About this chart race
The all-time record changed hands seven times in 96 years. Guillermo Stábile's eight goals from the 1930 tournament stood for twenty years — Leônidas equalled them in 1938 — until Ademir reached nine in 1950, and Sándor Kocsis (11 in 1954) and Just Fontaine (13 in 1958, still the single-tournament record) raised the bar inside eight years. Gerd Müller's 14 was the longest-standing mark of all: 28 years and eight tournaments, from 1974 until Ronaldo reached 15 in 2006. Miroslav Klose's 16 in 2014 was then overtaken twice at the same World Cup — Messi finished 2026 on 21 and Mbappé on 22, the only two players ever to pass 20. Mbappé's 10 goals in 2026 alone equalled Müller's entire 1970 haul and won him a second Golden Boot.
This animated ranking shows how cumulative world cup goals changed across 50 series between 1930 and 2026. The bars re-order themselves as the years advance, so overtakes are visible as they happen rather than hidden inside a table. Use the list on the left to choose exactly who competes, drag the slider to jump to any year, or open the table view to read the underlying numbers.
As of 2026, Kylian Mbappé leads with 22 goals.
Included in this race
Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi, Miroslav Klose, Ronaldo Nazário, Harry Kane, Gerd Müller, Just Fontaine, Pelé, Sándor Kocsis, Jürgen Klinsmann, Cristiano Ronaldo, Thomas Müller, Teófilo Cubillas, Helmut Rahn, Grzegorz Lato, Gary Lineker, Gabriel Batistuta, Vavá, Uwe Seeler, Roberto Baggio, Paolo Rossi, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Jairzinho, Eusébio, Ademir, Óscar Míguez, Leônidas, Guillermo Stábile, Oldřich Nejedlý, Hans Schäfer, Max Morlock, Josef Hügi, György Sárosi, Erich Probst, Silvio Piola, Pedro Cea, Gyula Zsengellér, Edmund Conen, Bert Patenaude, Angelo Schiavio, André Abegglen, Alcides Ghiggia, Preguinho, Peregrino Anselmo, Leopold Kielholz, Ivan Bek, Carlos Peucelle, Carlos Vidal, André Maschinot, Adolfo Zumelzú.
Source
Data from Wikipedia — FIFA World Cup tournament goalscorers. Every figure shown comes from this source — nothing is estimated or generated.
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