Goals per game: Europe's top international scorers
Saturday, June 30, 2018
Article summary
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 66 times in 102 competitive internationals, but does not make our list of the most efficient strikers.
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Article body
Cristiano Ronaldo's longevity and consistency as an international goalscorer is not in dispute; qualifying included, he has made more outfield appearances in FIFA World Cups and UEFA European Championships than any other player, and scored more goals, but in terms of strikes per game, his score of 0.65 leaves him a good way down our all-time standings.
Poland's Robert Lewandowski (0.73 goals per game) is the only current international who makes it into our top ten.
For our calculations, we included only players who had scored a minimum of 20 goals in World Cups and EUROs (qualifying and final tournaments), giving some older players who had fewer opportunities to shine in qualifying the chance to state their credentials.
Goals per game
2.33: Just Fontaine (France: 21 goals in 9 games)
1.25: Gerd Müller (West Germany: 39 goals in 31 games)
1.00: Luigi Riva (Italy: 27 goals in 27 games)
0.83: Johan Cruyff (Netherlands: 25 goals in 30 games)
0.76: Florin Răducioiu (Romania: 22 goals in 29 games)
0.75: Włodzimierz Lubański (Poland: 21 goals in 28 games)
0.73: Robert Lewandowski (Poland: 36 goals in 49 games)
0.72: Davor Šuker (Croatia: 32 goals in 44 games)
0.69: Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands: 29 goals in 42 games)
0.69: David Villa (Spain: 35 goals in 51 games)
0.69: Eusébio (Portugal: 26 goals in 38 games)
Most appearances in World Cup and EURO games (including qualifying)
111: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)
103: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
96: Iker Casillas (Spain)
90: Vitālijs Astafjevs (Latvia)
90: Robbie Keane (Republic of Ireland)
88: Sargis Hovsepyan (Armenia)
88: Peter Jehle (Liechtenstein)
86: Mario Frick (Liechtenstein)
85: Fabio Cannavaro (Italy)
85: Sergio Ramos (Spain)
84: Petr Čech (Czech Republic)
Most goals in World Cup and EURO games (including qualifying)
66: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
48: Miroslav Klose (Germany)
44: Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden)
44: Robbie Keane (Republic of Ireland)
40: Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine)
39: Hakan Şükür (Turkey)
38: Edin Džeko (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
37: Wayne Rooney (England)
37: Jon Dahl Tomasson (Denmark)
36: Robert Lewandowski (Poland)
35: Robin van Persie (Netherlands)
35: David Villa (Spain)
All stats as of 30/06/2018