Former Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid stars are among the players with the most goals and assists in the 21st century.
Scoring goals is the aim of the game and the players on this list were not only able to put the ball in the back of the net, but also create goals for their teammates too.
Including club and international goals, here are the seven players with the most goal contributions in the 21st century.
7. Neymar – 656 goals + assists
For a player who hasn’t played a great deal of football since turning 30, it’s amazing that Neymar has produced such amazing numbers in a short space of time.
For club and country, he’s averaged 0.89 goal contributions per game throughout his career, a record which can only be bettered by the top two players on this list.
It remains to be seen what the future holds for Neymar, but he can certainly look back at his career so far with enormous pride.
6. Karim Benzema – 689 goals + assists
For such a legendary list, it is somewhat surprising that only three of the players on this list have actually won the Ballon d’Or.
One of them is Benzema, who won the prestigious prize in 2022 thanks to his heroics for Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Despite spending the peak years of his career facilitating others, his scoring and assisting numbers have remained consistent.
After racking up 509 goal contributions for Real Madrid, he’s still adding to his tally today with Al-Ittihad.
5. Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 726 goals + assists
Ibrahimovic started his professional career in 1999, but the majority of his goal contributions came during the 21st century.
The Swedish forward scored goals in seven different countries at club level, enjoying his most prolific spells with PSG and AC Milan and Inter.
During his career, he averaged 0.74 goal contributions per game, having produced 726 goals and assists in 980 matches.
4. Luis Suarez – 836 goals + assists
In terms of their peak years, there’s an argument that Suarez is the best striker of his generation.
The Uruguayan was a force to be reckoned with during his prime and the numbers he put up with Liverpool and Barcelona were out of this world.
Now aged 38, he’s still adding to his tally with Inter Miami today.
3. Robert Lewandowski – 841 goals + assists
It’s a testament to Lewandowski’s longevity that he’s still doing the business for Barcelona today, aged 37.
The Polish striker produced the bulk of his goal contributions while playing in Germany for Dortmund and Bayern Munich, where he enjoyed the peak years of his career.
Still looking sharp in and around the box, he’ll almost certainly hit 900 goal contributions by the time he retires.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo – 1,195 goals + assists
While Ronaldo’s early career was defined by being a pacy, skilful winger, his later years have seen him converted into a goalscoring machine.
He is the top scorer of the 21st century with 938 strikes and is on a mission to break 1,000 career goals in official games, a feat never achieved before.
Ronaldo may have a reputation as a selfish player, but his record of 257 assists suggests otherwise. Only one player on this list has more assists than CR7…
1. Lionel Messi – 1,264 goals + assists
Were you expecting anyone else? The Argentine tops this list and does so by some margin.
In 1,117 matches, Messi has contributed to 1,264 goals, making him the only player with a positive ratio.
Breaking that down, Messi has scored 875 goals – of which 666 came for Barcelona – and produced 389 assists.
His best season was 2011-12, when he scored 73 goals across all competitions, while in 2012, he scored a record 91 goals in a calendar year.
Look at every scoring record out there and chances are it’s Messi’s name next to it.
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