Top 10 World Cup Strikers

Many of the greatest strikers in the history of the game have lit up the World Cup over the years and a lot of them have made their name in this very tournament.

A number of strikers are known best for their performances and exploits during a World Cup because it's the tournament where they get recognised as one of the greats.

They might announce themselves at club level but it's at the World Cup where they make their name and become world stars.

Most of the strikers on the list went on to win the World Cup whilst some went on to win a golden boot with one or two of them.

Now without further ordo, here is the list:

Ronaldo

Miroslav Klose

Thierry Henry

Gerd Muller

Paolo Rossi

Gary Lineker

Pele

Kylian Mbappe

Eusebio

Lionel Messi

10. Eusebio

Eusebio was one of the greatest strikers of his generation as he was quick, skilful and could score a variety of goals.

But I've got him down in 10th because he only played at one World Cup with Portugal in 1966 where they finished third.

He won the golden boot at that World Cup by scoring 9 goals with four of them coming in the Quarter Finals against North Korea, where Portugal came from 3-0 down to win 5-3.

His goals were key to Portugal going as far as they did that year which remains their best World Cup on record.

9. Gary Lineker

Lineker won the golden boot at the World Cup in 1986 and was also part of the England side that reached the semi finals four years later in 1990.

He scored 6 goals at the 1986 World Cup including a hat trick against Poland during the group stages but England could only reach the Quarter Finals where they went out to eventual winners Argentina.

He scored 4 times at Italia 90 where his goals played an integral role in England reaching the semi finals and made him an important player during that run.

If the Match of the Day Top 10 podcast did this top 10, he'd probably accept being in this position because he never won the World Cup and the players above him were on a different level to him.

8. Paolo Rossi

Rossi played in two World Cup's with Italy in 1978 and 1982 respectively with the latter being the tournament he won.

He won both the golden ball and the golden boot at that tournament as he scored 6 goals and all of them were key to Italy going all the way that year.

Three of his six games came against Brazil during the second group stage before he netted twice in the semi finals against Poland and the opening goal of the final against Germany.

He's arguably the last great striker Italy had as they've never really replaced him and it's certainly proved that more recently as the one player the national team are lacking and have lacked for many years is a quality centre forward.

7. Thierry Henry

Henry was part of the France side that won the World Cup in 1998 before being part of the side that reached another final in 2006.

The 1998 World Cup was the tournament where he first announced himself on the international stage at the age of 20 by scoring 3 goals with all of them coming during the group stages.

He was a guaranteed start in 2006 where he scored the same amount and was named in the team of the tournament.

He played in four World Cup's with France with the other two in 2002 and 2010 not ending so well as France crashed out at the group stage on both occasions.

6. Kylian Mbappe

Mbappe has played in two World Cup's with France in 2018 and 2022 respectively and he lit up the world stage on both occasions.

2018 was the tournament he announced himself on the world stage as he scored 4 goals to help France win the tournament and win himself the best young player award.

In 2022 he won the golden boot by scoring eight goals as France reached the final where they lost to Argentina despite him scoring a hat trick in that final.

He'll probably be higher up this list in a years time as he's set to have another outstanding World Cup this summer with France again among the favourites.

5. Gerd Muller

Muller was the World Cup record goal scorer for many years with 14 goals across two World Cup finals.

He won the World Cup with Germany in 1974 where he scored 4 goals including the winning goal in the final against Holland.

He also won the golden boot four years before in 1970 by scoring 10 goals including two hat tricks against Bulgaria and Peru during the group stages.

He was one of the greatest strikers of his generation as he could score any kind of goal and his movement off the ball was first class.

4. Lionel Messi

You never consider Messi as a striker because he's mainly a winger but as wingers these days are now known as inside forwards, he still makes the list because strikers are better known these days as forwards.

He has played pretty much everywhere across the frontline including as a central striker albeit in a false 9 role whic has allowed him to drop deep and receive the ball.

He's about to play in his sixth World Cup for Argentina in what will be his final tournament for the national team and it's incredible that he's still playing for his country as a lot people thought he would've called time on his international career after the last World Cup.

He finally fulfilled his lifelong dream of winning the World Cup in 2022 which very much cemented himself as the Greatest Player Of All Time.

He was by far the best player at that tournament by providing many moments of quality which all played a key role in Argentina going all the way along with the goals he scored.

He'd be a lot higher up this list had it been the top 10 strikers of all time but as this is about the World Cup, I felt 4th was the right place to have him because he hasn't always been at his best when he's played a at World Cup.

2014 and 2022 have been his only two standout World Cup's with Argentina as they've been the two where he's been the more influential and the two where he was named player of the tournament on both occasions.

3. Miroslav Klose

Klose is the current record World Cup goal scorer with 16 goals across four different World Cup finals and he's probably best remembered for his record in this tournament and with Germany in general.

He scored 5 goals in his first World Cup in 2002 as Germany reached the final before bagging the golden boot four years later in 2006 by netting 5 times.

He netted 4 times at the 2010 World Cup where Germany finished 3rd before going on to win it in 2014 despite having a smaller part to play as he was in the latter stages of his career at the time.

He netted just twice in 2014 including in Germany's 7-1 win over Brazil in the semi finals with the goal he scored being the one that made him the all-time World Cup record goal scorer.

He was a striker who was known best for his aerial ability as a lot of the goals he scored were with his head and especially in the World Cup with at least 10 of his goals in these finals being headers.

2. Ronaldo

Ronaldo is second on the all-time World Cup goal charts with 15 goals and I have him above Klose because he's one of the greatest players to play the game.

He played in three World Cup's for Brazil and won it in 2002 where he won the golden boot by scoring 8 goals including a double in the final against Germany.

He won the player of the tournament award in 1998 where he scored 4 goals as Brazil reached the final only for them to be well beaten by France.

He's arguably the greatest no.9 of all-time and especially in the modern era because of the variety of goals he could score and how skilful a player he was.

1. Pele

There was only going to be one winner of this top 10 and it had to be Pele because he's won the World Cup more times than any other player with three in 1958, and 1962 and 1970.

He was just 17 when he first appeared at a World Cup finals in 1958 where he became the youngest World Cup goal scorer and became the first teenager to score in a World Cup final.

That tournament was the start of a very promising career which he went on to fulfil by winning two more World Cup's and becoming in many people's eyes the greatest player of all-time.

1970 was the World Cup where he was in the prime of his powers as he was named player of the tournament and the main star of that iconic Brazil side.

He got the crowd off their seat many times with the fancy skills and tricks he performed on the pitch which is what made him such a special player.

MY TOP 10:

1. Pele

2. Ronaldo

3. Miroslav Klose

4. Lionel Messi

5. Gerd Muller

6. Kylian Mbappe

7. Thierry Henry

8. Paolo Rossi

9. Gary Lineker

10. Eusebio