Lionel Messi is widely considered the greatest player in football history, but there are a handful of legends who have scored more goals than the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Considered by experts and fans as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has set a series of personal records in his career, including 8 Ballon d’Ors and 8 times being named FIFA World Player of the Year. He is the player with the most collective titles in the history of professional football with 45 titles, including 12 championships in the top 5 European national championships, 4 UEFA Champions League, 2 Copa America and 1 World Cup.
Messi holds many records including:
6 European Golden Shoes (most in history)
91 goals in a calendar year (most)
672 goals for a single club (Barcelona)
474 goals, 36 hat-tricks and 192 assists in La Liga (all records)
18 assists and 32 goal contributions at Copa America (most in tournament history)
21 times contributing to goals at the World Cup (most in history)
According to the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), Messi is currently ranked second in the list of all-time top scorers, behind only his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo. However, another statistical organization, Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF), uses a different calculation method and ranks Messi fifth.
Based on data from RSSSF, these are the four players who have scored more official goals than Lionel Messi’s total of 858.
4. Ronnie Rooke
The name is unfamiliar to many, but Ronnie Rooke was a famous striker in the 1930s–1940s, playing for Fulham, Arsenal, Crystal Palace and many lower league teams such as Guildford City and Bedford Town.
RSSSF estimates that he scored at least 934 goals in 1030 official matches.
3. Cristiano Ronaldo
Messi’s rival has overtaken Rooke to move into third place in the all-time rankings according to RSSSF.
At the age of 40, Ronaldo scored his 934th professional goal while playing for Al Nassr against Yokohama F. Marinos in the AFC Champions League.
With a new contract about to be signed, the goal of reaching 1000 goals is completely feasible.
2. Josef Bican
The Austrian-Czech legend played from 1931 to 1957 and was considered the “king of bombardment” before the Messi – Ronaldo era.
IFFHS recognizes him as having scored 722 goals for club and country, while according to RSSSF, the figure is more than 950 goals.
Bican didn’t just score goals – he devoured defenses.
1. Erwin Helmchen
The name is almost never mentioned, but Erwin Helmchen is the greatest striker in football history according to official statistics from RSSSF.
Playing mainly for PSV Chemnitz (not PSV Eindhoven), he never played for the German national team.
RSSSF estimates that he scored 987 goals in official matches – not counting friendlies, only counting matches in title-winning tournaments.
