The 15 best strikers in world football right now – ranked in order
Calum Ritchie
56 – 71 minutes
Summary
With the new season well underway, the best strikers in world football will be competing to be viewed as the outright number one.
Harry Kane’s move to Bayern Munich in 2023 has seen him dominate the Bundesliga following his exploits with Tottenham in the Premier League.
Erling Haaland has drawn criticism for his all-round play at times, but he’s still one of the best strikers on the planet.
Some teams find a way to spread their goals around the team, but it is perhaps no coincidence that the best teams tend to have the most prolific men leading the line. Obviously, playing for a better team gives the forward a better chance of having shots at goal, but ensuring the ball finds a way past the goalkeeper is a fine art. This article ranks the top 15 strikers in world football at the moment, with three of the centre-forwards operating in the Premier League.
Ranking factors
Goals
Assists
Goals per game
Importance to team
Individual performances
1 Harry Kane
Club: Bayern Munich
Harry Kane
Harry Kane is modern football’s answer to Wayne Rooney. Yes, he will absolutely score 20 goals a season. But he’ll also hit double figures in the assist rankings and spend about 30% of his time playing as a holding midfielder just to find that added space to work his magic.
The England captain became his nation’s top goalscorer in 2023, as well as reaching second place in the all-time Premier League scoring charts after scoring an incredible 213 times for Tottenham. His move to Bayern Munich has been a success to date as the 31-year-old continues to search for his first major honour in the sport.
2 Robert Lewandowski
Club: Barcelona
Robert Lewandowski celebrating
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Even whilst towards his twilight years, the ex-Bayern Munich talisman finds himself outperforming the young guns such as Mbappe and Haaland. And in the 24/25 campaign so far, he has rediscovered some of his youth, as he’s banged in 16 goals in 18 La Liga appearances, including a brace in El Clasico as La Blaugrana stormed to the top of the table before Lamine Yamal’s injury stalled their progress.
3 Erling Haaland
Club: Manchester City
Erling Haaland
Erling Haaland has to go down as one of the best strikers in world football for one reason. He’s the best at putting the ball in the back of the opponent’s net. The Norwegian has set the world alight ever since he graced the Premier League with his presence. He smashed the goalscoring record for a single season, scoring 36 times in only 35 appearances during his debut campaign in the competition.
Haaland’s second season in the English top flight followed a similar pattern as he seemed to score every single week before being forced to spend time on the sidelines. He faced a lot of scrutiny from pundits for some of his performances in the second-half of the term, but he’s still one of the best goalscorers on the planet, and there’s no sign of that natural-born instinct letting up any time soon, even if recent form has led to his own self-doubt.
4 Kylian Mbappe
Club: Real Madrid
Kylian Mbappe
Is Kylian Mbappe a striker? Debatable. Although he can pretty much play anywhere across the front line, he is included in the top 10, even if he is arguably more effective coming off one of the flanks. But back to the player, never have we witnessed such devastating explosiveness as when Mbappe is well and truly at it.
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5 Viktor Gyokeres
Club: Sporting
Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyokeres celebrates scoring a goal with Marcus Edwards
The name on everybody’s lips, Viktor Gyokeres looked all set for a big-money move in the 2024 summer transfer window, but ultimately ended up spending another year in Portugal. The Sweden international only joined his current club, Sporting, the previous year from Championship outfit Coventry City, but his sparkling form while in the Portuguese league has caught the attention of some of the biggest clubs in Europe.
Viktor Gyokeres – Career Statistics
Statistic
Number
Appearances
372
Goals
197
Assists
58
Club: Newcastle United
Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak celebrates
A few eyebrows were raised when Newcastle paid a huge £63m fee for Alexander Isak, but there are not many who are doubting his quality now. The Swedish striker had an excellent first season in the English top flight, notching 10 goals and impressing with his finishing and tidy footwork, and that continued last season.
Alexander Isak – Career Statistics
Statistic
Number
Appearances
303
Goals
131
Assists
28
7 Lautaro Martinez
Club: Inter Milan
Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez
Now entering the prime of his career as a 27-year-old, Martinez looks to be accelerating his progression and has become one of the finest attackers on the planet. The Inter Milan forward won the Serie A Golden Boot last season with a significant margin between himself and the chasing pack. Martinez has refined his finishing ability in recent times and is now being recognised around the world, with Lionel Messi himself even naming the talisman as his heir for the Ballon d’Or, though it would be Rodri who would take that crown in the end.
8 Victor Osimhen
Club: Galatasary (on loan from Napoli)
Victor Osimhen celebrates scoring
Victor Osimhen’s potential has been well-known since he joined Lille in 2019, but it wasn’t until 2022 that the world truly saw the full extent of the relentless Nigerian’s talent. Standing tall, with speed, aerial dominance, and clinical finishing, Osimhen has scored nearly every type of goal imaginable throughout his Napoli career, leading them to the Serie A title in 2023 with 26 goals in 32 league matches.
Victor Osimhen – Career Statistics
Statistic
Number
Appearances
239
Goals
127
Assists
33
9 Ollie Watkins
Aston Villa
Ollie Watkins
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His talismanic form for the Villans was enough to fire the west Midlands club into the Champions League. It’s the first time the English side have ventured into the elite European competition in over four decades, and while he hasn’t set the world alight throughout the first half of the 2024/25 campaign, he will be hoping to improve further under his influential Spanish manager as he massively outperformed his xG last term.
10 Serhou Guirassy
Club: Borussia Dortmund
Serhou Guirassy in action for Borussia Dortmund
Much of this success can be attributed to Guirassy. And while his former team now sits seven places lower than last season, his well-earned transfer to Borussia Dortmund has made a noticeable impact on Stuttgart. Meanwhile, the Guinean striker continues to excel, netting six goals across as many Champions League matches as Dortmund reclaims its place among Europe’s elite clubs.
Serhou Guirassy – Career Statistics
Statistic
Number
Appearances
315
Goals
124
Assists
20
Club: Eintracht Frankfurt
Egypt attacker Omar Marmoush in action
Having been reportedly scouted by Liverpool’s first-rate recruitment team, mooted as the heir to Mo Salah’s golden throne, is enough of a compliment itself. Omar Marmoush is the next big thing in Egypt, and while he currently resides in the somewhat quietened facade of Eintracht Frankfurt, it won’t be long before Europe’s juggernaut clubs stop sniffing and turn to raiding the Bundesliga club of their glorious, goalscoring asset.
Omar Marmoush – Career Statistics
Statistic
Number
Appearances
212
Goals
68
Assists
30
12 Victor Boniface
Club: Bayer Leverkusen
Bayer Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface celebrating
The Nigerian striker fired in 14 league goals in the German top-flight despite missing a large portion of Leverkusen’s title-winning season. His incredible physicality and pace give opposing defenders multiple issues, and coupled with his quick thinking in front of the goal, Boniface is viewed as one of the best players in his position. This term, while his teammates haven’t matched the lofty standards of yesteryear, he’s still been plundering in goals, notching six in 10 Bundesliga appearances so far.
13 Cristiano Ronaldo
Club: Al-Nassr
Cristiano Ronaldo
There was once a point in time when the greatest goalscorer of all time would be the name at the very top of this list, with no real competition for his crown. In 2025, however, Cristiano Ronaldo finds himself plying his trade in the Saudi Pro League, which is undeniably lower in quality than the top European leagues.
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Cristiano Ronaldo – Career Statistics
Statistic
Number
Appearances
1032
Goals
775
Assists
241
14 Mateo Retegui
Club: Atalanta
In 17 Serie A games so far in the 2024/25 campaign, he has notched 12 goals, which sees him comfortably sit atop the goalscoring standings, ahead of Thuram and Dusan Vlahovic. The only real reason he’s not much further up in this one is because he’s yet to do it over a longer period of time. Give him an extra few months, and he’ll likely skyrocket into stardom.
15 Marcus Thuram
Club: Inter Milan
MixCollage-22-Apr-2024-09-10-PM-4810
Inter Milan stormed to Serie A glory last term, and it’s no surprise with the array of attacking options they have at their disposal. Marcus Thuram may not have been the jewel in Inter’s crown as that mantle was claimed by Martinez, but his debut season at the San Siro was still an incredible success.
Marcus Thuram – Career Statistics
Statistic
Number
Appearances
319
Goals
91
Assists
55
All statistics in this article are courtesy of Transfermarkt – correct as of 07/01/2025
