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Ranked: The Top Goal Scorers in FIFA World Cup History

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The top goal scorers in FIFA World Cup history

Ranked: The Top Goal Scorers in FIFA World Cup History

With the 2022 FIFA World Cup around the corner, soccer (or football) fans have their eyes set on how their favorite teams and players will perform.

But history shows that some players, and teams, are far more proficient in goals and wins than others. After all, with only 32 teams competing and the field quickly whittling down, there aren’t many chances for players to make their mark.

Who are history’s most prolific goal scorers? This series of graphics from Pablo Alvarez breaks down the top goal scorers in FIFA World Cup history, and their goals per appearances.

The World’s Cup Top Goal Scorers

Since the inaugural World Cup tournament in 1930, there have been 21 tournaments held across 17 countries.

At the first World Cup in Uruguay, 13 national teams competed for the championship trophy. The tournament then included 16 teams until 1982, when it expanded to 24 teams. Most recently, FIFA expanded to the current 32-team format starting in 1998.

And across all these tournaments, just 13 players have scored 10 or more goals:

RankPlayer (* denotes active)World Cup GoalsTournaments
1🇩🇪 Miroslav Klose164
2🇧🇷 Ronaldo153
3🇩🇪 Gerd Müller142
4🇫🇷 Just Fontaine131
5🇧🇷 Pelé124
T6🇭🇺 Sándor Kocsis111
T6🇩🇪 Jürgen Klinsmann113
T8🇩🇪 Helmut Rahn102
T8🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧 Gary Lineker102
T8🇦🇷 Gabriel Batistuta103
T8🇵🇪 Teófilo Cubillas102
T8🇩🇪 Thomas Müller*102
T8🇵🇱 Grzegorz Lato103

The record for the most goals scored at the World Cup currently belongs to Germany’s Miroslav Klose with 16 goals across 4 tournaments, including one championship in 2014.

In fact, Germany had the most 10+ goal scorers of any country with five, including the only still-active player Thomas Müller.

Other well-known legends on the list include Ronaldo (not to be confused with Cristiano Ronaldo) and Pelé from Brazil, and Gary Lineker from England. But the title for the most goals scored in just one tournament goes to France’s Just Fontaine, who scored an incredible 13 goals in six matches in 1958.

Tracking World Cup Goals Per Appearances

Because of a diverse field and an intense qualification process, some teams play more games than others. Therefore, the above list skews towards teams and players with many caps.

So Alvarez also charted how World Cup goal scorers compare on a per-match basis. Unfortunately, FIFA match reports only fully tracked appearances and substitutions from 1970 onwards, though this still gives a clear picture of some of the world’s most effective (and least effective) goal scorers:

charting goals scored versus appearances in the FIFA World Cup

Again, the top goal scorers Klose and Ronaldo appear very prominently with 15+ goals, but other legends with a similar number of appearances like Maradona, Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo weren’t as successful on a per-match basis.

What happens when we take the top World Cup goal scorers with 5 or more goals from 1970 onwards and look at their goals/match rate?

PlayerWorld Cup Goals (1970–2018)Matches PlayedGoals/Match
Miroslav Klose16240.67
Ronaldo15190.79
Gerd Müller14131.08
Jürgen Klinsmann11170.65
Gary Lineker10120.83
Gabriel Batistuta10120.83
Teófilo Cubillas10130.77
Thomas Müller10160.63
Grzegorz Lato10200.50
Christian Vieri991.00
David Villa9120.75
Jairzinho9130.69
Paolo Rossi9140.64
Roberto Baggio9160.56
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge9190.47
Rivaldo8140.57
Rudi Völler8150.53
Diego Maradona8210.38
Careca790.78
Andrzej Szarmach7130.54
Luis Suárez7130.54
Johnny Rep7140.50
Cristiano Ronaldo7170.41
Oleg Salenko632.00
Harry Kane661.00
Salvatore Schillaci670.86
James Rodríguez680.75
Davor Šuker680.75
Neymar6100.60
Diego Forlán6100.60
Hristo Stoichkov6100.60
Asamoah Gyan6110.55
Dennis Bergkamp6120.50
Rob Rensenbrink6130.46
Bebeto6150.40
Arjen Robben6150.40
Rivellino6150.40
Zbigniew Boniek6160.38
Robin van Persie6170.35
Wesley Sneijder6170.35
Thierry Henry6170.35
Mario Kempes6180.33
Lionel Messi6190.32
Lothar Matthäus6250.24
Tomáš Skuhravý551.00
Jon Dahl Tomasson560.83
Fernando Morientes570.71
Kennet Andersson570.71
Alessandro Altobelli570.71
Romário580.63
Mario Mandžukić580.63
Marc Wilmots580.63
Emilio Butragueño590.56
Tim Cahill590.56
Roger Milla5100.50
Romelu Lukaku5100.50
Ivan Perišić5100.50
Hans Krankl5100.50
Raúl5110.45
Fernando Hierro5120.42
Zinedine Zidane5120.42
Landon Donovan5120.42
Johan Neeskens5120.42
Henrik Larsson5130.38
Gonzalo Higuaín5140.36
Edinson Cavani5140.36
Zico5140.36
Michel Platini5140.36
Lukas Podolski5150.33

Most players expectedly scored under one goal/match, but five players stand out:

  1. Russia’s Oleg Salenko with an incredible 2 goals/match (6 goals in 3 matches).
  2. Germany’s Gerd Müller with 1.08 goals/match.
  3. Italy’s Christian Vieri, England’s Harry Kane, and the Czech Republic’s Tomáš Skuhravý with 1 goal/match.

Future Top Goal Scorers

With many players in Qatar 2022 vying for both the national championship and the Golden Boot, which is awarded to the tournament’s top goal scorer, the rankings are always ripe to change.

And future tournaments will likely offer more goal-scoring opportunities. The 2026 World Cup to be held in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico will be the first to feature 48 teams after FIFA voted to expand the tournament.

Which active players, or up-and-coming talents, will be next to climb the all-time goal scoring rankings?

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This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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United States

Mapped: How Much Does it Take to be the Top 1% in Each U.S. State?

An annual income anywhere between $360,000-$950,000 can grant entry into the top 1%—depending on where you live in America.

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A cropped map of the U.S. listing the annual income needed to be in the top 1% in each state.

How Much Does it Take to be the Top 1% in Each U.S. State?

There’s an old saying: everyone thinks that they’re middle-class.

But how many people think, or know, that they really belong to the top 1% in the country?

Data from personal finance advisory services company, SmartAsset, reveals the annual income threshold at which a household can be considered part of the top 1% in their state.

Some states demand a much higher yearly earnings from their residents to be a part of the rarefied league, but which ones are they, and how much does one need to earn to make it to the very top echelon of income?

Ranking U.S. States By Income to Be in the Top 1%

At the top of the list, a household in Connecticut needs to earn nearly $953,000 annually to be part of the one-percenters. This is the highest minimum threshold across the country.

In the same region, Massachusetts requires a minimum annual earnings of $903,401 from its top 1% residents.

Here’s the list of all 50 U.S. states along with the annual income needed to be in the 1%.

RankStateTop 1% Income
Threshold
Top 1% Tax Rate
(% of annual income)
1Connecticut$952,90228.40%
2Massachusetts$903,40127.15%
3California$844,26626.95%
4New Jersey$817,34628.01%
5Washington$804,85325.99%
6New York$776,66228.29%
7Colorado$709,09225.86%
8Florida$694,98725.82%
9Illinois$660,81026.35%
10New Hampshire$659,03726.25%
11Wyoming$656,11824.79%
12Virginia$643,84826.11%
N/ANational Average$652,657N/A
13Maryland$633,33325.94%
14Texas$631,84925.83%
15Utah$630,54423.77%
16Minnesota$626,45125.53%
17Nevada$603,75125.19%
18South Dakota$590,37322.99%
19Pennsylvania$588,70224.95%
20North Dakota$585,55624.76%
21Georgia$585,39725.06%
22Oregon$571,81324.66%
23Arizona$564,03125.22%
24Idaho$560,04023.17%
25North Carolina$559,76225.31%
26Montana$559,65624.46%
27Kansas$554,91225.03%
28Rhode Island$548,53125.26%
29Tennessee$548,32925.12%
30Alaska$542,82425.38%
31Nebraska$535,65124.10%
32Delaware$529,92825.37%
33Vermont$518,03923.63%
34Wisconsin$517,32124.90%
35South Carolina$508,42724.40%
36Michigan$504,67125.01%
37Maine$502,60524.04%
38Missouri$500,62624.93%
39Ohio$500,25325.09%
40Hawaii$495,26324.12%
41Iowa$483,98524.09%
42Indiana$473,68524.55%
43Alabama$470,34123.82%
44Oklahoma$460,17223.68%
45Louisiana$458,26924.80%
46Arkansas$450,70021.11%
47Kentucky$445,29424.14%
48New Mexico$411,39523.35%
49Mississippi$381,91923.04%
50West Virginia$367,58223.26%
N/ANational Median
Household Income
$75,000N/A

California ($844,266), New Jersey ($817,346), and Washington ($804,853) round out the top five states with the highest minimum thresholds to make it to their exclusive rich club.

On the other end of the spectrum, the top one-percenters in West Virginia make a minimum of $367,582 a year, the lowest of all the states, and about one-third of the threshold in Connecticut. And just down southwest of the Mountain State, Mississippi’s one-percenters need to make at least $381,919 a year to qualify for the 1%.

A quick glance at the map above also reveals some regional insights.

The Northeast and West Coast, with their large urban and economic hubs, have higher income entry requirements for the top 1% than states in the American South.

This also correlates to the median income by state, a measure showing Massachusetts households make nearly $90,000 a year, compared to Mississippians who take home $49,000 annually.

How Much Do the Top 1% Pay in Taxes?

Meanwhile, if one does make it to the top 1% in states like Connecticut and Massachusetts, expect to pay more in taxes than other states, according to SmartAsset’s analysis.

A chart showing how states with the top highest and lowest average tax rates for their top 1% residents.

The one-percenters in the top five states pay, on average, between 26–28% of their income in tax, compared to those in the bottom five who pay between 21–23%.

And this pattern exists through the dataset, with higher top 1% income thresholds correlating with higher average tax rates for the wealthy.

State RanksMedian Tax Rate
Top 1026.65%
20-3025.09%
30-4024.65%
10-2025.07%
40-5023.75%

These higher tax rates point to attempts to reign in the increasing wealth disparity in the nation where the top 1% hold more than one-third of the country’s wealth, up from 27% in 1989.

Where Does This Data Come From?

Source: SmartAsset’s America’s Top 1% Is Different in Each State uses data from 2020 individual tax filings from the IRS, adjusted to 2023 dollars using the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index.

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