Players who scored most international goals in football history

There is no better feeling in sports than putting a goal in the back of the net for your country. Except for putting an enormous tonne of money in the bank for your country, which these gentlemen understand better than anyone. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi both score at an astounding pace for Portugal and Argentina, respectively, but there have been players in the past who have scored at an even higher pace. The players on this list have scored the most international goals in soccer history, and they range from the 1940s to the present day.

Imre Schlosser of Hungary was the first player to score 50 international goals. In 1917, he accomplished the record by scoring a brace (two goals) in a 6–2 victory over Austria. He scored 57 international goals in 68 games before retiring in 1927. For 26 years, he held the record for most international goals scored until Ferenc Puskas, a fellow Hungarian, broke it. In his international career, Puskas scored 84 goals. He held the record for the most international goals scored for 47 years after scoring his 84th goal against Austria in 1956 until Ali Daei of Iran broke it in 2003 with his 85th goal against Lebanon. With 109 goals, Daei became the first player in international football history to achieve over 100 goals. 

Apart from Daei, Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal is the only other player to score 100 international goals and the first European to do it. Last year, he accomplished the milestone by scoring a brace against Sweden in the UEFA Nations League 2020–21. Pele of Brazil was the first player from outside Europe and South America to achieve 50 goals in a single season. On November 21, 1965, he achieved this in a friendly match against the Soviet Union. In 92 international games, he scored 77 goals. 

Former Malaysian international Mokhtar Dahari(89 goals) is third in the list of top international scorers behind Ali Daei (109) and Cristiano Ronaldo (103). He spent the rest of his career with F.A. Selangor. Due to his playing abilities and strength, he earned the nickname Supermokh. He is followed by Puskas (84), who is then followed by former Zambian Godfrey Chitalu. Chitalu amassed over 79 goals for Zambia throughout his career. Chitalu turned to coach after retirement and was in command of the Zambian national team when the entire squad was killed in a plane accident off the coast of Gabon on April 27, 1993.

Chitalu is followed by former Iraqi international Hussein Saeed. With 78 goals, Saeed is in fifth place on the list of top international goal scorers. He won two AFC U-19 Championships, two Arabian Gulf Cups, one of which he was the top goalscorer and best player, a World Military Cup, and an Asian Games gold medal. Pele is next on the list with 77 goals. Pele is followed by Sandor Kocsis of Hungary. 

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Kocsis was a member of the Mighty Magyars in the 1950s, alongside Ferenc Puskas, Zoltan Czibor, Jozsef Bozsik, and Nandor Hidegkuti. With 11 goals at the 1954 World Cup, Kocsis became the first player to score two hat tricks in a single tournament. Only Ernst Wilimowski, who scored four goals in his only World Cup match, has a higher goal-per-game average than Kocsis in a single World Cup. Only Just Fontaine has scored more goals in a single World Cup. 

Kunishige Kamamoto (Japan) and Bashar Abdullah (Kuwait) also have 75 goals at the international stage, just like Kocsis. Kamamoto is the all-time highest goalscorer for Japan, having won a bronze medal with the national team at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. He was the tournament's top scorer with seven goals. Bashar has 134 caps for his country on the international stage. Between 1996 and 1998, he was a key figure in Kuwaiti football's resurgence. He won two Gulf Cups, advanced to the AFC Asian Cup semi-finals, and finished second in the Arab Cup and Asian Olympics.

Following is the top 10 list:

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