The 10 Greatest Strikers in Football History (Ranked)

Highlights

• Football has seen some incredible goal-scorers since the sport was first created, with strikers across the world laying their claim to be the best ever.
• The likes of Thierry Henry, Pele and Marco van Basten are among the names who have dominated world football.
• Now, GIVEMESPORT ranks the 10 greatest strikers in football history.

Strikers are arguably the most valuable in a side. They win games and can instantly turn a game on its head, which is one of the many reasons they are the most sought-after players in football. This article explores the top 10 strikers in the sport’s history, all of whom have had glittering careers, winning numerous trophies.

Ranking factors

• Number of goals scored
• Number of trophies won
• Personal achievements e.g. Ballon d’Or
• Striker as their primary position

The list has been created using key criteria, including an important factor; their primary position was a striker. For this reason, the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are not included due to playing more games in a different position. Thierry Henry is involved as he converted from a winger to a striker, and played more games up front (324) than out wide (119). Now, without further ado, here is GIVEMESPORT’s list of the 10 greatest strikers of all-time.

10 Marco van Basten

Marco van Basten is rightly regarded as one of the greatest players to represent the Netherlands and one of the best strikers in football history. The forward won numerous trophies throughout his career, including consecutive UEFA Champions League titles with Milan in 1988/89 and 1989/90. As well as winning the league with Milan and Ajax, Van Basten also had success with the Netherlands, lifting the 1988 European Championship trophy.

Along with his success with his respective teams, Van Basten received individual accolades throughout his illustrious career, including three Ballon d’Or trophies, the FIFA Best Men’s Player Award and Dutch Footballer of the Year.

9 Jimmy Greaves

Jimmy Greaves is often left out of the argument when discussing the greatest strikers, mainly due to the generation he played in, and a case of recency bias. Like van Basten, Greaves also won Serie A with AC Milan, as well as two FA Cup triumphs with Tottenham Hotspur in 1962 and 1967. The striker was also a part of the England side that lifted the World Cup in 1966.

Greaves was a prolific goalscorer, and the stats back that up, with the striker finishing as the top scorer in the First Division on six occasions. He is also the highest scorer in England’s first tier of football with 357. To put that into perspective, the Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer, Alan Shearer, scored 283.

8 Thierry Henry

Having started his career as a winger, Henry’s statistics are all the more impressive. The striker won just about everything there is to win during his career, including the World Cup with France in 1998, the European Championships in 2000, and the Confederations Cup in 2003. In addition to his international trophy haul, the number of trophies won for his respective clubs is impressive and includes the UEFA Champions League with Barcelona and two Premier League titles with Arsenal.

The Ballon d’Or surprisingly escaped Henry; however, he was voted Footballer of the Year eight times during his career. He is also seventh in the all-time Premier League goalscorer list with 175.

7 Ronaldo

The first of the Brazilian contingent to feature on the list, despite his injuries, Ronaldo’s record in front of goal was phenomenal. The striker won two Ballon d’Or trophies, and he was named the Best FIFA Men’s Player on three occasions, each time with a different club (Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real Madrid).

Ronaldo won five trophies for Brazil, including two FIFA World Cups, in 1994 and 2002. During the 2002 tournament, the striker finished as the top scorer, winning the Golden Boot in the process, ending the World Cup with eight goals to his name. Ronaldo’s goals were one of the key reasons behind Brazil’s success.

6 Alfredo Di Stefano

Alfredo Di Stefano is rightly regarded as a Real Madrid legend, having won an astonishing sixteen trophies with the club. He is the player with the most trophies to his name on the list, a trophy haul that includes five European Cups and eight La Liga titles. Di Stefano is placed fourth on Real Madrid’s all-time leading goalscorer list with 308 in just 396 appearances for the club.

The striker also won individual accolades, including two Ballon d’Or trophies, and was named as top scorer across four competitions, ten times during his career.

5 Eusebio

Eusebio spent the majority of his glittering career at the Portuguese side, Benfica, scoring 317 times in 301 appearances for the club. His goals helped Benfica to 17 trophies during his time with the club, including the European Cup in 1961/62 and an incredible eleven league titles. Perhaps the biggest surprise of Eusebio’s career is that he failed to win anything with Portugal. The closest he came was in 1966, when they finished third, and the striker was named as the tournament’s leading goalscorer with nine goals.

Eusebio won the Ballon d’Or in 1965 and won two Footballer of the Year awards in 1970 and 1973. His 623 career goals place him in twelfth position on the all-time leading goalscorer list in football history.

4 Romario

The second Brazilian player to feature on the list, and saw success with both club and country winning the World Cup in 1994, two Copa America titles in 1988/89 and 1996/97, as well as the Confederations Cup in 1997. Romario is regarded as a PSV Eindhoven legend, having won eight trophies during his time with the club, and placing sixth on the club’s all-time leading goalscorer list with 128.

Romario won the Best FIFA Men’s Trophy in 1994 and was voted the Player of the Year in 1989. However, the Ballon d’Or was an individual trophy that escaped the Brazilian throughout his career.

3 Gerd Muller

Gerd Muller is somewhat surprisingly the only German international on the list but makes the top three thanks to a distinguished career. The striker won the European Championships with Germany in 1972 and lifted the World Cup with his country just two years later. The striker is Bayern Munich’s all-time leading goalscorer with 568 during his time with the German giants. Muller won three European Cups, four league titles and four German Cups while at Bayern.

Muller won the Ballon d’Or in 1970 and was named Footballer of the Year in 1967 and 1969. The striker was also named as top scorer 17 times across five different competitions during his career.

2 Ferenc Puskas

A quick glance at Ferenc Puskas’ statistics is enough to explain why the striker is second on the list. He scored an incredible 709 times in 718 appearances for the teams he represented during his career, including Real Madrid. He won 10 trophies during his time with the Spanish giants, and Puskas is the only player on the list to have won an Olympic gold medal, which he won with Hungary in 1952.

Puskas topped the La Liga scoring charts on four occasions while playing for Real Madrid, with his highest tally being 28 goals during the 1960/61 campaign. The striker incredibly failed to win the Ballon d’Or during his career, and his list of individual achievements is also surprisingly slim for a player of his stature and quality.

1 Pele

Arguably one of the greatest players football has ever seen. Pele has the most goals out of any player on this list and won 17 trophies during his illustrious career. The striker is the only player in football history to have won the World Cup on three occasions (1958, 1962 and 1970). His goal-scoring record of 756 goals in 858 career appearances is staggering, and the striker is placed second on Brazil’s all-time leading goalscorer list.

In addition to his success with Brazil, the striker also won 10 trophies with Santos, including six league titles with the club. Pele failed to win the Ballon d’Or due to a rule preventing non-European players from winning the trophy, a policy that was overturned in 1995.