Cristiano Ronaldo might be without a club at the moment, but he wasted little time in making history at the 2022 World Cup.
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The 37-year-old, who had his Manchester United contract terminated by mutual consent after an explosive interview in which he criticized the club and manager Erik ten Hag, struck a penalty in Portugal’s opening match with Ghana on November 24. In so doing, he became the first man to score in five different World Cup tournaments.
Long-time rival Lionel Messi had already scored a spot-kick of his own in Qatar, although that match ended in a shock 2-1 defeat for Argentina against Saudi Arabia.
The Paris Saint-Germain star is the only active player who is close to catching Ronaldo at the top of the international men’s goalscoring standings.
Who has scored the most goals in international football?
Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record for the most goals scored in men’s international football. The Manchester United and Portugal star has 118 goals in 192 senior appearances for his country.
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Ronaldo broke the long-standing record held by Iran’s Ali Daei when he scored twice against the Republic of Ireland in September 2021. Those two remain the only men’s players who have reached a century of international goals, although Messi needs only nine more to join them in that group.
Who has scored the most goals in international football?
| Player | Country | Goals | Caps | Years active | |
| 1. | Cristiano Ronaldo* | Portugal | 118 | 192 | 2003 — |
| 2. | Ali Daei | Iran | 109 | 148 | 1993-2006 |
| 3. | Lionel Messi* | Argentina | 92 | 166 | 2005 — |
| 4. | Mokhtar Dahari | Malaysia | 89 | 142 | 1972-1985 |
| 5. | Ferenc Puskas | Hungary | 84 | 89 | 1945-1956 |
| = | Sunil Chhetri* | India | 84 | 131 | 2005 — |
| 7. | Ali Mabkhout* | United Arab Emirates | 80 | 108 | 2009 — |
| 8. | Godfrey Chitalu | Zambia | 79 | 111 | 1968-1980 |
| 9. | Hussein Saeed | Iraq | 78 | 137 | 1976-1990 |
| 10. | Pele | Brazil | 77 | 92 | 1957-1971 |
Even if Ronaldo and Messi continue to play well into their 40s, it is almost impossible for them to catch the goal tallies of the leading women’s international goalscorers.
The top-scoring player in women’s international football — and, indeed, overall — is Canada’s Christine Sinclair, who has managed a staggering 190 goals in 317 appearances in 22 years.
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She is six goals ahead of USWNT great Abby Wambach, who retired back in 2015. The top 10 is dominated by USA stars, who make up half of the list, although all but Alex Morgan have retired.
The other active player closest to Sinclair’s record is Jordan’s Maysa Jbarah, who boasts a remarkable goal-per-game rate of 1.04 having scored 117 times in just 113 international matches.
