'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
A plethora of world-class attackers have graced the game of football, especially since the turn of the century.
Most of them have scored big for club and country, winning titles and individual accolades galore. Some of these players are still going strong, despite being on the wrong side of 30. That is a testament to their sustained excellence, longevity and desire to excel at the top.
On that note, here's a look at the ten most lethal goalscorers for top-five league clubs (all competitions) and their countries since the turn of the century. They have been categorized in terms of goals per game.
Trending
[Note: Minimum 80 goals for a top-five league club and country. All stats are as per transfermarkt unless mentioned otherwise.]
Without further ado, let's get started.
#10 Ruud van Nistelrooy - 0.60 (270 goals)
Ruud van Nistelrooy is one of the most prolific strikers to have graced the game since the turn of the century.
The Dutchman made a blazing start to life at Manchester United when he arrived at the club in the early 2000s. He scored 36 times across competitions, but Van Nistelrooy was only just getting started.
In his next season at Old Trafford, the 45-year-old bettered his previous season's tally by eight goals. Almost two decades later, that remains a record tally by a Premier League player across competitions in a season.
Despite his returns dwindling in his next three seasons, Van Nistelrooy ended his United stint with a rich tally of 150 goals in over 200 games across competitions.
The 2003 Premier League winner enjoyed a less prolific stint at Real Madrid, netting only 64 times across competitions in four seasons. He subsequently scored 17 times for Hamburger in two seasons, before ending his career at Malaga, netting five times in his lone campaign there.
Van Nistelrooy was a prolific scorer for the Netherlands, too. He scored 35 times in 70 games, with all but one of these goals coming this century.
#9 Zlatan Ibrahimovic - 0.6 (447 goals)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of the most successful strikers who is still active in the game.
The evergreen Swede, who recently turned 40, brought up his 500th goal in club football earlier this year. He has won league titles in four different countries, and almost did so in a fifth (England).
Still going strong despite turning 40, the AC Milan attacker had his most prolific spell at Paris Saint-Germain, for whom he scored over 150 times.
The all-time Sweden top scorer has also scored 62 times for his country, after making his debut two decades ago against the Faroe Islands.
#8 Neymar - 0.62 (262 goals)
Neymar is one of the most skilful players in the game at the moment. He earned rave reviews for his prolific exploits with Santos, which grabbed the attention of top European clubs.
Eventually, Barcelona won the race for his signature, snapping up the Brazilian attacker in the summer of 2013. Neymar enjoyed a prolific four-season stint with the Blaugrana, scoring over 100 goals and providing almost 80 assists.
He won two La Liga titles and a continental treble with them before landing at PSG on a world-record transfer in 2017. Despite having an injury-plagued campaign in Paris last year, Neymar became the only player to score 20 Champions League goals for two different clubs.
The three-time Ligue 1 winner has netted 70 times for Brazil, closing in on their all-time top scorer Pele (77).
#7 Kylian Mbappe - 0.62 (184 goals)
Kylian Mbappe is one of the best young attackers in the game at the moment. Still only 22, the Frenchman has had exploits many seasoned campaigners would be proud of.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup winner has already won four Ligue 1 titles, scoring over 100 goals, with most of them coming for PSG. Mbappe has also been a prolific scorer in the Champions League, netting 28 times in nearly 50 games.
In addition to his goals, Mbappe also creates goalscoring opportunities galore for teammates. In Ligue 1 and the Champions League, the PSG attacker has recorded an impressive tally of 67 assists.
Mbappe hasn't been as prolific for France, netting 19 times in 51 games. But four of those strikes, one of them in the final, came during Les Bleus' triumphant 2018 World Cup campaign.
#6 Luis Suarez - 0.62 (368 goals)
Luis Suarez is one of the most prolific active goalscorers this century. The 34-year-old centre-forward has scored goals and won big titles galore with many top clubs.
Following his prolific exploits with Ajax in the late 2000s, Liverpool snapped up the Uruguayan in January 2011. After a slow start to life in English football, Suarez soon exploded, leaving a trail of highlight reel-worthy goals in his wake.
He scored 82 goals for the Reds, with his 31 goals in 2013-14 almost ending their two-decade wait for their maiden Premier League title. Suarez then scaled greater heights during a highly successful six-season stint at Barcelona, where he scored almost 200 goals across competitions.
Suarez won three La Liga titles and a continental treble with the Catalans before he switched to Atletico Madrid last summer. He hit the ground running in Madrid, scoring 21 times to help the Rojiblancos win their second league title in seven years.
Suarez has scored against all 31 La Liga teams he has faced, including his previous club Barcelona. He achieved this feat earlier this season.
The all-time Uruguay top scorer has scored 63 times for his country in 125 games. Suarez endured a goalless campaign at the Copa America 2021, though, where Uruguay lost to Colombia in the quarter-finals on penalties.
#5 Harry Kane - 0.64 (269 goals)
Harry Kane has scored goals galore for club and country. With 167 goals in the Premier League, he is closing in on Sergio Aguero's record for most goals (184) for a single club in the competition.
The three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner enjoyed a blistering league campaign last season, topping both the goalscoring and assists charts. After a prolific campaign with England at Euro 2020, where he scored four goals, Kane is yet to hit his mojo this season.
He has scored seven goals across competitions this season, but only one of them has come in the Premier League. In fact, he went an entire league game without a touch or a shot in the opposition penalty box for the first time in his English top-flight career earlier this season.
Kane has scored 41 goals in 65 games for England, with all but five of these strikes coming in competitive fixtures. Six of these goals came in the Three Lions' run to the FIFA World Cup 2018 semi-finals, for which Kane won the Golden Boot.
#4 Robert Lewandowski - 0.74 (486 goals)
Robert Lewandowski is the hottest striker in the game at the moment, outscoring the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi (more on them later).
The 33-year-old has aged like fine wine, showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. He broke the late Gerd Muller's record of most goals (40) in a Bundesliga campaign last year. This campaign, the prolific Pole has already netted 19 times across competitions, with 12 of these strikes coming in the Bundesliga.
The 2019-20 continental treble winner has scored more goals (45) than any player in Europe's top five leagues this year. Considering his blistering exploits in 2021, Lewandowski is among the frontrunners to win this year's Ballon d'Or award.
Poland's all-time top scorer has netted 72 times for his country in over 100 games. He scored three times in as many games at Euro 2020 this summer but could no stop Poland from exiting the tournament in the group stage.
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo - 0.75 (790 goals)
Cristiano Ronaldo is arguably one of the greatest players to have graced the game. During a prolific, nearly two-decade-long career for club and country, he has scored goals and won big titles galore.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner is the all-time top scorer for Real Madrid (450 goals), Portugal (115 goals). Ronaldo is also the all-time scorer in the history of the UEFA Champions League (137 goals) and European Championship (14 goals).
Earlier this year, the 36-year-old notched up his tenth hat-trick for Portugal and 58th overall for club and country.
Ronaldo is back at Manchester United this season after winning his first Capocannonieri award (29 goals) last season at Juventus. During his three-season spell with the Bianconeri, the two-time Serie A winner became the first player to score 100 goals in their first three seasons at the club.
After returning to his old stomping ground at Old Trafford for the first time in 12 years, the Portugal captain has netted seven goals across competitions.
#2 Lionel Messi - 0.8 (755 goals)
Lionel Messi, along with Ronaldo, is widely regarded as one of the best players in the game's history.
Like his Portuguese counterpart, Messi has scored goals galore in the biggest of competitions. The all-time Barcelona top scorer (672 goals) is one of only two players in history to score over 100 goals in the Champions League.
The six-time Ballon d'Or winner moved to PSG this summer after Barcelona failed to renew his contract. Messi has endured a slow start to life in the French capital, failing to open his Ligue 1 account after five games. However, he has scored three times in as many games for his new club in the Champions League.
With 80 goals, Messi is Argentina's all-time top scorer. After suffering heartbreak in three finals with the Albiceleste, he ended his international duck at the Copa America 2021. Messi also scored four goals and provided five assists during the tournament.
Earlier this year, he won a record-extending Pichichi award (scored 30 league goals) even as Barcelona failed to win the La Liga title. Considering his exploits for club and country, Messi is an overwhelming favorite to win a record-extending seventh Ballon d'Or award later this year.
#1 Erling Haaland - 0.98 (82 goals)
Erling Haaland has had a blistering start to his career. Still only 21, the Norwegian striker introduced himself with a hat-trick for Salzburg on his Champions League debut in 2019-20.
Soon, he was snapped up by Borussia Dortmund, for whom he has netted a staggering 70 times in 69 games across competitions. He had a 41-goal campaign for BvB last season, winning the German Cup with the Bundesliga giants.
The quickest player to score 20 goals in the Champions League, Haaland has scored 12 times in 15 games for Norway.
Haaland has been touted as a future Ballon d'Or winner, but he is unlikely to win the accolade this year.
