Messi, Ronaldo, Eusebio: The most prolific scorers European football has ever seen

Thierry Henry is a French football player who spent most of his professional career playing for Arsenal in the Premier League. Throughout his career, Henry has been one of the most prolific strikers in the world, scoring 228 goals in all competitions for the ‘Gunners’.

Henry is Arsenal’s all-time leading scorer and currently holds the record for the most goals and assists in Premier League history! He was the real deal. The French striker has won numerous awards and accolades, including the PFA (Player of the Year), The FWA Footballer of the Year, and UEFA Club Footballer of the Year. He is regarded as one of the best football players of his generation.

Dries Mertens is a Belgian professional footballer who currently plays for Galatasaray. He made his glory with Napoli FC, taking it back to the top of Serie A. His natural role is that of a winger, however, he has also been played as a central striker. Mertens is renowned for his dribbling, great pace, and clinical finishing.

The Belgian footballer is the all-time top scorer for Napoli and the Belgian national team. He won numerous individual and team trophies, such as the Coppa Italia, and two Belgian MVP awards. Mertens was also named in the Serie A Team of the Year on three occasions.

Wayne Rooney is an ex-Manchester United player best known for his great success during the Alex Ferguson era. He holds the all-time leading goalscorer for both Manchester United and the England national team. He is the only English player to have won the Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, League Cup, UEFA Europa League, and FIFA Club World Cup! He scored a total of 253 goals with the ‘Red Devils’.

Francesco Totti is an Italian former professional footballer who played for AS Roma for his entire career. He was a creative attacking midfielder but would often push forward as a striker. Known for his vision creative technique and lethal goal-scoring right foot.

During his time at Roma, he won several domestic and international titles, including the Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year. Totti, now in the Italian Hall of Fame, is recognized for his positive impact on the sport. He retired from the club in 2017 and was later named club director in 2019.

Frank Lampard is the all-time leading goalscorer for Chelsea, where he spent 13 years of his career and the fourth-highest goalscorer in the history of the Premier League. He also won 11 major trophies throughout his career, including three Premier League titles, four FA cups, and two UEFA Champions League titles.

He also represented the England national team, for which he earned 106 caps and scored 29 goals. Lampard is the only player to have scored 150 goals in the Premier League. He scored a total of 211 goals for Chelsea.

Eusebio da Silva Ferreira, commonly known as ‘The Black Panther’, was a Portuguese football player who dominated the game throughout the 1960s. Born in Mozambique in 1942, Eusebio is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time due to his impressive goal performance at Benfica, scoring 638 goals in 614 appearances. He spent 15 years in Lisbon playing for Benfica, turning into a key player for the team.

Ferreira would go on to win 11 Primeira Liga titles, 5 national trophies, and 1 European Cup. He was awarded footballer of the year in 1965, one year later becoming Porguals top scorer during the 1966 World Cup. Eusebio died in 2014, but his legacy will forever live on.

Fernando Gomes is a former Portuguese football player who was born in Porto in 1963. Gomes was known for his attacking style of play and was a key starter of the FC Porto team during the 1980s and early 1990s. 

Gomes spent the majority of his career playing for Porto, making more than 300 appearances and scoring 355 goals. He won the Portuguese League three times while also finishing in fourth place at the 1986 World Cup. After retiring from football, Gomes has continues to be an ambassador for the sport in Portugal.

Gerd Müller, widely known as ‘Der Bomber’, was a German football player who had incredible success in the Bundesliga and with the German national team. He is best known for his prolific goal-scoring record, setting the record for goals scored in the Bundesliga with 365, and 68 for the German national team.

Müller was a forward whose main strengths were his predatory ability to sniff the goals, although he was also a solid playmaker with excellent passing. The German forward won the Bundesliga four times and the European Cup three times and the World Cup and European Cup with the German national team. His legacy lives on as the top-scorer in the Bundesliga, changing the trophy to his name in his honor.

Luis Aragonés was a Spanish football player and manager. He was a pioneer of Spanish football and is widely regarded as the most successful manager in Spanish football history, having won La Liga titles, four Spanish Super Cups, and one UEFA Cup. As a player Aragones won five la Liga titles with Atletico de Madrid, scoring a total of 172 goals.

Telmo Zarra was a Spanish football player who is widely regarded as one of the greatest stickers of all time. He played for Athletic de Bilbao from 1940 to 1955, winning six leagues and four national trophies. He was the top goalscorer in La Liga for an unprecedented six seasons, totaling an impressive 251 goals in 278 matches.

Zarra was awarded MVP seven times in a row making him the only Spanish player to have ever done so. He was inducted into the Spanish National Football Hall of Fame in 2002, in order to forever honor his memory as a clean finisher with great sportsmanship on the pitch.

Alessandro del Piero is a former Italian professional footballer who played for Juventus throughout 19 seasons, and scored 290 goals throughout his time in the ‘Veccia Signora’. He was captain for 11 years, winning six Seria A league titles alongside a UEFA Champions League in 1996. Del Piero was also a member of the Italian national team from 1995 to 2008, appearing in 91 matches and scoring 27 goals.

Kylian Mbappe is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Paris Sain-Germain and the French national team. Mbappe is considered to be one of the best players in the world for his explosive pace and illusive dribbling ability. At the age of 19, the young French football player has won numerous awards, including the 2018 World Cup and the 2020 Ligue 1 Player of the Year! So far he has scored 201 goals for the Parisians.

Cristiano Ronaldo is arguably one of the most influential football players in the world. He has scored over 700 career goals and is the all-time leading scorer for both the Portuguese national team and the UEFA Champions League. He looked unstoppable when he played for Real Madrid, scoring 451 goals! Ronaldo currently plays for Al-Nassr F.C. and is still accumulating goals to his name.

Lionel Andres Messi is an Argentinian professional football player who currently plays for Paris Saint Germain and the Argentinian national team. He is considered to be the best player of all time due to his remarkable trophy list. The Argentinian has won seven Ballon d’Or alongside six European Golden Shoes, both record achievements. 

He is most remembered for his spell in F.C. Barcelona, where he would go on to win multiple team titles while scoring over 650 goals. Leo recently won the 2022 World Cup with Argentina, making him the most decorated football player in history.