{"id":4827,"date":"2026-09-20T18:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T18:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportbulletin.top\/?p=4827"},"modified":"2026-09-20T18:24:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T18:24:12","slug":"kane-has-crashed-the-messi-ronaldo-party-in-europes-10-greatest-scorers-since-2000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportbulletin.top\/?p=4827","title":{"rendered":"Kane has crashed the Messi-Ronaldo party in Europe\u2019s 10 greatest scorers since 2000"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Who are the greatest goalscorers of the modern era?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Lionel Messi<\/a> and Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a> unsurprisingly occupy the top two for most goals scored in Europe\u2019s major leagues (Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1, Serie A and Bundesliga) since the year 2000. But who is top? And which other superstars feature?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Here are the 10 players who have scored the most goals across Europe\u2019s five major leagues since 2000.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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10. Luis Suarez<\/a> \u2013 247 goals<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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El Pistolero would be a few places higher in this list if the Eredivisie counted as one of Europe\u2019s top leagues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He scored 91 goals in the Dutch top flight before joining Liverpool in 2011, and for about a decade his numbers went stratospheric.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Uruguayan fired the Reds\u2019 surprise title charge under Brendan Rodgers and went on to win five La Liga titles in eight years with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Suarez boasted seven 20+ goal seasons in Spain and England and broke Messi and Ronaldo\u2019s duopoly of the European Golden Shoe in 2015-16 with an outrageous tally of 40 La Liga goals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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9. Kylian Mbappe<\/a> \u2013 254 goals<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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It\u2019s surely only a matter of time that Erling Haaland (152 goals in the Bundesliga and Premier League) is up there amongst these modern-day greats.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But for now, of the contemporary great goalscorers it\u2019s Mbappe who finds himself in the top 10 and surely set to move up at least a couple of places this season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The World Cup winner scored 191 goals for Monaco and PSG in Ligue 1, and he\u2019s already up to 63 goals (from just 71 appearances) for Real Madrid in La Liga.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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8. Sergio Aguero<\/a> \u2013 260 goals<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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The 10 players on this list have scored thousands upon thousands of league goals between them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Of those, it\u2019s fair to say that Aguero\u2019s against QPR is the most monumental and memorable \u2013 and by some distance, too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The vast majority of Aguero\u2019s 26o goals were in the Premier League for Manchester City, but he also notched 74 as a youngster in La Liga for Atletico Madrid and capped off his glittering career with one goal for Barcelona in El Clasico.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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7. Edinson Cavani<\/a> \u2013 267 goals<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Two hundred and fifty of these goals were scored in El Matador\u2019s prime years in Serie A and Ligue 1, banging them in with outrageous regularity for Napoli and PSG.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Surprisingly 20 goals ahead of his former Uruguay strike partner Suarez, Cavani notched a further 12 goals in the Premier League and five in La Liga in his twilight years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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6. Karim Benzema<\/a> \u2013 281 goals<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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You wonder if King Karim might\u2019ve been a few places higher in this list had he not spent eight peak years as a supporting act for Ronaldo.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He\u2019ll have few regrets, given that devastating combination helped yield four Champions League trophies for Real Madrid, but his best goalscoring seasons tended to be as the main man.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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First when breaking through at Lyon and then as Los Blancos\u2019 talisman in the post-Ronaldo era.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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5. Zlatan Ibrahimovic<\/a> \u2013 301 goals<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Like his old PSG team-mate Cavani \u2013 an unstoppable front two on their day \u2013 Ibra is only missing the Bundesliga to complete the European set.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s not easy to imagine him racking up a few titles and god knows how many goals for Bayern Munich in a different life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He scored 156 goals in Serie A, 113 in Ligue 1, 17 in the Premier League and 16 during his one-season stint in La Liga with Barcelona.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That\u2019s not to mention the nearly 100 league goals he scored in MLS, Sweden and the Netherlands and 50+ in UEFA competitions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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4. Harry Kane<\/a> \u2013 314 goals<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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The England captain would surely have broken Alan Shearer\u2019s Premier League goalscoring record had he stuck around, but now he\u2019s chasing records in the Bundesliga instead<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Kane scored 213 goals in 320 appearances in the English top flight for Tottenham and has upped his strike rate at the Bundesliga\u2019s dominant force, Bayern Munich.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He\u2019s got a better than a goal per game record out in Germany \u2013 101 goals in just 98 outings<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Still only 33, we\u2019d be surprised if he doesn\u2019t notch at least a further hundred league goals to one day sit third in this list. First or second are probably out of reach, though.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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3. Robert Lewandowski<\/a> \u2013 395 goals<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Very comfortably third, there can be no questioning Lewandowski\u2019s status as the third greatest goalscorer of the modern era.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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His exceptional, goal-laden career deserved recognition with the Ballon d\u2019Or and it remains a minor scandal that the award was cancelled when it was surely his after his treble-winning 2019-20 campaign.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He didn\u2019t quite become the third footballer in history<\/a> to break the 400-goal mark across Europe\u2019s top leagues after setting sail for Chicago Fire, but somehow we doubt that keeps him up at night.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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His legacy is secure. This outrageous tally of goals has been crucial in him winning two league titles with Borussia Dortmund, eight with Bayern Munich and three with Barcelona.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2. Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a> \u2013 495 goals<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Sorry, Ronny, the Portuguese Primeira Liga doesn\u2019t count as one of Europe\u2019s top leagues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If it did, his three league goals as a teenager for boyhood club Sporting Lisbon would\u2019ve inched him into the top spot.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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1. Lionel Messi<\/a> \u2013 496 goals<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cDon\u2019t write about him, don\u2019t try to describe him, just watch him,\u201d says Pep Guardiola.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That puts us in a tricky spot, seen as that\u2019s kind of what we\u2019re all about, but we can\u2019t disagree.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Somehow Messi\u2019s 496 La Liga and Ligue 1 goals don\u2019t quite do justice to what a special footballer he is.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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