AS Roma’s Edin Dzeko and Inter Milan’s Romelu Lukaku (Photo by MB Media/Getty Images) – International football
Name a better feeling than representing your country on the international football stage.
#10 Romelu Lukaku (Belgium) – 52 goals
The current crop of Belgium players is widely regarded to be the nation’s ‘golden generation’ as the squad is packed to the rafters with top-drawer talents, spearheaded by Romelu Lukaku.
He made his debut just weeks before his 17th birthday, but the strapping center-forward had a slow start with the Red Devils. However, once he transcended his imperious club form on to the international stage, there was no stopping him.
Lukaku’s blistering exploits saw him become the top scorer for Belgium at the age of 24 and later pick up the Bronze Boot at the 2018 World Cup. At 27, he’s currently in peak form so expect the Inter Milan targetman to be much higher up the list by the time he hangs up his boots.
#9 Ali Ashfaq (Maldives) – 53 goals
Not a household name, but Ali Ashfaq enjoys legendary status in South Asia. A peerless striker with almost 400 goals in his club career, the Maldives international has replicated those heroics for his country too, netting 53 times from 80 games.
His finest achievement with the Red Snappers has been to guide them to the SAFF Championship glory on home soil in 2008, winning the tournament’s best player award too. Since then, Ashfaq has gone on to lift plenty of honors, making him one of the most decorated Asian players of this century.
The 34-year old is renowned for netting six times in a match, a feat he accomplished against Sri Lanka in 2013, while he’s also struck a quadruple on three occasions.
#8 Luis Suarez (Uruguay) – 59 goals
Whenever the discussion circles around the best scorers in football, the name Luis Suarez comes up almost every time, even if it’s on the international stage as he’s the leading marksman for his nation with 59 goals.
El Pistolero was an integral part of the Celeste squad which lifted the 2011 Copa America on home soil, his best result with the national team so far, during which he scored four times, including once in the finals.
His partnership with Edinson Cavani is often raved about for being one of the most ferocious on the international stage, though most of the Barcelona striker’s goals have come in friendly games, with 22, compared to only 13 in six international tournaments.
#7 Edin Dzeko (Bosnia and Herzegovina) – 59 goals
Edin Dzeko is widely rated to be one of the best strikers in Europe. He’s netted 351 times in his career overall, 59 of which have come in Bosnian colors, the most in the nation’s history.
His prolific run also helped the Dragons qualify for the World Cup for the very first time in 2014, with the AS Roma star firing eight goals during the qualifiers. Now, he’s put them on course for their maiden appearance at the Euros too, as Bosnia is through to the playoffs.
In March 2019, Dzeko also became the first player from his country to surpass 100 caps for the national side. He ranks ahead of Suarez despite amassing the same number of goals since he managed them in five fewer games.
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<p>— Squawka (@Squawka) <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/top-10ronaldo-goalscorers-international-football/"https://twitter.com/Squawka/status/1183008164259741696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>October 12, 2019</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>Much like Lewandowski, he too has been criticized for coming a cropper when it really mattered. During the 2018 World Cup, in particular, Neymar was more in the news for his on-field theatrics and altercations with players from other teams than his performances.</p>
<p>His biggest accomplishment so far internationally remains winning the gold medal with Brazil at the Rio Olympics in 2016, scoring in all the knock-out ties, including the finals against Germany, where he also scored the winning spot-kick in the shootout.</p>
<h3>#4 Ali Mabkhout (UAE) – 63 goals</h3>
<p>A prominent one-club man in Asia, Mabkhout is the most efficient scorer on this list, averaging 0.76 goals-per-match for the UAE, as he’s struck 63 times for the Gulf nation in only 80 games!</p>
<p>He started his international football career in the most emphatic fashion imaginable, netting four times against Bahrain to cap off a memorable debut, and has since bagged five more hat-tricks in various formats.</p>
<p>Last year, he registered some of the highest figures for international football in a calendar year with 16 goals, during which he became the all-time leading scorer for the Whites and also won the Golden Boot at the 2019 Arabian Gulf Cup.</p>
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<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Argentina’s Lionel Messi during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil</p>
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<h3>#3 Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 70 goals</h3>
<p>In the perenially raging ‘GOAT’ debates, what has kept Messi from claiming the title outright has been his inability to win a trophy with Argentina. He came close on three occasions, guiding his side to the finals of the 2014 World Cup and 2015 and 2016 Copa Americas, but fell short each time.</p>
<p>Yet, that shouldn’t gloss over an otherwise stellar international football career. The evergreen <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/top-10ronaldo-goalscorers-international-football/"https://everythingbarca.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barcelona</a> ace is the top scorer in South America for World Cup qualifiers, and also holds the record for being the youngest Argentine scorer in the tournament proper. He also has six hat-tricks to his name.</p>
<p>Some of his enduring memories in the blue and white colors are the treble against Brazil in 2012, the sublime stoppage-time winner against Iran in 2014, the world-class free-kick against the USA in 2016, and the World Cup-rescuing hat-trick against Ecuador in 2017.</p>
<h3>#2 Sunil Chhetri (India) – 72 goals</h3>
<p>It’s quite something to be ranked alongside legends such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo despite your country’s poor record in international football, but Sunil Chhetri is no ordinary player.</p>
<p>Widely considered to be the finest Indian player, he’s affectionately known as ‘captain fantastic’ in his homeland, and also holds the record for both goals and appearances for the Blue Tigers.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">After 5,61,856 votes over the span of 19 days, Chhetri🇮🇳 wins the 2019 AFC Asian Cup's fans favourite player.<a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/top-10ronaldo-goalscorers-international-football/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/SunilChhetri?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#SunilChhetri</a> <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/top-10ronaldo-goalscorers-international-football/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/AFCAsianCup2019?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#AFCAsianCup2019</a> <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/top-10ronaldo-goalscorers-international-football/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/AFC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#AFC</a> <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/top-10ronaldo-goalscorers-international-football/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndianFootballTeam?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#IndianFootballTeam</a> <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/top-10ronaldo-goalscorers-international-football/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueTigers?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#BlueTigers</a> <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/top-10ronaldo-goalscorers-international-football/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndianFootball?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#IndianFootball</a> <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/top-10ronaldo-goalscorers-international-football/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/IFTWC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#IFTWC</a> <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/top-10ronaldo-goalscorers-international-football/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/TECHTRO?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#TECHTRO</a> <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/top-10ronaldo-goalscorers-international-football/"https://t.co/VT0Z3tstDm">pic.twitter.com/VT0Z3tstDm
<p>— IFTWC – Indian Football (@IFTWC) <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/top-10ronaldo-goalscorers-international-football/"https://twitter.com/IFTWC/status/1289435358736683010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>August 1, 2020</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>His most productive year was 2011 when Chhetri netted 13 goals and has led India to the AFC Challenge Cup title in 2008 and the SAFF Championship in 2011 and 2015.</p>
<p>With 72 goals, the Bangalore FC striker is just five behind Pele’s tally, but given he’s now 36 years old, Chettri probably acknowledges it’s too late to grab the number one spot on this list.</p>
<h3>#1 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – 99 goals</h3>
<p>At the turn of 2013, guess how many goals Ronaldo had for Portugal? Just 32. Yes, you read that right – ONLY THIRTY-TWO. And the figure shrinks further when you see he managed those in a staggering 100 caps!</p>
<p>Languishing well below in this chart, the prospect of the ex-<a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/top-10ronaldo-goalscorers-international-football/"https://therealchamps.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Real Madrid</a> star ever hitting a century of international football goals looked as far-fetched as it could. And yet, here we are in 2020, with Ronaldo just one goal away from another piece of history.</p>
<p>Since 2013, he’s struck 10+ goals for the <em>Seleccao</em> in a calendar year four times, with his best returns coming last year when Ronaldo scored 14 goals. And how many hat-tricks? Nine!</p>
<p>His best ones include the World Cup-rescuing treble against Sweden in the 2013 play-offs, and then against Spain at the 2018 World Cup.</p>
<p>With the Euro 2016 and UEFA Nations League 2020/21 titles under his belt, Ronaldo now has his sights set on the all-time record of 109 goals. Ali Daei, he’s coming for you!</p>
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