The FIFA World Cup is the most important soccer tournament in the world. It only happens once every four years, and over 100 countries compete to make it to the final tournament. 

The next World Cup is happening at the end of the year in Qatar. So, today, we wanted to look at the top ten goal scorers in this competition. 

Want to place a bet on who will win this year? Then you can find the best soccer betting odds here. 

Honorable Mentions: 

A quick note, there are 6 people who share 8th place on the top goal scorer’s list. We don’t have the space to talk about all of them. 

Here are the names of the players we didn’t have space to cover: 

• Helmut Rahn (West Germany) 
• Teófilo Cubillas (Perú) 
• Grzegorz Lato (Poland) 

#10 – Gabriel Batistuta (10 Goals) 

Argentina – 1994, 1998, 2002 

Batistuta (also known as the Angel Gabriel), is not only the top Argentina goal scorer at the World Cup – but he was also their all-time leading goal scorer – he scored 54 international goals… Until Lionel Messi came along. 

He is the only player in football history to score 3 hattricks (3 goals in one match) at two different World Cups. 

#9 – Gary Lineker (10 Goals) 

England – 1986, 1990 

Considering Lineker only played in two World Cups, he had a very successful scorecard. Lineker spearheaded the England team in 1990 who came 4th – this is the best the country has done in the World Cup in the last 50 years. 

Lineker is now an incredibly successful sports TV presenter who is the face of sports journalism to most people in the UK. 

#8 – Thomas Muller (10 Goals) 

Germany – 2010, 2014, 2018

Muller has yet to retire and is the only active player in the Top 10 – so, he could climb further up it at this year’s World Cup. 

Muller was the captain of the 2014 World Cup winning German squad. He won the Silver Boot in that tournament for his 5 goals. 

Muller did not score a goal in the 2018 World Cup. 

#7 – Jürgen Klinsmann (11 Goals) 

Germany (and West Germany) – 1990, 1994, 1998

Klinsmann was both a player for the German National team and their coach (for the 2006 World Cup). #

When he first started playing, he was playing for the West German team, however, Germany unified between the 1990 and the 1994 World Cups. 

When he was the team’s manager they came third in the World Cup. 

#6 – Sándor Kocsis (11 Goals) 

Hungary – 1954 

Yes, you read that correctly. Kocsis scored 11 goals in one World Cup and doesn’t even hold the record. In this World Cup, they came second. The only game Kocsis didn’t score in was the final. 

Kocsis scored 75 goals in 68 appearances for Hungary – averaging over 1 goal per game. He scored a total of 7 hattricks for his country. 

#5 – Pelé (12 Goals) 

Brazil – 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970 

FIFA named Pele Player of the Century for the 20th Century. 

He was part of the most successful Brazil team of all time and is one of the most decorated footballers ever. 

Pele won three World Cups with Brazil (in 1958, 1962, and 1970). Brazil has won 5 World Cups in Total. 

Pele also won the biggest titles in Brazilian and American club football. 

#4 – Just Fontaine (13 Goals) 

France – 1958 

Fontaine scored 13 goals across 6 games in one World Cup. He holds the record for most goals scored in a single World Cup Tournament. 

Fontaine only played 21 games for his national team but managed to score 30 goals. 

After he retired from playing football, he managed the French national team for one World Cup cycle. 

#3 – Gerd Müller (14 Goals) 

West Germany – 1970, 1974 

Gerd Muller is not related at all to Thomas Muller. But they have both scored a lot of World Cup goals. 

Gerd was a key player in the World Cup winning 1974 West Germany squad. This team also won the 1972 European Championship as well. Muller left the team after the 1974 World Cup. 

Muller scored 68 goals in his 62 appearances for West Germany. 

#2 – Ronaldo (15 Goals)  

Brazil – 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006

Ronaldo won 2 World Cups with Brazil – 1994 and 2002, they came 2nd in the 1998 World Cup. 

He was named FIFA World Player of the Year three times and awarded two Ballon d’Or awards. Behind Pele and Messi, he is one of the most decorated football players of all time. 

He scored 62 goals for Brazil in 98 appearances. 

#1 – Miroslav Klose (16 Goals) 

Germany – 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014

Klose is Germany’s all-time top scorer and is one of the only players to have come 1st, 2nd, and 3rd at the World Cup. He scored 71 goals in 137 appearances for Germany. 

Like Thomas Muller, Klose scored 5 goals in his first two World Cups and he played a key role in Germany’s 2014 World Cup victory.