best big-game goalscorers in football history? sorry messi

After analysing 1,931 goals scored by 1,071 footballers across 63 years, sportswriter Liam Corbett has compiled a list of the 50 players whose goals changed the course of the sport's history
Gerd Müller picks up a few more points on his way to topping the list of big-game goalscorers. Photograph: Staff/AFP/Getty Images
Paul Campbell and Liam Corbett

Whose goals have most changed the course of football history? Lionel Messi scored 91 goals in 2012 to beat Gerd Müller's record of 85 in a calendar year set back in 1972. Messi seems to break records every time he plays. Putting five goals past Bayer Leverkusen in last season's Champions League was a remarkable achievement but, for all his heroics, Messi still lags some way behind Müller when it comes to changing games on the grandest stages.
Sportswriter Liam Corbett of the Average Opposition blog has analysed all the goals scored in the world's biggest competitions since 1950 – that's 1,931 goals by 1,071 different scorers in 63 years – and complied a list of football's top 50 big-game goalscorers. This exercise is about the goals that have shaped matches at the very pinnacle of the sport. And Gerd Müller has scored more that anyone.
Weightings
TournamentPoints
World Cup final5
European Championship final4
Copa America final4
World Cup semi-final4
World Cup final group stages3.5
European Cup final3
European Championship semi-final3
Copa America semi-final3
Copa Libertadores final2.5
Copa America final group stages2.5
European Championship final group stages2.5
Copa America final stages2
Europa League final2
UEFA Cup final2
Cup-Winners Cup final2
Champions League semi-final2
Copa America semi-final2
Copa Libertadores semi-final1.5
Müller scored 68 goals in 62 internationals for Germany and another 398 in his 453 appearances for Bayern Munich. The numbers are staggering, but his consistency is even more impressive. He was no flat-track bully. Müller scored in the finals and semi-finals of the World Cup, European Championship and European Cup. His last goal for Germany was the winner in the 1974 World Cup final, played in his club's stadium in Munich.

He's the clear winner on a list that throws up a few intriguing insights. Bobby Charlton is the highest placed English player, with Geoff Hurst also making the top 50 thanks to three goals scored on the same afternoon. Nine Brazilians make the list, while Argentina has seven representatives.

Diego Forlán, the best performer at the last World Cup and Uruguay's top scorer and cap-holder, is the only man in the top 20 still playing. Messi has plenty of time to rise up the list, but he's currently sitting in 39th, just below Jari Litmanen.

The top 50 big-game goalscorers
RankPointsGoalsCareerCountyPlayer
1Gerd MullerGermany1963-1981
2Alfredo Di StefanoArgentina1945-1966
3PeleBrazil1956-1977
4Ferenc PuskasHungary1943-1966
5Zinedine ZidaneFrance1988-2006
6RonaldoBrazil1993-2011
7Alberto SpencerEcuador1953-1972
8VavaBrazil1949-1969
9Mario KempesArgentina1970-1996
10EusebioPortugal1957-1979923
11Marco van BastenHolland1981-1993
12AdemirBrazil1939-1957
13Dieter MullerGermany1972-1989
14Paul BreitnerGermany1970-1983
15Diego ForlanUruguay1997-2013
16Johan CruyffHolland1964-1984
17Karl-Heinz RummeniggeGermany1974-1989
18Paolo RossiItaly1976-1987
19Bobby CharltonEngland1956-1976
20Michel PlatiniFrance1972-1987
21RomarioBrazil1985-2009
22Alessandro Del PieroItaly1988-2013
23Hector RialSpain1947-1964
24Juan Roman RiquelmeArgentina1995-2013
25Cristiano RonaldoPortugal2002-2013
26Juan Alberto SchiaffinoUruguay1943-1962
27Marcelo DelgadoArgentina1990-2010
28Hernan CrespoArgentina1993-2013
29Rob RensenbrinkHolland1965-1982
30Sandro MazzolaItaly1960-1977
31Sandor KocsisHungary1943-1961
32Geoff HurstEngland1959-1979
33Kurt HamrinSweden1952-1972
34ChicoBrazil1939-1956
35Johan NeeskensHolland1968-1991
36ZicoBrazil1971-1994
37Jonny RepHolland1971-1987
38Jari LitmanenFinland1987-2011
39Lionel MessiArgentina2005-2013
40Andreas BrehmeWest Germany1978-1998
41Gabriel BatistutaArgentina1988-2005
42CoutinhoBrazil1953-1972
43JairzinhoBrazil1959-1982
44SantillanaSpain1970-1988
45José ÁguasPortugal1948-1964
46Amancio AmaroSpain1958-1976
47Fernando TorresSpain2001-2013
48Horst HubreschGermany1971-1986
49Ruud GullitHolland1979-1998
50Karl-Heinz RiedleGermany1983-20014