Who is the highest goal scorer in football history

Debating statistics to determine the greatest goalscorers ever remains one of football’s enduring passions. While newer metrics attempt to account for era differences, traditional tallies of goals scored still dominate discussions of lethal finishers.

This analysis explores the current highest goal getters across key categories – counting both club and international goals.

All-Time Top Goalscorers

For overall career goals, the current top five stand as:

1. Josef Bican – Officially credited with 805 goals although some estimates place him over 1200. Star of the 1930s-50s for clubs like Slavia Prague.
2. Romario – Legendary Brazilian striker with 772 career goals during the 1980s-2000s with PSV, Barcelona and more. Won 1994 World Cup.
3. Pelé – Brazil’s first global superstar tallying 767 goals from 1957-1977 for Santos, NY Cosmos and country. Helped popularize the game globally.
4. Lionel Messi – Active Barcelona and Argentina wizard sits on 759 goals at just age 35, and should reach over 800 before retiring. La Liga’s highest scorer ever.
5. Ferenc Puskas – Hungarian great with 746 goals playing from 1943 into the 1960s notably for Real Madrid and dominant national side. Considered both artful and deadly as a finisher.

International Goal Kings

For goals in recognized international matches for country:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo – All-time charts leader with 118 goals in 191 caps for Portugal thus far. Won Euro 2016 with his country.
2. Ali Daei – Iranian striker that tallied 109 goals in 149 appearances between 1993 and 2006. Spent career playing mostly in German Bundesliga.
3. Mokhtar Dahari – Legendary Malaysian striker credited with 89 goals in 131 matches during the 1970s. Never played overseas.
4. Ferenc Puskas – Scored 84 times in just 85 Hungarian national team caps. Was prolific in the 1950s “Mighty Magyars” team deemed best squad ever then.
5. Kunishige Kamamoto – Japanese striker tallying 80 goals in just 84 Blue Samurai appearances through much of the 1960s. Played locally his entire career.

Additional categories could include most club goals ever (Josef Bican), hat-tricks scored (Lionel Messi) or goals in a single match (Erwin Helmchen). But the status of highest goalscorers ever will remain hotly contested by fans worldwide forever comparing goal totals across eras fairly or not!