Leo Messi yesterday he scored his eighth Argentina hat-trick against Curaçao and surpassed the 100-goal barrier in the albiceleste shirt, a feat achieved by very few players. Exactly, the Argentine star occupies third place in the ranking of all-time top scorers at the national team level, with 102 goals. However, the king of the goal is Cristiano Ronaldowho is in first place on the podium with 124 goals, in a list that holds great surprises.
1
Cristiano Ronaldo
124 goals, Portugal
The ‘bug’ is the best ally of the goal par excellence, something that is also extended to the Portuguese team. Cristiano Ronaldo occupies the first place in the ranking of top scorers for national teams, with a whopping 124 goals in 199 games. At the age of 37, the Al Nassr player continues to be the benchmark in attack and leader of the Portuguese team.
2
Ali Daei
109 goals, Iran
Iran’s national team legend, Ali Daei, can boast of being the second soccer player in history to score the most goals at the national team level. As many as 109 goals, achieved in 174 games, honor the legacy of the striker who played for Bayern Munich.
3
Leo Messi
102 goals, Argentina
Leo Messi has a few things left to achieve, after lifting the long-awaited World Cup in Qatar a few months ago. The ’10’ of the albiceleste was the leader and the best player of the tournament, scoring up to seven goals that served to crown a team that vibrated like never before in achieving the third World Cup. With the hat-trick achieved against Curaçao, Leo reached 102 goals with the national team, placing him in third place all time.
4
Mokhtar Dahari
89 goals, Malaysia
The ‘killer’ from Malaysia occupies the fourth position on this list. His 89 goals show that Dahari is the greatest goal-scorer with the Asian team, who enjoyed his great work in front of goal between the 70s and 80s.
5
Ferenc Puskas
84 goals, Hungary and Spain
One of the legends of this sport cannot be lost among the top scorers in history. Puskás holds the fifth position thanks to 84 goals in 89 games, achieved in Hungary, although he also played up to four games with the Spanish team.
6
Ali Mabkhout
80 goals, United Arab Emirates
The Al-Jazira striker is the absolute idol of the United Arab Emirates team, for whom he scored 80 times, playing 105 games.
7
Godfrey Chitalu
79 goals, Zambia
The attacker made his mark in the Zambian national team scoring 79 goals in 111 appearances. He played his entire career in clubs in the African country, so he is not known by the media around the world.
8
Hussein Saeed
78 goals, Iraq
He began his professional career in 1975 and has since become Iraq’s top scorer. 78 goals in 137 clashes make it clear that he marked an era in the Arab team.
9
Pele
77 goals, Brazil
One of the great legends in the history of football, Pelé cannot be missing from this list. 77 goals he managed to score in Brazil ‘O Rey Pelé’, appearing in 92 games. The former Brazilian international’s goals helped the Rio de Janeiro team add up to three World Cups under his leadership.
10
Sandor Kocsis
75 goals, Hungary
The only option that repeats this top is that of Hungary. Sándor Kocsis wrote his history in the Hungarian team, hitting the net 75 times in just 68 games, as the only member of the ranks with more goals than appearances. It should be noted that the striker played a total of seven years in the Barça jersey, between 1958 and 1965.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
