In an era of club football’s overwhelming popularity, scoring goals while donning the national jersey is still an experience every footballer yearns for.
Then there are a few players who have experienced the feeling over and over again, etching their names in the history books.
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, with 127 goals in 203 matches and counting, has scored the most goals in international football in the men’s game.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been netting goals regularly since making his debut for the Portuguese national side in 2003 and has 10 hat-tricks to his name - also the most in international football.
Any mention of Cristiano Ronaldo, however, feels incomplete without drawing comparisons to fellow modern-day icon Lionel Messi. As per norm, the Argentinian magician also appears on the top 10 of this illustrious list.
Lionel Messi (106 goals) is third in the all-time top international goal scorers’ list and the second-most prolific active goal scorer (currently playing) after Cristiano Ronaldo.
Interestingly, Indian football talisman Sunil Chhetri is fourth overall and third in the all-time and active scorers’ lists, respectively.
Chhetri has played a major role in India’s footballing fortunes in the last decade, earning legendary status in the nation’s sporting history.
However, it’s not just the 21st century stars who feature in the record books.
Legends like Iran’s Ali Daei, who was the first football player to score 100 international goals, Ferenc Puskas of Hungary, who boasted an astounding 1:1 goal to match ratio also finds a place in the roll of honour.
Ali Daei, with 109 goals, is also the top international scorer among Asian players while Godfrey Chitalu of Zambia sits on top in the list of African footballers.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the most accomplished European goal scorer of all-time while Lionel Messi and Trinidad and Tobago’s Stern John (70 goals) hold the continental perches for South and North America, respectively.
Curiously, Germany’s Miroslav Klose - the player with most goals (16) in the FIFA World Cup - doesn’t feature in the top 10 all-time international goal scorer’s list. Klose has scored 71 goals in 137 caps. Three-time World Cup winner Pele, with 77 goals in 92 matches, is the second-highest goal scorer for Brazil after Neymar, who has netted 79 goals.
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer,[a] is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each, who primarily use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed goal defended by the opposing team. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45-minute halves, for a total match time of 90 minutes. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries and territories, it is the world's most popular sport.
The game of association football is played in accordance with the Laws of the Game, a set of rules that has been in effect since 1863 and maintained by the IFAB since 1886. The game is played with a football that is 68–70 cm (27–28 in) in circumference. The two teams compete to get the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts and under the bar), thereby scoring a goal.
When the ball is in play, the players mainly use their feet, but may use any other part of their body, except for their hands or arms, to control, strike, or pass the ball. Only the goalkeepers may use their hands and arms, and only then within the penalty area.
The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner. Depending on the format of the competition, an equal number of goals scored may result in a draw being declared, or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shoot-out.
Internationally, association football is governed by FIFA. Under FIFA, there are six continental confederations: AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC and UEFA. Of these confederations, CONMEBOL is the oldest one, being founded in 1916.
National associations (e.g. The FA or JFA) are responsible for managing the game in their own countries both professionally and at an amateur level, and coordinating competitions in accordance with the Laws of the Game.
The most senior and prestigious international competitions are the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women's World Cup. The men's World Cup is the most-viewed sporting event in the world, surpassing the Olympic Games.
The two most prestigious competitions in European club football are the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Women's Champions League, which attract an extensive television audience throughout the world. Since 2009, the final of the men's tournament has been the most-watched annual sporting event in the world.tches | LIVE!!*
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