Best Strikers in Football in 2024 (Updated List)

Cristiano Ronaldo top-scored among the world’s best strikers in 2024; however, he is not playing in one of the best leagues. The Saudi Pro League is a second-rate tournament filled with journeymen, players who are past their best, and players looking for a quick buck. Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, Robert Lewandowski, and Kylian Mbappé are the best strikers in Europe and the world. 

However, discussing the best football players is a never-ending debate, often without definitive answers because of tribalism, biased feelings, and loose opinions. Facts over fiction; trophies, statistical data, and the “eye test” are only some ways to rate a football player. Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the two greatest footballers of all time. However, they are finishing their careers in mediocre leagues in Saudi Arabia and the United States of America. 

Football has changed rapidly in since the turn of the century. There are diverse types of goal scorers in the modern game, not just the traditional forwards, or the No. 9s and No. 10s of the past. Goals come from every position on the football field. Ronaldo and Messi are not strikers, at least not in the traditional sense, but they are the two greatest goal scorers in the history of world football.

Ronaldo has played most of his career as an attacking forward, but he started out as a winger and left-sided midfielder. He only became a goal threat in a forward role later in his Manchester United career under Sir Alex Ferguson. Ronaldo only became the focal point at the top end of the pitch when he moved to Real Madrid. 

Messi began as a wide-right forward in Catalonia under Frank Rijkaard. However, Pep Guardiola played the diminutive Argentinian as a false nine – a position that had been forgotten and outdated. Messi revolutionised the false 9, paving the way for other coaches and players to adopt Guardiola’s tactical thinking and strategies. The rest is history. 

Messi and Ronaldo are the world’s best football players and strikers despite not playing in a traditional goal scorer’s role or position. At SportsBoom, we have listed the greatest goal scorers of all time and the best strikers in world football in 2024. Let the debates begin!

Lionel Messi//Getty Images

Who are the Best Strikers in World Football in 2024?

The best strikers in world football in 2024 come from clubs across the world’s biggest leagues. All 10 finishers come from different clubs and nations across the globe. Seven of the best forwards in Europe make up the list. There are two strikers from Asia and one from Central America. 

Ronaldo topped the list of the world’s highest goal scorers, with 48 goals for Saudi Arabia club Al Nassr, in 2024. Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe and Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane finished equal second on 44 goals, four behind Ronaldo. Sporting Club de Portugal’s Viktor Gyokeres was fourth, with 43 goals. 

Aleksander Mitrovic plays in the Saudi Pro League (SPL). He was tied for fifth with Luuk de Jong and Erling Haaland. They all scored 38 goals in club football for Al-Hilal (SPL), PSV Eindhoven (Dutch Eredivisie), and Manchester City (English Premier League). 

Vangelis Pavlidis finished eighth on the top 10 list of goal scorers in world football in 2024. Pavlidis slotted 33 goals for AZ Alkmaar in the Eredivisie. Augustin Auzmendi is placed ninth. He scored 31 goals for Club de Futbol Motagua in Honduras’ Liga Nacional. Serhou Guirassy came tenth, one behind Auzmendi on 30 goals. 

Robert Lewandowski//Getty Images

Robert Lewandowski: The Best Striker in La Liga 

Robert Lewandowski is the best striker in La Liga and has been since he joined Barcelona from Bayern Munich in July 2022. The Polish striker is one of the most prolific strikers to play the game of football. Lewandowski (663) has scored the eighth-most goals in football history. 

He is closing in on Romário (710) and Gerd Müller (734). Lewandowski has won league titles with four separate clubs in three different countries. Last season, Lewandowski finished third in the 2024 Pichichi Trophy race. Artem Dovbyk stunned Spanish football by scoring a final-day hat-trick to win the coveted prize in his debut season at Girona. 

However, Lewandowski has 52 goals and 17 assists in 78 La Liga matches. The Pole has begun the new season on fire, scoring 10 goals (two assists) in nine La Liga games in the 2024/25 season. This not only makes him one of the best strikers ever, but Lewandowski also continues to be the best striker in La Liga. 

He won his first domestic title with Lech Poznań in 2009/10. He was the Ekstraklasa top scorer and Player of the Year, which he won twice. Two Bundesliga titles followed in back-to-back seasons at Borussia Dortmund in 2010/11 and 2011/12. Lewandowski defected to heated rivals Bayern Munich in 2014/15. He won eight Bundesliga titles, and multiple domestic and international cups, including the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League, the 2020 UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup. 

Lewandowski has been voted Poland Footballer of the Year eleven times. No matter the league or competition, the Polish striker has won multiple individual awards. In 2019/20, he was one of the best players in the world. Lewandowski was voted Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year, the UEFA Men’s Best Player Year, the UEFA Champions Forward of the Season, and the Bundesliga Player of the Season (his second POTS award in Germany). 

Before joining the Blaugrana, Lewandowski’s eye for goal saw him win back-to-back European Golden Shoe Awards with Bayern in 2021 and 2022. He is a three-time Bayern Munich Player of the Year. The goals and individual awards continued to flow in Spain. 

Lewandowski has twice been selected in the La Liga Team of the Season, and he won the coveted Pichichi Trophy after top scoring in Barcelona’s victorious La Liga campaign in 2022/23. Moreover, Lewandowski is still playing international football for Poland. He has played 154 international matches, scoring 84 goals, and shows no signs of hanging up his boots.

The Top Strikers in the UEFA Champions League 2024

The best strikers in the 2024 UEFA Champions League are incredible players. Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé shared top billing in the tournament, scoring eight goals apiece. Antoine Griezmann, Erling Haaland, and Vinícius Júnior scored six goals in the competition. Mbappé was the highest-paid player in the 2023/24 Champions League season. However, he could not lead Paris Saint-Germain to a first-ever Champions League triumph.

Kane and Mbappé shared the 2023/24 European Golden Shoe. They both scored 44 goals, making them the joint-highest scorers in the world in 2024. Haaland finished as the equal-fifth-highest scorer in the world and Europe, scoring 38 goals in 2024. Griezmann and Vinícius did not make the list.

Vinicius Junior//Getty Images

However, Vini Jr. scored 24 goals for Real Madrid from the left wing. The Brazilian helped Los Blancos to their thirty-sixth La Liga title and fifteenth UEFA Champions League title. Júnior is not only one of the best left wingers in the world, but he is also one of the best players. 

Julián Álvarez and Phil Foden scored five goals for Manchester City. Rasmus Højlund also bagged five for Manchester United. Galeno and Álvaro Morata netted five apiece for Porto and Atlético Madrid, respectively. Rodrygo and Joselu bagged five apiece for Madrid on the way to the club’s record-winning UCL title. 

Erling Haaland: The Best Young Striker in the World

Erling Haaland is the best young striker in the world and has been one of the top strikers in Europe since his time at Borussia Dortmund. The young Norwegian striker is also the most valuable footballer in the world, according to the respected Transfermarkt website. He is the son of former Manchester City midfielder Alfie Haaland. Haaland’s goal-scoring record is sensational. 

He has scored at a rate of almost one goal per game throughout his career. In October 2024, he broke Norway’s goal-scoring record when he bagged a brace versus Slovenia in the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League. The six-foot-four centre forward is the most prolific striker in the world. 

Haaland has scored 34 goals in 37 international appearances for Norway, including seven in seven matches in 2024. He already had eleven goals in ten games across all competitions for Manchester City by early October 2024. He has netted 236 times in 275 senior club appearances during his short career. He scored 38 goals in 45 matches for City in 2023/24, but it was one of the few times he did not win any top goal-scoring accolades. 

Erling Haaland and Phil Foden//The Score

The physical City number nine has won everything at the club, including a rare treble in 2022/23. City won the English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, and FA Cup, matching Manchester United’s 1999 treble. Haaland won the EPL Golden Boot in his first two seasons and is currently the top scorer in the 2024/24 campaign. 

He won the European Golden Shoe in 2022/23 and the UEFA Men’s Player of the Season. He was also voted the Premier League Young Player, Premier League Player of the Season, and Manchester City Player of the Season. Haaland top-scored in the 2020/21 and 2022/23 UCL seasons. 

While at Dortmund, the young striker was named 2020/21 UEFA Champions League Forward of the Season. He also won the Bundesliga Player of the Season. Haaland top-scored in the Nations League in 2020/21 and 2022/23. At the time of writing, he was one of five players sitting second on goal-scoring charts, with three goals in three games in Group B3 of the 2024/25 Nations League.