LIONEL MESSI joined rival Cristiano Ronaldo in the 900 club after netting a historic goal against Nashville SC this week.
The Argentine superstar became just the second player in football history to score 900 top flight goals alongside former Ballon d’Or nemesis Ronaldo.
Messi, 38, added to ridiculous catalogue of goals across his career by scoring the opener in Inter Miami‘s 1-1 draw.
Ronaldo is the only player ahead of him in the list of top scorers and there is some illustrious company alongside the pair.
Sun Sport has taken a look at the top ten highest goalscorers of all time, according to the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).
10 – Joe Bambrick (626)
Many football fans won’t have heard of Bambrick, given that his active years came between 1926 and 1943.
The Belfast-born forward turned out for Chelsea and Walsall during his career.
But it was with Irish side Linfield where Bambrick scored the bulk of his goals – netting an astonishing 509 times over the course of his career.
9 – Gerd Muller (634)
The legendary German will go down in history as one of football’s greatest forwards after winning the World Cup and Ballon d’Or during his career.
He managed an incredible 565 strikes from 607 for Bayern Munich, helping them win four Bundesliga titles and three European Cups.
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Muller topped up his goal tally with another 68 goals for the German national team.
8 – Jimmy Jones (639)
Prolific goalscorer who, like Bambrick, enjoyed most of his success in the Irish league.
Jones started out in his native Northern Ireland, playing for Glenavon, Belfast Celtic and Larne before a brief and unsuccessful spell with Fulham.
He then returned to Glenavon and the rest is history. He fired in 517 goals, becoming a club legend as he inspired them to three league titles and three Irish Cups.
7 – Robert Lewandowski (693)
Testament to the Polish star’s incredible ability that he is so high up on this list of legends.
He’s still banging the goals in for Barcelona at the age of 37 and it’s consistency that has made him one of the best centre forwards in the modern game.
Lewandowski bagged 100 goals for Dortmund, 344 for Bayern and another 117 for Barcelona. Plus 88 for Poland. There aren’t many players who could get near to his level of ruthlessness.
6 – Josef Bican (722)
Vienna-born star spent most of his career playing in Austria and the Czech Republic.
But just because he never played for a major club, doesn’t mean we should discount his superb exploits in front of goal. He blitzed 526 goals in just 270 games for Slavia Prague.
His strikes inspired one league title for Rapid Wien and six for Slavia. And he would score another 14 for Austria and 12 for Czechoslovakia.
5 – Ferenc Puskas (725)
A legendary figure in the game after his ridiculous efforts for Real Madrid.
Puskas left behind an incredible legacy after scoring 242 times for Los Blancos, winning five La Liga titles and three European Cups.
Beforehand, he netted 428 goals for Hungarian side Budapest Honved and 84 for the Hungarian national side.
4 – Romario (756)
Brazilian showed he could do it all during his career before he went on to become a politician in his home country.
As a footballer, he mainly played in Brazil but enjoyed a prolific spell with PSV, where he fired in 128 goals in 149 games before switching to Barcelona.
He was a big hit at the Camp Nou after scoring 32 goals in his first season, winning La Liga, before later returning to Brazil with Flamengo. He was also part of the Brazil side that won the 1994 World Cup as he finished his international career with 55 goals from 70 caps.
3 – Pele (762)
Without doubt one of the greatest to ever grace a pitch after showcasing his incredible skills and knack for a goal.
Some record books have insisted Pele‘s real goal tally stood in the 1000s, but the IFFHS have him down for 762 strikes, which is still mighty impressive.
The Brazilian played almost his entire career for beloved club Santos, where he scored 643 times. For Brazil, he scored another 77, helping the Selecao to three World Cups.
2 – Lionel Messi (900)
Messi became Barca’s youngest scorer at 17 years and 10 days and has never looked back. He smashed in a stunning 672 goals for the Catalan giants and changed football forever as he became one of the best players in history.
His superhuman effort in front of goal saw him score 73 times in the 2011-12 season, with another 60 arriving the following campaign. Since 2008, he never failed to score less than 30 goals each year for Barcelona.
Messi led Barca to ten La Liga titles, seven Copa Del Reys and four Champions Leagues. And he finally clinched the holy grail of winning the World Cup with Argentina in 2022.
He scored 115 goals for his national team and has continued to break records since leaving Barcelona in 2021. He scored 32 in 75 games for PSG and has 81 from 83 games for Inter Miami.
1 – Cristiano Ronaldo (965)
His bitter rival Messi might have had the better of him when it came to Ballon d’Ors, but Ronaldo has always been ahead of him in the scorecharts.
Ronaldo is still going strong with Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr aged 41 and shows no signs of slowing down after scoring 22 goals in 26 games so far this season.
He is still planning to play in this year’s World Cup with Portugal, looking to add to his 143 strikes for his national side.
Ronaldo will go down in football history for generations to come after becoming a role model for many fans and players. His rise as a football icon began at Manchester United, where he scored 118 goals and won the Champions League and Ballon d’Or.
He later fired in 450 strikes for Real Madrid, 101 for Juventus and then another 27 in his second stint at Old Trafford.
