Most goals all-time at the World Cup: Just Fontaine record and Klose among players to have scored the most times

Scoring a goal at the World Cup is amongst the highest achievements a footballer can complete during their career. 

Whether it's a scuffed finish from six yards out or a stunning volley from 30, every goal holds a special place in World Cup history. 

But which player has scored the most goals at a single World Cup or which nation has scored the most competition goals in history? 

Which player has scored the most World Cup goals in total?

After playing in four different World Cup editions, Germany's Miroslav Klose currently holds the record for most goals scored in the competition's history. 

The deadly striker scored 16 times across the 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014 tournaments combined, at an average of 0.67 goals per game. 

Somewhat as a result of his scoring prowess, Germany lifted the trophy in 2014 with the help of Klose. The other three tournaments in which he participated saw the European nation finish as runners up in 2002 and twice in third place in 2006 and 2010. 

List of players with 10 or more World Cup goals 

Which nation has scored the most World Cup goals in total?

Given that they remain as the only international football team in history to have participated in every edition of the World Cup to date, it perhaps won't come as a surprise that Brazil are the top scorers in World Cup history. 

From their first goal scored by Preguinho in a 2-1 loss to Yugoslavia back in July 1930, to their latest netted by Renato Augusto in a 2-1 quarter-final loss to Belgium at the 2018 World Cup, A Seleção have struck a grand total of 229 tournament goals. 

Brazil's legendary striker Ronaldo remains their top scorer at World Cup finals, scoring a total of 15 goals across the 1998, 2002 and 2006 editions. 

At the other end of the pitch, Germany hold the dubious honour of conceding the most goals in World Cup history. To this point, Die Mannschaft have let in a total of 125 goals across 19 tournaments. 

Just Fontaine record: Which player has scored the most goals at a single World Cup tournament?

One of the most gifted finishers in football history, France's Just Fontaine currently holds the record for scoring the most goals in a single edition of the World Cup.

The famous Reims and Nice forward netted a staggering 13 strikes during the 1958 World Cup that was held in Sweden for the first and only time. 

His goalscoring started with a famous hat trick in a 7-3 demolition of Paraguay in his nation's opening group stage match and finished in a 5-2 semi-final loss to Brazil. 

Even more remarkably, the 1958 World Cup was the only edition of the famous competition in which Fontaine played owing to his early retirement from the sport at the age of just 28.  

Fontaine sadly passed away in March, 2023, aged 89.

Which country has scored the most goals at a single World Cup tournament?  

The 1954 World Cup in Switzerland proved to be one of the most exciting to date as a whopping 5.38 goals were scored on average per match during the tournament. 

As a result, the record for most goals scored in a single tournament by a nation came during that edition when Hungary netted a barely believable 27 goals in just five matches. 

The European side started their campaign by recording a mammoth 9-0 victory over South Korea before they then beat West Germany 8-3 in their following outing. Ferenc Puskás & co then put four past both Brazil and Uruguay to reach the final but ironically lost out 3-2 to West Germany in the showpiece event. 

The 1954 World Cup also saw South Korea concede 16 times, the record amount by any nation in a single tournament. What's even worse is that the Asian nation played just twice due to the competition's old format!  

How many goals have previously been scored in total at World Cup tournaments?

Over the 22 editions of the FIFA World Cup, 2720 goals have been scored across across 964 games. In Qatar, there were 172 in total.

That works out at an average of 2.82 strikes per game throughout the history of the competition. 

List of World Cup Golden Boot winners by year