Top goalscorers in each of the last 5 decades
Football is a simple game. The team who scores the most number of goals over the course of 90 minutes wins the game. Therefore, it is only natural that it is the goalscorers who end up stealing the limelight on a regular basis.
Nothing gives you more joy in football than watching your team put the ball in the back of the opposition's net. While it's the strikers who are primarily tasked with scoring goals, they can come from any player. At the highest level of the game, scoring a lot of goals over the course of a season itself is a commendable job.
But keeping that form up for a decade and being the top goalscorer in the world during that time is a monumental feat. Without further ado, let's take a look at the top goalscorers in each of the last five decades.
#5 1970s - Gerd Muller (452 goals)
One of the most clinical finishers in the history of the game, Gerd Muller absolutely dominated the 1970s with his goalscoring exploits. He was an extremely prolific goalscorer. Muller has scored a total of 68 goals in 62 appearances for West Germany in his international career.
He held the record for most goals scored at FIFA World Cups (14) for 32 years until Ronaldo Nazario broke it in 2006. Muller also held the record for scoring the most number of goals in a single Bundesliga season (40) until Robert Lewandowski broke it in 2021-22 by netting 41.
The legendary Bayern Munich striker was nicknamed "Bomber der Nation" (The nation's bomber) and scored a whopping 452 senior goals in the 1970s. Muller famously scored the winning goal for West Germany in the 1974 FIFA World Cup.
Gerd Muller, a volume goal scorer who’s numbers look out of a video game. Here’s him scoring his final international goal in the 1974 World Cup Final to win West Germany the World Cup against Cruyff’s Netherlands.
https://t.co/iDPV4iEytt
#4 1980s - Hugo Sanchez (315 goals)
Mexican international Hugo Sanchez was phenomenal in the 80s. He was renowned for his incredible striking ability and has scored some wonderful goals in his career. Sanchez was a pacy striker who was extremely agile and has scored some spectacular acrobatic goals and sumptuous volleys in his career.
He trained to be a gymnast in his younger days and it lent to his acrobatic abilities on the pitch. Sanchez mastered the 'chilena' or the 'bicycle kick' and also practiced the 'scorpion kick' extensively to the point he is credited as its creator. However, he has never scored an official goal with a scorpion kick in his career.
Sanchez also popularized the 'backflip' and 'somersault' goal celebrations. He is widely regarded as the greatest Mexican footballer of all time and is one of the greatest goalscorers of the 80s. Sanchez scored a total of 315 goals in the 80s.
He played for Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid during that time. Sanchez was a standout performer for the Real Madrid side that won five back-to-back league titles between 1986 and 1990.
#goles80 10 de abril de 1988 Hugo Sanchez https://t.co/znBDhdcsQj