Cristiano Ronaldo has announced his retirement from international football, bringing the curtain down on a remarkable 23-year Portugal career. He bows out as the all-time leading international goalscorer, with his old rival Lionel Messi having already hung up his boots in second place. But which other legendary names feature in the all-time top 10?

International football is a different beast. Beyond the World Cup, European Championships, AFCON and Copa America, there are all kinds of wonderful tournaments and interesting stories happening away from the spotlight.

That results in a top 10 that’s a refreshing mix of household names who have spent their careers at elite clubs alongside obscure players who are heroes in their home countries but relatively unknown worldwide. Here are the names that make the list.

10. Ferenc Puskas (Hungary) – 84 goals

The legendary Gerd Muller famously bettered a goal-per-game ratio with 68 goals in just 62 appearances for West Germany, but he doesn’t quite make the top 10 international goalscorers list.

No player in this top 10 can quite boast a goal-a-game record, although Hungarian icon Puskas gets pretty damn close.

The Mightiest of the Magyars scored 84 goals in 89 international caps, representing both Hungary and Spain.

As well as his outrageous international record, he holds the title of most goals scored in European Cup finals, having scored four in one and a hat-trick in another for Real Madrid.

9. Ali Mabkhout (UAE) – 85 goals

Born and raised in Abu Dhabi, Mabkhout is a relatively lesser-known name, having spent his entire career in the United Arab Emirates.

But as careers in the UAE go, it’s difficult to imagine a better one. The former Al Jazira striker scored over 250 goals for the club before moving to Al Nasr.

Mabkhout’s 85 goals for his country came via just 115 caps. He retired from international football in 2024, having spent 15 years representing the UAE.

8. Mokhtar Dahari (Malaysia) – 89 goals

Now onto a legend of the Asian game. Malaysian forward Dahari, who spent almost his entire career with boyhood club Selangor, scored 89 goals in 142 international appearances in the 70s and 80s.

once scored twice in a 1975 friendly victory over Arsenal and famously rejected Real Madrid. Like Zambian legend Chitalu, he also died tragically young in the early 90s – just 37 years of age – after suffering with motor neurone disease.

7. Harry Kane (England) – 91 goals

One remarkable stat puts Kane’s England goalscoring into perspective: the goals he’s scored since turning 28 would still be enough to make him the Three Lions’ all-time leading scorer. Credit to Daniel Storey for that mindblowing stat.

One of the all-time greats. Unquestionably.

QUIZ: Can you name every male footballer to win the Ballon d’Or?

6. Robert Lewandowski (Poland) – 84 goals

Lewandowski is getting on a bit, has swapped Barcelona for Chicago Fire and isn’t exactly setting MLS alight. But he’s still got unfinished business with Poland.

Eight more goals would take the veteran striker to 100 for his country, an extraordinary achievement that remains within reach if he can keep going for a little longer.

5. Romelu Lukaku (Belgium) – 94 goals

Lukaku has endured a strange and difficult-to-parse club career, but there’s no arguing with his overall international record.

The Belgian has scored 94 goals in just 135 appearances for his country, giving him a goals-per-game ratio of 0.70.

The 33-year-old is clearly on the downslope of his career, nowadays turning out for Fenerbahce after an injury-ravaged couple of years, but we very much expect him to keep plugging away to become a centurion for the Red Devils.

4. Sunil Chhetri (India) – 95 goals

The greatest Indian footballer of all time, Chhetri spent almost all of his career moving between clubs in his home country, but he also spent time abroad with Sporting Kansas City and Sporting Lisbon, albeit without ever making any kind of impact for their senior teams.

It was also reported that Leeds United were interested back in their League One days.

He made his international debut against Pakistan back in 2005 and is yet to hang up his boots, although he did finally retire from the international game last year.

“The kid inside will probably keep fighting to play football, but the sensible, mature player and person knows that this is it,” Chhetri said in an announcement video.

Chettri scored 95 goals in 151 appearances for the Blue Tigers.

3. Ali Daei (Iran) – 108 goals

For a long time, Iran’s Daei held one of those records you thought would never be beaten. Especially when you consider that the top two’s international goalscoring numbers didn’t go truly stratospheric until they hit their thirties.

Messi and Ronaldo were still fresh-faced youngsters when Daei scored his 108th and last goal for Iran back in 2006.

Who’d have known back then that summer’s World Cup in Germany was to play host to three greats of the international game? With Daei at the opposite end of his career to the two men that would eventually surpass him.

2. Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 126 goals

Messi moved beyond Daei a long time ago to take up outright second in this list, eventually finishing his international career with 126 goals in 208 appearances for Argentina.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner enjoyed a remarkable final chapter with his country, winning the 2021 Copa America and 2022 World Cup before adding another Copa America triumph in 2024. So close to back-to-back World Cups, too, but it wasn’t to be in New Jersey.

He has now retired from international football, leaving Ronaldo as the only player ahead of him in the all-time standings.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – 146 goals

Who else but–?

Ronaldo left Real Madrid as the club’s all-time top goalscorer. He left the European game as the all-time top goalscorer in the history of the European Cup. He ends his Portugal career as international football’s all-time top goalscorer too.

He bows out with 146 goals in 234 appearances, comfortably the highest tally in the history of men’s international football.

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TRY A QUIZ: Can you name the top scorers for these 25 European nations?