Cristiano Ronaldo, despite not having won a major championship with Portugal, is the name that will forever be remembered as the greatest goalscorer of all time in national team football. Over the years since making his debut for his nation in 2003 under Luiz Felipe Scolari, the threat in front of goal has mastered the art of goal-scoring to perfection. -But…
After a total of 225 appearances for Portugal, he has scored a staggering number of goals – 143. But it didn’t start as explosively for the 40-year-old as it did for others. Erling Haaland, for example, has been a goalscoring sensation for Norway ever since his debut in 2019.
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Erling Haaland (Norway)
Using figures from Transfermarkt, let’s take a closer look at some of the best goalscorers national team football has ever seen – but with a twist. Instead of evaluating players across their entire careers, the search has been narrowed down to how long it took them to reach 50 goals for their respective countries.
Spoiler alert: Neither Ronaldo nor Lionel Messi, who are arguably two of the greatest footballers of all time, are on the list as it took them a little longer to get started at national team level.
Let’s start with some noticeable omissions: Messi and Ronaldo, as mentioned, are two of the biggest names not to make the top ten, for Argentina and Portugal respectively, it took them 107 and 114 games, respectively. England’s hero Wayne Rooney also reached the 50-goal mark when he played his 107th game in his 120-game career for the Three Lions.
Many would assume that since Neymar Jr. is Brazil’s former top scorer, coupled with the fact that he was so captivating at a young age, that he would have scored an abundance of goals at the start of his career for Brazil. However, that is far from the case, as the now 33-year-old reached 50 goals in 74 games, just behind tenth place.
Kylian Mbappe followed in Neymar’s footsteps – but for France. As carried by much of the goal responsibility from such a young age, the talismanic striker has used to score at an alarming rate for club and country. For Les Bleus, he has scored 53 times in 93 international matches, but the first 50 of those took him a total of 90 games.
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10) Harry Kane, England – 71 games England
have been blessed with some incredible goalscorers over the years. Wayne Rooney, Sir Bobby Charlton, Gary Lineker and the like come to mind, but none of the aforementioned trio scored as frequently as Harry Kane, who is now making money in Germany for Bayern Munich. The former fan favourite at Tottenham Hotspur actually tops The Three Lions’ list of all-time top scorers.
What speaks in the London-born striker’s favour is that he can score in all kinds of situations: it doesn’t matter if the ball is played in perfectly or not, he possesses the technical brilliance to create a shooting chance. Kane is considered by many to be one of the most complete centre-forwards of all time thanks to his versatile toolbox.
9) Ali Daei, Iran – 69 fights
Ali Daei, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest Asian players to touch the beautiful sport, was nicknamed the ‘Iranian Maradona’ for a reason. He held the record for most international goals of all time before Cristiano Ronaldo overtook his total of 108 goals in 2021, and before Lionel Messi did the same. However, he remains one of only three players to have broken the 100-goal mark at national team level.
His first 50 goals came in 69 games in his brilliant, high-scoring career for Iran. Daei, now 56 years old but known for his tough nature in the field for club and country, started his club career in Asia but moved to Germany in 1997 to join Arminia Bielefeld before making the jump to Bayern Munich.
8) Lajos Tichy, Hungary – 68 games
Lajos Tichy (right in the photo above) was well-versed in the art of scoring goals, as evidenced by his place on this list, and he was considered one of the best finishers of his generation. The Budapest-born centre-forward made his debut for Hungary at the age of 20 in 1955 and eventually scored 51 goals for his country in 72 appearances.
Only one of those goals came in the last four games, as Tichy reached the 50-goal mark in his 68th game for Hungary. Of course, this is a fantastic rate for a striker who is often overlooked when mentioning the nation’s elite goalscorers. He also found his way to the net with ease at club level, although he spent much of his career in his home country’s top division.
7) Romario, Brazil – 65 games Romario
was an exceptionally iconic striker in the field and a top-class finisher throughout his career: from his start with his childhood club Vasco de Gama to his goal-rich spells at PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Flamengo and the like. The same can be said for his international career, which started in 1987 and ended in 2005.
In fact, in 2000, there was a two-game period in which he recorded seven goals – and it took him just 65 games to reach 50 goals for his country.
6) Imre Schlosser, Hungary – 50 games
The second of three Hungarian talismans on the list, Imre Schlosser, scored at a rate of one goal per international match, and you guessed it: he reached the 50-goal mark in his 50th game. Incredibly, he was the first player to score 50 international goals when he reached this milestone in 1917, but he ended his career for Hungary just before reaching 60 goals.
All in all, Schlosser was born into a period where Hungarian strikers were very popular, and his tally of 59 goals in 68 appearances for his nation proves that he deserves to be mentioned in such conversations. As a seven-time Hungarian top scorer in the league, Schlosser was clearly just as eager to get into scoring position at club level as well.
5) Pelé, Brazil – 49 games
Pelé is a man who needs no introduction, and he holds many records – but not in this context, as he reached the half-century mark in 49 games. Brazil’s football nation has had all kinds of talents over the years, but none of them can boast the goal-scoring ability that the icon in the spotlight had. Ronaldo Nazario, however, is a very strong number two.
More of an artist than a footballer, Pelé developed an ability to pass defenders with relative ease in his heyday, and although his overall goal record is based on looser evidence, his aggressive nature in the attacking third cannot be disputed. After all, the late world celebrity is widely recognized as one of the greatest footballers of all time – and for good reason.
4) Erling Haaland, Norway – 46 games The
newest intruder on this star-studded list, Erling Haaland, may be Norway’s leading goalscorer – but there are still three players in football history who have reached the 50-goal mark in fewer games. The tall striker’s instinctive nature usually results in goals pouring in from all sides when he’s at the top of his game. Even when he’s not, you can still count on him to make the nights vibrate.
Only six players – Kane, Luis Suarez, Robert Lewandowski, Ali Ashfaq, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – have scored more than Erling Haaland’s 27 hat-tricks in the 21st century.
In a nutshell, Haaland is so far one of the most natural goalscorers of his generation, and there are many records that are going to be broken when he retires. Ali Daei, who scored his 100th goal for Iran in his 131st cap, is the fastest player to reach the hundred-goal mark. The question is not if, but when, he will pass the Iranian.
3) Gerd Müller, Germany – 41 games Gerd
Müller, a sharpshooter of the highest order and one of the greatest goalscorers in football history, was simply sensational in front of goal. Whether it was a cross, a well-placed shot or a header, you can often bet that it was he – nicknamed Der Bomber – who was on the receiving end, whether it was for club or country. Few players can match the numbers he delivered season by season.
The notable 1970 Ballon d’Or winner ended his national team career with more goals than games played (68 in 62), and he reached this milestone for West Germany in 1972. Forever part of the inventory in German football circles, his string of goal-scoring records doesn’t do Gerd Müller justice. For this list, he scored 50 goals in just 41 games.
2) Sándor Kocsis, Hungary – 40 games
Like Müller, Sándor Kocsis finished his time as Hungary’s top choice in attack with more goals than games played – 75 in 68. Let that sink in for a moment: the Barcelona hero’s goals-per-game ratio was a staggering 1.10! Kocsis played such a pivotal role in Hungary’s most fertile period in its football history.
In his first 50 appearances for the Central European nation, Kocsis – born and raised, like many, many others, in Budapest – is loved by those familiar with Hungarian football history, but he is rarely brought up in regular conversations. However, some argue that he was as potent as his compatriot Ferenc Puskás, and the numbers give that idea a lot of weight.
1) Poul Nielsen, Denmark – 36 games
The end of the list is Poul Nielsen, who led Denmark’s attack in the early 1900s between 1910 and 1925, and during that 14-year period, he became one of the most lethal strikers to ever play national team football. His record of half a hundred goals in 36 games, which is equivalent to a goal every 68 minutes, is a record that is considered by many to be either unbroken or unattainable.
Born in the Danish capital of Copenhagen in 1891, Nielsen is rarely recognized in football folklore, but his record, decades after his death, continues to live on, while also holding the flag of the Danish national team high. Because the midfielder’s career for Denmark spanned the infancy of national team football, it means he never played in a World Cup. But you can’t doubt his strength in front of goal.
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