The top 10 best strikers in the world right now

Compiling a list of top strikers is never easy and opens the door for plenty of heated debate. But we’ve gone through all the attacking players, whether forwards that play through the centre, out wide, or just off the shoulder of a traditional striker, to bring you the top 10 strikers in the world right now.

If you’re looking for goals, you’ve come to the right place. Top strikers:

10. Ciro Immobile, Lazio and Italy

Lazio’s highest ever goalscorer, Ciro Immobile, is one of the deadliest finishers in the game.

The Italian league may be renowned for its tough defending, but Immobile continues to score for fun into his 30s.

He has 10 goals in 11 games so far in Serie A, and in 2019-20, he scored 36 goals in 37 league games, winning the Serie A’s top scorer prize for the third time, as well as winning the Golden Shoe for Europe’s highest goalscorer.

He was integral to Italy’s Euro 2020 win, scoring twice and assisting two more as the Azzurri went on to lift the trophy.

9. Jadon Sancho, Manchester United and England

Sancho has had his struggles since joining Manchester United, but his form in the last three years at Borussia Dortmund keeps him firmly on this list.

Lionel Messi was the only player on the planet with more assists between 2018 and 2021, as Sancho racked up 60 for Dortmund, as well as 49 goals.

That’s a direct involvement in 109 goals in 125 games. Not too shabby for a teenager.

8. Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur and England

A three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner, Harry Kane was always going to make this list.

He has scored a huge 163 goals in his last seven league seasons with Tottenham, which is a rate of a goal every 1.4 games. That is a ridiculously high level of consistency.

He is just 38 goals away from becoming Tottenham’s all-time top scorer and just six away from become England’s.

7. Romelu Lukaku, Chelsea and Belgium

Of all the players with more than 100 Premier League goals, there are only nine with a better ratio than Romelu Lukaku.

The Chelsea man has averaged a goal every 2.2 games in the Premier League and is only 11 goals off breaking into the league’s top 15 goalscorers of all time.

Throw in the fact he went to Italy and scored 47 goals in 72 league games for Inter Milan, won the Serie A title and the MVP award in 2021, plus he’s Belgium’s highest ever goalscorer, and it’s impossible not to include Lukaku in this list.  

6. Lionel Messi, PSG and Argentina

There’s not much left to write about Lionel Messi.

A seven-time Ballon d’Or winner and arguably the greatest player of all time, the only reason he isn’t higher on this list is because his supernatural powers are beginning to wane.

But don’t be in any doubt of his insane talent, as he scored 474 goals in 520 league appearances for Barcelona (a La Liga record), has the most assists in La Liga (192), and has the most international goals of any South American (80 for Argentina). He is a phenomenon.

5. Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich and Poland

Quite possibly the most prolific goalscorer on this list, Robert Lewandowski has been robbed of a Ballon D’or in recent years.

In his Bayern Munich career, he has scored 319 goals in 349 games and broke every record imaginable in 2020-21, as he scored 41 goals in 29 league games for Munich, a year after the club had completed the treble. Lewandowski was the top scorer in each competition.

A six-time Bundesliga Top Scorer and nine-time Polish Footballer of the Year, his trophy cabinet just keeps getting bigger.

4. Kylian Mbappe, PSG and France

The most expensive teenager of all time, Mbappe joined PSG from rivals Monaco for €180 million in 2018. Since then, he has won three league titles and has been the top scorer for three consecutive seasons, as he’s bagged 78 goals in 80 league games for Paris Saint-Germain.

At the age of 22, he is already third in PSG’s all-time top scorers list with 141 goals for his club, and he became just the second teenager after Pele to score in a World Cup Final, as France beat Croatia 4-2 in 2018.

3. Erling Haaland, Borussia Dortmund and Norway

Another talented youngster, Haaland is already making a huge impact despite being just 21 years old.

The Borussia Dortmund attacker has scored 50 times in 50 league matches, and in his Dortmund career, he has 71 goals in just 70 games.

He is the youngest player ever to reach 50 Bundesliga goals and got there quicker than anyone else in history. The future is bright for Haaland.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United and Portugal

No surprises to see five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo make the list, as he’s on the verge of his 800th career goal. There isn’t enough time in the day to run down his honours list, but some of his stats are just mind-blowing.

At the peak of his powers, between 2009 and 2018, he scored 311 goals in just 292 La Liga games for Real Madrid, before going to Juventus and scoring 81 times in 98 games in Serie A.

A Manchester United legend, Ronaldo has seven league titles across three countries, five Champions Leagues with two different clubs, and led Portugal to international glory in Euro 2016.

1. Mo Salah, Liverpool and Egypt

It’s arguably controversial to have Salah top of this list, but is there any forward you’d have over Salah right now? I think not.

Salah is the fastest player in Liverpool to get 50 goals, managing the feat in just 65 games. In his first four seasons at Liverpool, he scored at least 23 goals every year in all competitions.

After just 221 games for the Reds, he is already in the club’s top 10 goalscorers of all time and led them to Champions League and Premier League success.

With 108 goals, he is inside the top 25 Premier League scorers of all time and ranks fourth for goals per game among the league’s centurions.