<p>When it comes to football's most hotly debated topic, forget about who's the greatest player of all time for a minute - let's talk about something that should be simple but somehow isn't: who has scored the most goals in football history?</p> <p>You'd think this would be straightforward, right? Count the goals, rank the players… job done.</p> <p>But, unfortunately, football's goal-scoring records are about as clear as mud, and that's putting it mildly.</p> <p>Finding out who is football's all-time leading goal scorer is like trying to solve a puzzle where half the pieces are missing and the other half come from different boxes entirely.</p> <p>And that happens because we have disputed records, missing documentation, unofficial matches, and enough controversy to fuel debates in pubs from Manchester to São Paulo for decades to come.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>The Modern Era: Cristiano vs. Messi</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Let's start with what we know for certain - the two players who've dominated football for the better part of two decades. Cristiano Ronaldo currently sits at the top of the verifiable goal-scoring mountain with over 930 goals for club and country.</p> <p>The Portuguese superstar made history in September 2024 when he became the first player ever to reach the 900-goal milestone, scoring against Croatia in a Nations League match. And he never stopped scoring either, as shown by his goal in the UEFA Nations League Final against Spain on June 8, 2025.</p> <p>The breakdown of Ronaldo's goals tells quite a story:</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li><strong>Real Madrid:</strong> 450 goals</li> <li><strong>Manchester United:</strong> 145 goals</li> <li><strong>Portugal: </strong>138 goals</li> <li><strong>Juventus:</strong> 101 goals</li> <li><strong>Al Nassr: </strong>99 goals (and counting)</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>One of the most impressive parts about Ronaldo's tally is its verifiability. We're talking about goals scored in the modern era with comprehensive record-keeping, video evidence, and statistical databases that track every touch of the ball. There's no ambiguity here - when Ronaldo scores, the world knows about it instantly. And he loves to tell the world about it.</p> <p>Lionel Messi, meanwhile, isn't far behind with approximately 865 goals at the time of writing.</p> <p>The Argentine maestro holds some absolutely mind-blowing records of his own, including the most goals scored in a calendar year (91 in 2012), something that seems almost impossible when you break it down to roughly a goal every four days for an entire year.</p> <p>While their impressive career performance may look somewhat similar, Messi and Ronaldo represent two completely different approaches to goal-scoring greatness.</p> <p>Ronaldo's got the raw numbers and incredible longevity, having started his professional career in 2002 and showing no signs of slowing down at 40 (especially as we are sure he has his eyes on the 2025 FIFA World Cup, too).</p> <p>Messi, on the other hand, has that peak brilliance and technical perfection that produced some of the most aesthetically pleasing goals football has ever seen. Something that we are sure is going to make fans happy also at the upcoming [LINK]2025 FIFA Club World Cup[/LINK] in the United States.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>The Historical Controversy</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Comparing the goals scored by Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi to those of the greats that came before them is where things get properly complicated.</p> <p>According to various sources, there are players from football's earlier eras who supposedly scored even more goals than them but - and this is a massive but - the documentation from those periods is about as reliable as a weather forecast from the 1930s.</p> <p>Let’s start with Arthur Friedenreich, for example. Although you may have never heard of him, Friedenreich was a Brazilian striker who played from 1909 to 1935.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>FIFA officially recognizes him as having scored 1,329 goals, which would make him football's all-time leading scorer by a considerable margin.</p> <p>The problem? As one source puts it bluntly, there's "little evidence" to support this claim. Simply put, we're talking about a 26-year career spanning an era when record-keeping was inconsistent at best and completely absent at worst.</p> <p>The Encyclopædia Britannica notes that Friedenreich's record is "officially recognized" by FIFA, but even they seem to acknowledge the shakiness of the foundation this recognition stands on.</p> <p>Then there's Josef Bican, the Austrian-Czech striker who FIFA recognized in 2020 as having scored 805+ goals between 1931 and 1956.</p> <p>Bican's numbers are slightly more credible than Friedenreich's, partly because his career overlapped with slightly better record-keeping and partly because 805 goals, while astronomical, doesn't venture into the completely unbelievable territory of 1,300+.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>The Pelé Puzzle: Brazil's Complicated King</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>I am sure you have been waiting for me to get to this point, since no discussion of football's greatest goal scorers would be complete without Pelé, and boy, does his case perfectly illustrate how complicated these records can get.</p> <p>Depending on who you ask, Pelé scored anywhere from 757 to…over 1,200 goals during his career.</p> <p>FIFA gives Pelé 1,281 goals in 1,363 matches, while the Guinness Book of Records credits him with 1,279 goals in the same number of matches.</p> <p>The difference might seem small, but it highlights the same crucial issue: the records are so inaccurate that not even the supposed authorities can agree on the exact numbers.</p> <p>The controversy around Pelé's goal tally stems from what matches you choose to count.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>His official Santos and Brazil goals are well-documented (650 for Santos and 77 for Brazil), and no one disputes that total these days.</p> <p>The issue is that Pelé also scored (allegedly?) hundreds of goals in friendlies, exhibition matches, and various tournaments that may or may not have been official.</p> <p>So, here is what we know:</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li><strong>Fact 1:</strong> Pelé was genuinely one of football's greatest goal scorers (unlike Friedenreich);</li> <li><strong>Fact 2:</strong> His 77 international goals for Brazil are verified and put him as the 13th highest international scorer of all time</li> <li><strong>Fact 3:</strong> His club record with Santos is legitimate.</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>What is completely impossible to fact-check, however, is how many of those friendlies and exhibitions he played should count toward an "official" tally.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>The Women's Game: Christine Sinclair's Incredible Record</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>While we're talking about goal-scoring records, it would be almost criminal to ignore the women's game, where Christine Sinclair of Canada holds the international record with 190 goals in 331 appearances.</p> <p>Sinclair's record is absolutely rock-solid, well-documented, and represents an incredible level of consistency over nearly two decades of international football.</p> <p>The Canadian striker's achievement puts some perspective on just how difficult it is to score goals at the international level.</p> <p>&nbsp;When you consider that she played against the world's best defenders in major tournaments and qualifiers, her 190-goal tally becomes even more impressive.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Where We Stand Today</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>So where does that leave us in 2025? If we're talking about verifiable, documented goals against legitimate opposition, Cristiano Ronaldo currently holds the record with over 930 goals and counting.&nbsp;</p> <p>His longevity is unprecedented - the man is 40 years old and still scoring regularly for both club and country. And, as a lifelong Juventus supporter, the author feels the need to push the idea of CR7 being the greatest goal scorer of all time.</p> <p>Messi, despite being slightly younger, seems to be winding down his career more gradually, but his goal tally of 865+ still puts him firmly in second place among modern players.&nbsp;</p> <p>The gap between them continues to grow, partly because Ronaldo shows no signs of retiring and partly because he's maintained his goal-scoring rate even into his late thirties.</p> <p>As for the historical claims from players like Friedenreich and even some of Pelé's more inflated tallies, it's probably best to view them with healthy skepticism.</p> <p>Mind you, that doesn't diminish their legacies or their genuine achievements; it just means we should be realistic about what can and cannot be verified from football's earlier eras.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>The Future of Goal-Scoring Records</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The question now becomes: will anyone challenge Ronaldo's record? Given the modern demands of football - higher intensity, better defending, more competitive leagues - it seems unlikely that any current player will reach his goal totals.</p> <p>Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland are often mentioned as potential successors, but even if they maintain their current scoring rates, they'd need to play at the highest level well into their late thirties to have a chance. And that's a big ask in modern football.</p> <p>The truth is, we might be witnessing something that won't be repeated. Ronaldo's combination of longevity, consistency, and sheer goal-scoring ability across multiple leagues and competitions might be a once-in-a-lifetime achievement.</p> <p>In the end, what's not debatable is this: we're living through a golden age of goal scoring, with two players who have pushed the boundaries of what seemed possible.&nbsp;</p> <p>It’s unclear if Ronaldo will continue to play until reaching his 1,000 goal target or if Messi will keep adding to his tally, but regardless of what happens next, we should all appreciate what we're witnessing while it's still happening.</p> <p>Records like these don't come around very often, and when they're gone, they're gone. The argument about who scored the most goals in football history will continue long after both Ronaldo and Messi hang up their boots, but one thing's for certain: they've both earned their place in any conversation about football's greatest goal scorers.</p>