently a free agent and has strongly been linked with Manchester United.
Guatemala’s 36-year-old striker Carlos Ruiz is third on the list with 60 goals. He too made his international debut in 1998 for the Central American side but has failed to get his country into the World Cup. In fact, he holds the record for scoring the most goals in World Cup qualifiers without ever actually having played in a World Cup.
Iraq’s Younis Mahmoud and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo round off the top five with 57 and 56 goals respectively. However, Ronaldo could easily get into the top three during Euro 2016. The Real Madrid forward finished with 51 goals in all competitions this season – the sixth season in a row where he scored 50 or more goals.
Wayne Rooney broke Sir Bobby Charlton’s England record during the qualifiers with his 50th goal and now has the chance to break into the top five. Kuwait’s Bader Al-Mutawa is a goal behind him but has played considerably more matches than anyone else in the top 10.
India’s Sunil Chhetri recently scored his 50th goal for the Blue Tigers and is eighth on the list. But what is truly remarkable is that he is the only player in the top 10 to play less than 100 games to score 50 goals. In fact, the Indian captain’s goalscoring rate is the best on the list!
The top 10 is rounded off by Netherlands striker Robin van Persie and Argentina’s Lionel Messi – also on 50 goals. While the Dutch striker will not be in action after the Oranje spectacularly failed to qualify for Euro, Messi has a chance to catch up with the rest at the 2016 Copa America.
| # | Player | Country | Goals | Games | Goals per Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robbie Keane | Republic of Ireland | 67 | 143 | 0.47 |
| 2 | Zlatan Ibrahimovic | Sweden | 62 | 111 | 0.55 |
| 3 | Carlos Ruiz | Guatemala | 60 | 127 | 0.47 |
| 4 | Younis Mahmoud | Iraq | 57 | 148 | 0.39 |
| 5 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 56 | 125 | 0.45 |
| 6 | Wayne Rooney | England | 52 | 110 | 0.47 |
| 7 | Bader Al-Mutawa | Kuwait | 51 | 158 | 0.32 |
| 8 | Sunil Chhetri | India | 50 | 89 | 0.56 |
| 9 | Robin van Persie | Netherlands | 50 | 101 | 0.50 |
| 10 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 50 | 108 | 0.46 |
Stats updated as of 5 June 2016