World Cup chronicle of top goal scorers — from 1930 to 2022

With every World Cup, stars emerge who leave their mark with decisive goals that immortalise their names in the history of the tournament, which kicked off its first edition in 1930. In this context, the race for the top scorer remains one of the most exciting features of the World Cup throughout its long history.

Germany’s Miroslav Klose tops the tournament’s all-time scoring charts with 16 goals scored across four tournaments, followed by Brazil’s Ronaldo Nazário with 15 goals, also scored across four tournaments.

Hungarian Sándor Kocsis holds the record for the most goals scored in a single tournament, having netted 11 goals at the 1954 World Cup, followed by Germany’s Gerd Müller, who scored 10 goals at the 1970 World Cup.

All eyes are now on the 2026 World Cup, where the race will be wide open for new stars and seasoned veterans alike to continue making history, in a tournament set to write a new chapter in the World Cup’s scoring records.

Top scorers in each World Cup edition according to FIFA data:

1930: Guillermo Stábile (Argentina): 8 goals

1934: Oldřich Nejedlý (Czechoslovakia): 5 goals

1938: Leonidas (Brazil): 7 goals

1950: Ademir (Brazil): 8 goals

1954: Sándor Kocsis (Hungary): 11 goals

1958: Just Fontaine (France): 13 goals

1962: Flórián Albert (Hungary), Garrincha (Brazil), Vava (Brazil), Valentin Ivanov (Soviet Union), Dražan Jerković (Yugoslavia), Lionel Sánchez (Chile): 4 goals each

1966: Eusébio (Portugal): 9 goals

1970: Gerd Müller (Germany): 10 goals

1974: Grzegorz Lato (Poland): 7 goals

1978: Mario Kempes (Argentina): 6 goals

1982: Paolo Rossi (Italy): 6 goals

1986: Gary Lineker (England): 6 goals

1990: Salvator Schillaci (Italy): 6 goals

1994: Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria) and Oleg Salenko (Russia): 6 goals

1998: Davor Šuker (Croatia): 6 goals

2002: Ronaldo Nazário (Brazil): 8 goals

2006: Miroslav Klose (Germany): 5 goals

2010: Thomas Müller (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), David Villa (Spain), Diego Forlán (Uruguay): 5 goals each