Who is the World Cup’s top scorer?

At the 2026 FIFA World Cup France’s Kylian Mbappé, with 22 goals, became the all-time top scorer in the men’s tournament. Argentina’s Lionel Messi is second on the list with 21 goals. Both players overtook Miroslav Klose of the German national football (soccer) team, who had scored a total of 16 goals across four World Cup tournaments, from 2002 through 2014. In the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Brazilian women’s national team player Marta is the top scorer with 17 goals. She has played in six World Cups, from 2003 through 2023. (Read: List of all-time World Cup top goal scorers.)