Goals are the essence of football, aren’t they? And the best strikers in the world make scoring an art form. Here, we run through our top five…
Harry Kane (Bayern Munich & England)
It’s no longer up for debate: Harry Kane isn’t just the best striker in the world; he’s the best player in the world outright.
Kane has posted simply scintillating numbers since the start of last season, deservedly winning the 2026 Ballon d’Or – become the first Englishman since Michael Owen in 2001 to claim the award.
At the time of writing, he’s scored 10 goals in 12 games for Bayern Munich in all competitions this term – having racked up 51 in 61 in 2025/26, when he finished as Bundesliga top scorer for the third time in as many campaigns since joining Bayern from Tottenham.
Kane will turn 34 next July, but if anything he’s only getting better. That carries across to the international stage, where he continues to add to his record England goals tally – don’t be surprised to see the Three Lions captain pass the 100-goal mark in the relatively near future, having skippered his country to third at the 2026 World Cup, their best finish since lifting the trophy 1966, and recently matched Peter Shilton’s record of 125 caps.
And as if his formidable potency in front of goal wasn’t enough, Kane is also one of the finest creators in the business. Consistently dropping deep to get involved in build-up, his reliable stream of assists is almost as crucial as his goals.
Erling Haaland (Man City & Norway)
Probably the only player who can rival Kane for pure prolificness, Erling Haaland is as good as unstoppable, averaging almost a goal a game for Manchester City and more than that for Norway.
Winner of the Premier League Golden Boot in three of his first four seasons in England, Haaland will probably be close to 450 career goals before his 27th birthday next July (in theory, he’s barely even in his prime – a terrifying thought for defenders everywhere).
The master of staying onside and between the posts, Haaland is just inevitable, chalking up at least 29 club goals in each of the last six campaigns.
Like Kane, a Ballon d’Or contender, he made an expectedly big impact at his first World Cup this summer, finding the net seven times en route to the quarter-finals as Norway returned to footballs biggest stage in style – and, as he always does, making scoring look like the easiest thing in the world.
Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid & France)
There’s a strong case to be made for Kylian Mbappe claiming his first Ballon d’Or too – not least after what he did at the World Cup.
The first player ever to pick up two World Cup Golden Boots, Mbappe went back-to-back in captaining France to the semi-finals – and became the leading scorer in the history of the tournament, banging in 10 goals this summer to move to 22 overall (and he’s still only 27!).
Leading the line to similarly devastating effect for Real Madrid, the lightning quick Mbappe has just brought up a century of goals for the club – where his transformation for winger to out-and-out centre-forward has been well and truly completed.
Raphinha (Barcelona & Brazil)
Another player who started out playing wide but has become a free-scoring number nine, Barcelona captain Raphinha took just nine games of the 2026/27 LaLiga campaign to equal his 2025/26 tally in the competition.
Arguably Brazil’s standout star right now, the 29-year-old is one of the hardest-working strikers at the elite level and regularly tears it up for club – domestically and in the Champions League – and country.
Ousmane Dembele (PSG & France)
Unlike the other four on this list, Ousmane Dembele has won the Ballon d’Or. Showcasing remarkable powers of recovery after being plagued by serious injuries earlier in his career, the 29-year-old has spearheaded PSG’s successive Champions League triumphs and, despite being deployed on the right, has enjoyed his best-ever goalscoring year for France – including a World Cup hat-trick against Norway.
