2025 brought us new records and countless goals, with some players truly making waves. A distinguished one? Kylian Mbappe. The Frenchman was so unstoppable that he entered The 10 highest scoring players in historytaking into account the performance of the club and national team.
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Not bad for Harry Kane, but the Englishman has 60 goals in 2025, just shy of the top spot.
10th: Cristiano Ronaldo (2012) – 63 goals
It’s almost ridiculous to think that CR7 in 2012 was “only” the second top scorer of the year with 63 goals, a significant gap from the first. But we’ll talk more about that later.
No. 9: Kylian Mbappe (2025) – 66 goals
It’s been a long time since a player has reached such heights. The Frenchman has now equaled his idol Cristiano Ronaldo’s club record of 59 goals in one year at Real Madrid. In addition to this, he also scored seven goals for France. Just like that, Mbappe jumped into the top ten.
7th place: Cristiano Ronaldo (2013)/Robert Lewandowski (2021) – 69 goals
In 2013, Cristiano Ronaldo was at the peak of his career, scoring six more goals than the previous year to win his second of five Ballon d’Or awards. However, Robert Lewandowski failed to win the same award during the most prolific period of his career. In 2021, LeVa did dominate all opponents, but the new crown epidemic hindered him, so the Ballon d’Or was not awarded.
Fourth place: Romario (2000), Zico (1979) and Pele (1965) – 72 goals
This “wooden medal” is owned by three of the greatest players in Brazilian history, each belonging to a different generation. Interestingly, Romario was already 34 years old during the most productive year of his career.
Third place: Pele (1958) – 75 goals
Pele held the record for 14 years before it was surpassed by a German legend. In 1958, the teenage Brazilian won the World Cup and scored prolific goals with Santos.
2nd place: Gerd Muller (1972) – 85 goals
“The National Bomber” knocked Bailey out of the record holder’s spot. His record stood for 40 years and is almost considered eternal.
1st place: Lionel Messi (2012) – 91 goals
If Muller’s record is already unimaginable to be broken, then Messi’s most prolific year in 2012 makes it unimaginable that this number will be surpassed. Thirteen years ago, La Pulga Played like he was from another planet. He himself is at pains to stress that individual numbers have never been that important to him, but we all remember 2012.
Godfrey Chitaru Case
It is worth mentioning the case of Zambian striker Godfrey Chitalu, who according to local sources scored over 100 goals in one year in 1972. However, this record is not official for FIFA as many of the goals lack reliable records and are often scored in smaller matches or unregulated tournaments. The case resurfaced in 2012 when Messi came close to Mueller’s record, but a lack of concrete evidence meant FIFA did not change its stance.
This article was translated into English by artificial intelligence. You can read the original version of 🇮🇹 here.
📸 Juan Manuel Serrano Arce – 2025 Getty Images
