The race to be the best striker in the world is fierce, with numerous worthy contenders vying for the top spot.
These sharp-shooting superstars dominate their domestic leagues and consistently find the back of the net in European competitions and on the global stage. But who truly stands out among the rest and who are the 9 best strikers in the world?
Here are the 9 best football strikers in the world today.
9. Dusan Vlahovic
Amongst the best young strikers in the world today is Dusan Vlahovic who made his international debut for Serbia in 2020, scoring a creditable 13 goals in 27 international appearances so far. Vlahovic found the net three times during Euro 2024 qualification as the Serbians finished second in group C.
The striker has played 250 times throughout his club career for Partizan, Fiorentina with Juventus and has scored over 90 goals to date. Vlahovic has won a Serbian SuperLiga, and Serbian Cup as well as a pair of Coppa Italia. Although he ended last season trophyless, Vlahovic still struck 18 goals for Juventus and was named Serie A’s Best Striker.
8. Victor Boniface
Victor Boniface has played for teams such as Bodø/Glimt, Belgian side Union SG and Bayer Leverkusen, making 150 appearances at club level and scoring over 60 goals. During the last campaign, Boniface hit 21 goals in 34 matches for Leverkusen, helping them win both the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal. He was also named as part of the Bundesliga Team of the Season and as Bundesliga Rookie of the Season.
Boniface is amongst the best young strikers in the world today. He made his international debut as recently as 2023, earning six caps for the national team to date and scoring his first goal in a Friendly versus Saudi Arabia.
7. Robert Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski is still one of the best football strikers in the World today. He has played for some of Europe’s elite clubs, including Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Barcelona. Lewandowski has scored an immense 600-plus club goals across 800 games. Last season he struck 26 times in 49 games for Barcelona and although finishing trophyless, he featured in the La Liga Team of the Season for 2023-24.
Lewandowski has accumulated over 150 caps for Poland and is the country's all-time top scorer, with over 80 international goals. He netted four times during Euro 2024 qualification as Poland finished third and progressed via play-off games against Estonia and Wales. Lewandowski has been named Polish Footballer of the Year eleven times!
6. Victor Osimhen
Victor Osimhen has featured for the likes of Wolfsburg, Lille and Napoli. He has made over 200 club appearances and scored 120 goals in the process. Osimhen won Serie A with Napoli in 2023, last season however the Italian side finished a disappointing tenth in the league, although he scored 17 goals in 32 games. Osimhen may be seeking a move to a major European club shortly.
One of the best football strikers in the World today, Osimhen has found the net 21 times in 35 matches for Nigeria so far. At the beginning of the year, he scored at the Africa Cup of Nations against Equatorial Guinea and was named African Footballer of the Year for 2023.
5. Viktor Gyokeres
Viktor Gyokeres is one of the best football strikers in the World today. The centre-forward previously played in English football with Brighton and Coventry City before moving from the Championship side to Sporting CP in 2023. He scored a remarkable 43 goals across 50 appearances during his debut season and was eventually named Primeira Liga Top Scorer as Sporting claimed the league title for 2023-24.
Gyokeres made his international debut in 2019, going on to win 20 caps to date, scoring six international goals, with four of them coming during this campaign alone. Although he hit three goals during Euro 2024 qualifying, Sweden ultimately had nowhere in the competition.
4. Cristiano Ronaldo
Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo has played over 1000 games for the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus. He holds the record for most career goals scored by a single player with nearly 900 strikes so far. Last season Ronaldo hit an incredible 50 goals in just 51 appearances for Al Nassr, finishing as the Saudi Pro League’s top scorer having scored 35 times. He also helped the Saudi side claim the Arab Club Champions Cup.
Still one of the best football strikers in the World today, Ronaldo has represented Portugal on over 200 occasions and scored an immense 130 international goals. In 2023, he hit a brace against Liechtenstein, earning him a 197th overall cap to become the most capped male footballer of all time. Ronaldo scored ten times during Euro 2024 qualifying as Portugal topped their group.
3. Lautaro Martinez
Vying for the title of best striker in the world, Lautaro Martinez made his international debut for Argentina in 2018 and has scored 22 goals in 57 appearances to date. The Argentine’s most recent international goal came during a 3-1 friendly win over Costa Rica earlier this year.
Martinez joined Inter Milan in 2018 and has scored 129 goals in 282 games for the club so far. Last season he netted 27 times in 44 appearances as Inter Milan claimed the Serie A title. He finished the campaign as Serie A top scorer with 24 strikes and was even named Serie A’s Most Valuable Player for 2023-24.
2. Harry Kane
Undoubtedly one of the best football strikers in the World today is the sensational Harry Kane. He has featured over 300 times for the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich, scoring over 340 times at club level and is Spurs’ highest-ever goalscorer in history with 280 goals.
Kane has earned nearly a century of caps for his country so far and in March 2023 surpassed Wayne Rooney’s total of 53 strikes to become England’s all-time leading goalscorer. He has represented the national team at five major tournaments to date since his debut in 2016 and currently has over 60 international goals to his name! You can explore more Harry Kane facts to get an insight into the Englishman
1. Erling Haaland
Erling Haaland has slowly worked his way to the summit of European football via Red Bull Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund and now Manchester City. In total, he has scored 245 goals in 300 club appearances. Last season he found the net 38 times in 45 games for City, becoming the Premier League’s top scorer for a second successive campaign, hitting 27 goals and winning the Premier League title.
Perhaps the best striker in the world, Haaland made his international debut for Norway in 2019, earning 33 caps for the national team so far and scoring an incredible 31 goals.
He has already struck four times in four games during 2024 including yet another hat-trick versus Kosovo. Haaland will undoubtedly be in the running for this year’s Ballon d’Or.