FIFA World Cup qualification
Encyclopedia
The FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

 World Cup qualification
is the process that a national association football team goes through to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Finals
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

. The FIFA World Cup is a global event, so qualification is required to reduce the large field of participants from about 200 to 32.

Qualifying tournaments are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa
Confederation of African Football
The Confederation of African Football is the administrative and controlling body for African association football.CAF represents the national football associations of Africa, runs continental, national, and club competitions, and controls the prize money, regulations and media rights to those...

, Asia
Asian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football in Asia. It has 46 member countries, mostly located on the Asian continent. However, due to the disputed boundary of Europe and Asia, nations such as Russia and Turkey which are located mostly in geographic Asia are...

, North and Central America and Caribbean
CONCACAF
The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football is the continental governing body for association football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean...

, South America
CONMEBOL
The South American Football Confederation , commonly known as CONMEBOL , is the continental governing body of association football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations...

, Oceania
Oceania Football Confederation
The Oceania Football Confederation is one of the six continental confederations of international association football, consisting of Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and island nations such as Tonga, Fiji and other Pacific Island countries...

, Europe
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

), and are organized by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FIFA decides beforehand the number of spots awarded to each of the continental zones, based on the numbers and/or relative strength of the confederations' teams. 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
The qualification competition for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC , CAF , CONCACAF , CONMEBOL , OFC , and UEFA — was allocated a certain number of the 32 places at the tournament...

 commenced in 2007 and finished in late 2009.

The hosts of the World Cup receive an automatic berth in the finals. Unlike many other sports, results of the previous World Cups or of the continental championships are not taken into account. Until 2002, the defending champions also received an automatic berth, but starting from the 2006 World Cup this is no longer the case.

History

Over many years, the World Cup's qualification has evolved, from having no qualification at all in 1930
1930 FIFA World Cup
The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 July to 30 July 1930...

, when the tournament was invitational and only 13 teams entered, to the current two-year process. The first World Cup qualifying match was played on 11 June 1933 when Sweden defeated Estonia 6–2 in Stockholm. The first ever goal in a World Cup qualifying match was scored 7 minutes into the game: it was scored according to some sources by Swedish captain Knut Kroon
Knut Kroon
Knut Kroon "Knutte" was a Swedish footballer. He played as a striker.-Career:Kroon began his career in Stattena IF. In 1925, he moved to the nearby club Helsingborgs IF where he made 516 appearances and scored 318 goals...

, or according to other sources by Estonian goalkeeper Evald Tipner
Evald Tipner
Evald Tipner was Estonian football, ice hockey and bandy player. He was capped 66 times for Estonian national football team, 7 times for bandy national team and once for ice hockey team...

 (own goal).

While the number of teams which qualified for the finals has increased steadily, from 16 between 1934 and 1978, to 24 between 1982 and 1994, and finally to 32 starting from 1998, the qualification format has been basically the same throughout the history of the World Cup. The teams have been grouped continentally, and they competed for a fixed number of berths, with one or two berths reserved for winners of the intercontinental play-offs.

Qualification spots by continent

The table below lists the numbers of spots allocated by FIFA for each continent in each tournament. Places in the intercontinental play-offs count as 0.5 spots. Numbers in bold represent the winners of the intercontinental play-offs. "+C" denotes an additional spot for defending champions. "+H" denotes an additional spot for hosts.
Places allocated for continents
Continental zone 1934
1934 FIFA World Cup qualification
Estonia v Lithuania was not played, since neither team could qualify with a win.Sweden qualified.-Group 2:----Spain qualified.-Group 3:Italy qualified, as Greece withdrew after the first match.-Group 4:--------...


 Italy
(16)
1938
1938 FIFA World Cup qualification
-Group 2:----Norway qualified.-Group 3:----Poland finished above Yugoslavia on goal average, and thus qualified.-Group 5:Switzerland qualified.-First round:----Greece qualified for the final round....


 Early Modern France
(15)1
1950
1950 FIFA World Cup qualification
-First round:Syria withdrew, and remaining match was not played.Turkey advanced to the Final Round.-Final round:Austria withdrew, so Turkey qualified automatically. But Turkey later also withdrew, and FIFA offered the place to Portugal, the runner-up of Group 6, but they declined...


 Brazil
(13)2
1954
1954 FIFA World Cup qualification
A total of 45 teams entered the 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. , as the hosts, and , as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition....


 Switzerland
(16)
1958
1958 FIFA World Cup qualification
-UEFA Group 2:--------------------France qualified.-UEFA Group 3:--------------------Hungary qualified.-UEFA Group 4:--------------------Czechoslovakia qualified...


 Sweden
(16)
1962
1962 FIFA World Cup qualification
Sweden and Switzerland finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify.Switzerland qualified for FIFA World Cup 1962 in Chile-UEFA Group 2:--------------------...


 Chile
(16)
1966
1966 FIFA World Cup qualification
A total of 74 teams entered the 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. , as the hosts, and , as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition....


 Kingdom of England
(16)
1970
1970 FIFA World Cup qualification
A total of 75 teams entered the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Hosts and defending champions qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition....


 Mexico
(16)
1974
1974 FIFA World Cup qualification
A total of 99 teams entered the 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. , as the hosts, and , as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition....


 West Germany
(16)
1978
1978 FIFA World Cup qualification
A total of 107 teams entered the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. , as the hosts, and , as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition....


 Argentina
(16)
1982
1982 FIFA World Cup qualification
A total of 109 teams entered the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 24 spots in the final tournament, an increase from 16 in the previous World Cups...


 Spain
(24)
1986
1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
A total of 121 teams entered the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 24 spots in the final tournament. Mexico, as the hosts, and Italy, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 22 spots open for competition...


 Mexico
(24)
1990
1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
The qualification competition for the 1990 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC , CAF , CONCACAF , CONMEBOL , OFC , and UEFA — was allocated a certain number of the 24 places at the tournament...


 Italy
(24)
1994
1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
-Qualified teams:The following 24 teams qualified for the 1994 FIFA World Cup: - qualified automatically as hosts - qualified automatically as defending champions-Notes:...


 United States
(24)
1998
1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
-Qualified teams:The following 32 teams qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup: - qualified automatically as hosts - qualified automatically as defending champions-Notes:...


 Early Modern France
(32)
2002
2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
A total of 199 teams entered the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 32 spots in the final tournament. and , as the co-hosts, and , as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 29 spots open for competition....


 South Korea
 Japan
(32)
2006
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
A total of 197 teams entered the qualification process for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, competing for a total of 32 spots in the final tournament. Germany, as the host, qualified automatically, leaving 31 spots open for competition...


 Germany
(32)6
2010
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
The qualification competition for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC , CAF , CONCACAF , CONMEBOL , OFC , and UEFA — was allocated a certain number of the 32 places at the tournament...


 South Africa
(32)
2014
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
The 2014 FIFA World Cup will feature 32 teams. One place was allocated to the hosts, , but no automatic place is given to the defending champions, . The remaining 31 places will be determined by a qualification process, in which entrants from among the other 207 teams from the six FIFA...


 Brazil
(32)
2018
 Russia
(32)8
2022
 Qatar
(32)
Africa 1 / / / 0.53 0.54 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 5 5 5 5
+H
5    
Asia 1 12 1 0.54 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3.5 2.5
+2H
4.5 4.5 4.5   H
Oceania / / / / / / 0.5 0.5 0.255 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5    
Europe 12 111
+C+H
72
+C
11
+H
9.53
+C+H
94 9
+H
8
+C
8.5
+H
8.5
+C
13
+H
12.5
+C
13
+H
12
+C
14
+H
13.5
+C
13
+H
13 13 H  
North and Central America
and Caribbean
1 1 2 1 1 0.5 1 1
+H
1 1 2 1
+H
2 1.255
+H
3 3 3.5 3.5 3.5    
South America 2 1 4
+H
1
+C
3 3.5
+C+H
3
+C
3 2.5
+C
2.5
+H
3
+C
4 2.5
+C
3.55 4
+C
4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5
+H
   
Total 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 24 24 24 24 32 32 32 32 32 32 32

  • Eusebio
    Eusébio
    Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, GCIH, GCM , commonly known simply as Eusébio, is a retired Mozambican-born Portuguese football forward. He is considered one of the best footballers of all-time by the IFFHS, experts and fans...

     12
    L. Figo
    Luís Figo
    Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo, OIH, is a Portuguese former international footballer. He played as a midfielder for Sporting CP, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Internazionale, during a career which spanned over a period of 20 years. He retired from football on 31 May 2009...

     9

|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|122||59||30||33||203||151||207||CONCACAF||L. Donovan
Landon Donovan
Landon Timothy Donovan is an American soccer player for the Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer in the United States. He usually plays as a withdrawn forward, and can also be used as an attacking midfielder on either wing....

 12
B. McBride
Brian McBride
Brian Robert McBride is a retired American soccer player who finished his career for Chicago Fire in Major League Soccer , but spent the majority of his time in MLS playing for the Columbus Crew. For much of his career he played in Europe, notably for Fulham in the English Premier League...

 10
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|105||60||26||19||286||83||206||AFC||A. Thompson
Archie Thompson
Archibald Gerald Thompson is a New Zealand-born Australian professional football player, currently playing for Melbourne Victory in the Hyundai A-League, where he holds the League all time scoring record...

 18
D. Zdrilic
David Zdrilic
David Allen Zdrilic is a Croatian Australian football player. He is currently playing for Sydney United in the NSW Premier League. He previously played for in the A-League and has also played in Switzerland, Germany, England and Scotland...

 15
J. Aloisi
John Aloisi
John Aloisi is a retired Australian football player who played as a striker, and the current youth team manager at Melbourne Heart....

 15
J. Kosmina
John Kosmina
Alexander John Kosmina , known as John Kosmina, is a former Australian football player and manager of Polish Australian ethnicity. He was most recently the manager of Sydney FC...

 14
B. Emerton
Brett Emerton
Brett Michael Emerton is an Australian football player who plays for Sydney FC and the Australia national team...

 11
T. Cahill
Tim Cahill
Timothy Filiga "Tim" Cahill is an football player of Australian nationality who plays for Everton and the Australian national football team...

 11
A. Vidmar
Aurelio Vidmar
Aurelio Vidmar is an Australian football player and former captain of the Australian national team. He is currently not tied to any A-league club...

 10
|- style="background:gold;"
|align=left|
|92||62||19||11||226||60||205||UEFA||M. Owen
Michael Owen
Michael James Owen is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester United.The son of former footballer Terry Owen, Owen began his senior career at Liverpool in 1996. He progressed through the Liverpool youth team and scored on his debut in May 1997...

 10
F. Lampard
Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Chelsea and the England national team. He also holds the position of vice-captain for his club side...

 9
W. Rooney
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Mark Rooney is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team...

 9
|- style="background:gold;"
|align=left|
|87||61||19||7||181||51||202||UEFA||G. Riva 14
R. Bettega
Roberto Bettega
Roberto Bettega is an Italian former footballer. Bettega was regarded as a player of noteworthy intelligence and at his prime was one of the most feared strikers . Bettega is mostly remembered for his time at his hometown club Juventus...

 11
F. Inzaghi
Filippo Inzaghi
Filippo Inzaghi, Ufficiale OMRI commonly known as Pippo, is a World Cup and UEFA Champions League-winning Italian footballer who plays for Serie A club Milan....

 7
S. Mazzola 7
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|113||60||22||31||216||131||202||UEFA||M. Wilmots
Marc Wilmots
Marc Robert Wilmots is a former Belgian football player.-Career:In his club career, that started in 1987, Wilmots played for Sint-Truiden, KV Mechelen, Standard Liège, Schalke 04, and Bordeaux. At Schalke he helped them to the 1997 UEFA Cup Final...

 14
E. Mpenza
Émile Mpenza
Eka Basunga Lokonda "Émile" Mpenza is a Belgian footballer who plays for Neftchi Baku as a striker. He has been capped at international level by Belgium. His older brother, Mbo, was also a footballer who represented Belgium....

 8
W. Sonck
Wesley Sonck
Wesley Sonck is a Belgian football player, who currently plays as a striker for K. Lierse S.K. who signed him in August 2010 and the Belgium national football team. He played for KRC Genk in the Belgian First Division from where he joined AFC Ajax in 2003 for about £5 million...

 8
|- style="background:gold;"
|align=left|
|102||59||24||19||181||96||201||CONMEBOL||H. Crespo
Hernán Crespo
Hernán Jorge Crespo is an Argentine footballer who plays for Parma in the Italian Serie A. Crespo has scored over 300 goals in a career spanning 18 years. His honors include an Olympic Games silver medal, a Copa Libertadores, an English Premier League title and three Scudettos. He was topscorer in...

 19

G. Batistuta
Gabriel Batistuta
Gabriel Omar Batistuta , nicknamed Batigol, is a former professional footballer. The prolific Argentine striker played most of his club football at Fiorentina in Italy, and he is the tenth top scorer of all-time in the Italian Serie A league, with 184 goals in 318 matches...

 11
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|116||57||28||31||210||130||199||CONCACAF||C. Pavon
Carlos Pavón
Carlos Alberto Pavón Plummer is a Honduran football striker.He is most costly related to Real C.D. España of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Honduras....

 25
J. Figueroa
José Figueroa
General José Figueroa , was a General and the Mexican territorial Governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835.Figueroa oversaw the initial secularization of the missions of upper California, which included the expulsion of the Spanish Franciscan mission officials.This also involved the issuing of...

 13
D. Suazo
David Suazo
Óscar David Suazo Velázquez is a Honduran football striker who currently plays for Calcio Catania in the Italian Serie A. He is also a member of the Honduran national team.-Early career:...

 11
A. Guevara
Amado Guevara
Amado Guevara is a Honduran football player who currently plays for Motagua in the Liga Nacional de Honduras. He is the all-time cap leader for the Honduran national team.-Club:...

 10
M. Nunez
Milton Núñez
Milton Omar Núñez García is a Honduran soccer player who currently plays as a striker playing for CSD Comunicaciones in Guatemala's top division.-Club career:...

 10
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|106||58||20||28||190||108||194||UEFA||G. Hagi
Gheorghe Hagi
Gheorghe Hagi is a former Romanian footballer. He was famous for his passing, close control, long shots and was regarded as one of the best attacking midfielders in Europe during the 1980s and 1990s and is considered the greatest Romanian footballer of all time...

 15
G. Popescu
Gheorghe Popescu
Gheorghe Gică Popescu is a former Romanian footballer who played as a defender, and was a key part of the Romania national team in the 1990s. He played for a string of European clubs in an illustrious career that saw him amass many honours...

 10
F. Raducioiu
Florin Raducioiu
Florin Valeriu Răducioiu is a former Romanian football striker, who played for Dinamo Bucureşti, A.C. Milan, Brescia Calcio, West Ham United, RCD Espanyol, VfB Stuttgart and A.S...

 9
|- style="background:gold;"
|align=left|
|92||56||25||11||199||59||193||CONMEBOL||Romário
Romário
Romário de Souza Faria , better known simply as Romário , is a former footballer who played striker,manager and current politician where is currently running for a mayor like position in his hometown...

 11
Zico
Zico
Arthur Antunes Coimbra , better known as Zico , is a Brazilian coach and former footballer. He is the current head coach of the Iraq national football team. Often called the "White Pelé", he is commonly considered one of the most skilled finishers and one of the best passers ever and possibly the...

 11
Kaka
Kaká
Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite , commonly known as Kaká , is a Brazilian football attacking midfielder who currently plays for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and the Brazilian national team. Kaká started his footballing career at the age of eight, when he began playing for a local club...

 10
Luis Fabiano
Luís Fabiano
Luís Fabiano Clemente , commonly known as Luís Fabiano, is a Brazilian footballer who currently plays for São Paulo and the Brazilian national football team as a striker.-Early career:...

 10
Ronaldo
Ronaldo
Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima , commonly known as Ronaldo, is a retired Brazilian footballer who last played for Corinthians. Ronaldo is widely considered to be the greatest 'pure' striker in the history of the modern game, and by some accounts, in the history of football. Ronaldo was one of the...

 10
Tostão
Tostão
Eduardo Gonçalves de Andrade , better known as Tostão, is a former Brazilian footballer, who played as a forward. In his prime, he was considered one of the best offensive players in the world, while also contributing with many assists thanks to his passing abilities.-Football career:Born in Belo...

 10
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|94||56||24||14||201||69||192||AFC||Ali Daei
Ali Daei
Ali Daei is an Iranian retired football player and former national team coach who currently manages a local Iranian team, Rah Ahan. He is a former captain of the Iran national football team, and is the world's all-time leading goalscorer in international matches...

 35
K. Bagheri
Karim Bagheri
Karim Bagheri is a retired professional Iranian player, most notably playing for Persepolis in the Iran Pro League. He was known as a two-footed midfielder and is famous for his powerful and thundering long range shots and free kicks.-Early years:...

 28
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|120||56||24||40||165||133||192||CONMEBOL||J. Cardozo
José Cardozo
José Saturnino Cardozo Otazú is a former Paraguayan football striker.-Club career:Cardozo began his professional career in 1988, making his debut for River Plate of Paraguay. After four years in River, he moved to Swiss club FC St. Gallen, where he played from 1990 to 1992...

 14
R. Santa Cruz
Roque Santa Cruz
Roque Luis Santa Cruz Cantero is a Paraguayan footballer currently playing as a striker for La Liga club Real Betis on loan from Manchester City and the Paraguay national football team....

 10
C. Paredes
Carlos Paredes
Carlos Paredes, ComSE, was a virtuoso Portuguese guitar player, born in Coimbra, son of the equally famous Artur Paredes. He is credited with popularising the medium internationally during the 20th century, being frequently considered to be the most talented Portuguese musician in the 20th century...

 8
S. Cabanas
Salvador Cabañas
Salvador Cabañas Ortega is a Paraguayan football striker who plays for the Paraguayan national team. A prolific and natural goalscorer, he is known for his array of skills on the field such as excellent heading, accurate shooting with either foot, receptions in tight spaces, and a combination of...

 7
JL. Chilavert
José Luis Chilavert
José Luis Félix Chilavert González is a Paraguayan former football player who played as a goalkeeper. He was a three-time IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper award winner....

 7
|- style="background:gold;"
|align=left|
|118||52||33||33||156||119||189||CONMEBOL||D. Forlan
Diego Forlán
Diego Forlán Corazo is an Uruguayan footballer who plays as a striker for Internazionale and the Uruguayan national team. He is a two-time winner of both the Pichichi Trophy and the European Golden Shoe, and also received the Golden Ball as the best player at the 2010 World Cup.Forlán was born...

 13
D. Silva
Darío Silva
Darío Debray Silva Pereira is a retired Uruguayan footballer who played as a striker.After making a name for himself in his country and in Italy with Caglari, he spent the following seven years of his career in Spain - scoring 48 La Liga goals in 163 games, mostly for Málaga - before moving to...

 8
S. Abreu
Sebastián Abreu
Washington Sebastián Abreu Gallo is an Uruguayan footballer who plays with Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas in Brazil as a striker.Best known by his nickname El Loco , the prolific goalscorer – for club and country – played for more than 20 teams during his professional career, in six different...

 8
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|105||54||23||28||167||112||185||UEFA||K. Gallacher
Kevin Gallacher
Kevin William Gallacher is a Scottish former professional footballer and now a sports pundit.He is the grandson of the late Celtic forward Patsy Gallacher, who died before he was born.-Career:...

 9
|- style="background:gold;"
|align=left| (1934–1938)
(1950–1990)
(1994—)
|74||55||17||2||213||56||182||UEFA||KH. Rummenigge
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
Karl-Heinz "Kalle" Rummenigge is a German former football player.He had his greatest career success with German club Bayern Munich, where he won the Intercontinental Cup, the European Cup, as well as two league titles and two domestic cups.A member of the German national team, Rummenigge won the...

 13
M. Ballack
Michael Ballack
Michael Ballack is a German professional footballer, who is currently playing for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. He is among the top goal scorers in the history of his international team. Ballack has worn the number 13 shirt for every team he has played for except for Kaiserslautern...

 10
G. Müller
Gerd Müller
Gerhard "Gerd" Müller is a former German football player and one of the most prolific goalscorers of all time.With national records of 68 goals in 62 international appearances, 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games and the international record of 66 goals in 74 European Club games, he was one of the...

 9
M. Klose
Miroslav Klose
Miroslav Josef Klose is a German footballer who plays as a striker for Lazio in the Serie A. Since bursting onto the international stage at the 2002 World Cup, he has become well known for his knack of scoring headers, front-flip goal celebrations, and decisive short passing.Klose holds German...

 9
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|118||53||23||42||193||136||182||CONCACAF||R. Diaz
Raúl Díaz
Raul Diaz is a hornist.He was born in Venezuela where he attended the Vicente Emilio Sojo and Simon Bolivar Conservatories of music, and then performed professionally for several years in South America....

 18
J. Gonzalez
Mágico González
Jorge Alberto González Barillas , popularly known as El mágico , is a retired Salvadoran footballer....

 12
L. Ramirez
Luis Ramírez Zapata
Luis Baltazar Ramírez Zapata is a retired Salvadoran footballer.-Career:Nicknamed "El Pelé", he spent nearly 20 years playing for Salvadoran club Águila. He started with Águila before leaving to join other clubs and later in his career make a return to the San Miguel based club...

 11
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|92||53||22||17||173||72||181||AFC||S. Al Jaber 16
T. Al Meshal 14
O. Al Dosari 13
K. Al Mullawid 11
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|109||53||22||34||181||149||181||UEFA||D. Berbatov
Dimitar Berbatov
Dimitar Ivanov Berbatov is a Bulgarian footballer who plays as a forward for Manchester United. He captained the Bulgarian national team from 2006 to 2010, and is its all-time leading goalscorer and has also won the Bulgarian Footballer of the Year a record seven times, surpassing the number of...

 17
H. Bonev
Hristo Bonev
Hristo Atanasov Bonev-Zuma is a retired Bulgarian footballer, the second all-time leading scorer for the Bulgarian national team behind Dimitar Berbatov, who surpassed his record on November 18, 2009. Currently he manages PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Bulgarian A PFG.Between 1967 and 1979, Bonev...

 12
E. Kostadinov
Emil Kostadinov
Emil Lubtchov Kostadinov is a former Bulgarian football striker, former member of the Bulgaria national team for which he played in two World Cups. He shares his birthdate with another legendary Bulgarian footballer Dimitar Nikolov Yakimov...

 10
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left| (1934–1938)
(1950—)
|119||47||36||36||170||141||177||UEFA||Rob. Keane
Robbie Keane
Robert David "Robbie" Keane is an Irish association football player who plays as a striker for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer and captains the Irish national football team....

 12
T. Cascarino
Tony Cascarino
Anthony Guy 'Tony' Cascarino is an former association football player who played as a forward for various British and French clubs and internationally for the Republic of Ireland national team, with whom he competed in the 1988 European Football Championship and two World Cups in 1990 and...

 9
|- style="background:gold;"
|align=left|
|91||52||19||20||180||74||175||UEFA||M. Platini
Michel Platini
Michel François Platini is a former French football player, manager and current president of UEFA. Platini was a member of the French national team that won the 1984 European Championship, a tournament in which he was the top goalscorer and voted the best player. He participated in the 1978, 1982...

 12
E. Cantona
Eric Cantona
Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona is a French actor and former French international footballer. He played for Auxerre, Martigues, Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nîmes and Leeds United before ending his professional footballing career at Manchester United, where he won four Premier League titles in...

 7
T. Cisowski
Thadée Cisowski
Thadée Cisowski , originally Tadeusz Cisowski, is a former French footballer who played striker, son of Polish immigrants like Raymond Kopa and one of the best goalscorers in Championnat de France....

 7
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|103||50||23||30||178||114||173||UEFA||T. Polster 15
A. Herzog
Andreas Herzog
Andreas Herzog, also Andy Herzog, is a former Austrian football player.-Club career:Born in Vienna, Herzog started his career at local giants Rapid Vienna, but was sent out on loan to city rivals First Vienna FC during 1987–88. That move proved to be successful and he was soon recalled to Rapid to...

 14
H. Krankl
Hans Krankl
Johann "Hans" Krankl is a retired Austrian footballer. He was last manager of LASK Linz.-Club career:A prolific striker, Krankl is regarded by many as the greatest ever Austrian player. He started his professional career at Rapid Wien and stayed there for 8 years, apart from a year at Wiener AC...

 10
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|82||53||11||18||172||54||170||AFC||Hao Haidong
Hao Haidong
Hao Haidong is the current chairman of Tianjin Songjiang F.C. and a former Chinese international football player who was widely regarded as the best striker China has ever produced. Hao holds the record for being China's all-time leader in goals scored...

 13
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|98||46||32||20||131||71||170||CAF||A. Faras
Ahmed Faras
Ahmed Faras is a former Moroccan football forward. He was named African Footballer of the Year in 1975, and spent all of his playing career with his native Chabab Mohammédia.- International :...

 6
Y. Hadji 6
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|102||49||23||30||181||129||170||UEFA||F. Bene
Ferenc Bene
Ferenc Bene was a Hungarian football player of Újpesti Dózsa, who was a member of the team that won the gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. He was the top scorer of the tournament .Bene was born in Balatonújlak...

 10
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|110||47||29||34||164||133||170||UEFA||A. Frei 17
K. Turkyilmaz
Kubilay Türkyilmaz
Kubilay "Kubi" Türkyilmaz is a former Swiss footballer of Turkish descent. He completed his international career as the all-time joint leading goal scorer for the Swiss national team, with 34 goals in 62 appearances between 1988 and 2001, equalling the performance of Max Abegglen...

 16
S. Chapuisat 10
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|88||48||24||16||151||70||168||CAF||O. Martins
Obafemi Martins
Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a striker for Rubin Kazan and the Nigeria national team. He is known for his speed on the ball....

 10
R. Yekini 10
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|88||47||23||18||151||68||164||CAF||Z. Beiya 9
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|100||47||23||30||170||120||164||UEFA||JD. Tomasson
Jon Dahl Tomasson
Jon Dahl Tomasson is a retired Danish footballer and assistant manager at the Dutch football club SBV Excelsior....

 10
P. Elkjaer Larsen 10
S. Larsen
Soren Larsen
The tallship Soren Larsen is a brigantine built 1948–1949 in Nykøbing Mors, Denmark.Its current homebase is Auckland, New Zealand. The ship undertakes adventure sail training for people of all ages in New Zealand and through the islands of the South Pacific, with 22 paying and 13 permanent crew...

 10
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|97||49||16||32||182||117||163||UEFA||W. Lubanski 14
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|115||46||25||44||169||151||163||CONCACAF||S. John
Stern John
Stern John is a Trinidadian football player currently playing for North East Stars in Trinidad. He played for a number of high profile English football clubs that included Nottingham Forest, Birmingham City and Coventry City.-Early Career in US:John moved to the United States to attend Mercer...

 20
S. David
Steve David
Steve David is a former North American Soccer League star and Trinidad and Tobago international.-Club career:David began his professional career with Police in Trinidad and Tobago. In 1974, he signed with the Miami Toros in the North American Soccer League. That season, the Toros had reached the...

 17
A. Eve
Angus Eve
Angus Eve is a former Trinidadian football player, who is currently a coach for Ma Pau SC of Trinidad's Professional Football League. He is his country's most capped player of all time....

 12
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|88||47||20||21||173||70||161||AFC||K. Miura 27
T. Takagi
Takuya Takagi
is a former Japanese football player and a current football coach. He is currently the manager at Roasso Kumamoto. He was a physical forward and the Japanese media and fans dubbed him as the Cannon of Asia.-Club:...

 14
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|118||41||37||40||132||127||160||CONMEBOL||F. Asprilla
Faustino Asprilla
Faustino Hernán "Tino" Asprilla Hinestroza is a former Colombian football player. He was known by his supporters in his home country as The Octopus for his voracious appetite...

 9
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|111||43||26||42||152||137||155||CONMEBOL||M. Salas
Marcelo Salas
José Marcelo Salas Melinao , better known as El Matador, Shileno or simply Marcelo Salas, is a former football player from Chile. He, along with world cup veterans, 3 time Best Player of America Elías Figueroa and former Real Madrid and Inter Milan forward Iván Zamorano, has been one of Chile's...

 18
I. Zamorano
Iván Zamorano
Iván Luis Zamorano Zamora is a retired Chilean football striker. Along with former world-class forward Marcelo Salas and former world player of the year Elias Figueroa he is regarded as one of Chile's most recognized footballers.He was a member of the Chilean national team and played in the 1998...

 17
H. Suazo
Humberto Suazo
Humberto Andrés Suazo Pontivo , nicknamed Chupete, is a Chilean football player, who currently plays as a striker in Monterrey. In 2006 he was awarded by IFFHS as the world's top goal scorer of the year....

 10
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|71||44||15||12||122||53||147||CAF||S. Eto'o
Samuel Eto'o
Samuel Eto'o Fils is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Russian team Anzhi Makhachkala. He is also the current captain of the Cameroon national team.Eto'o trained at Kadji Sports Academy...

 16
P. Mboma 10
R. Milla
Roger Milla
Roger Milla is a retired Cameroonian footballer who played as a striker. He was one of the first African players to be a major star on the international stage...

 9
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|104||40||22||42||125||155||142||UEFA||T. Gekas
Theofanis Gekas
Theofanis Gekas is a Greek football striker who currently plays for the German club Eintracht Frankfurt. He has been the top goalscorer of the Greek League and the Bundesliga in previous seasons...

 10
A. Charisteas
Angelos Charisteas
Angelos Charisteas was born on 9 February 1980 in Strymoniko, Serres, but originates from Mani. He is a Greek football player who currently plays as a striker for Panetolikos F.C....

 9
M. Papaioannou
Mimis Papaioannou
Dimitris "Mimis" Papaioannou was one of the star football players of AEK Athens FC. He was born in 1942 and began his career at Nea Genea in the town of Nea Nikomedia , Imathia Prefecture. He joined AEK in time for the 1963 season for the paltry sum of 140,000 drachmas...

 9
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left| (1)
|78||41||18||19||136||71||141||CAF||A. Zaki
Amr Zaki
Amr Zaki is an Egyptian footballer who currently plays as a striker for Zamalek and the Egypt national team. He is known for his strong headers and for being a top striker in Africa.-Early career:...

 10
H. Hassan
Hossam Hassan
Hossam Hassan Hussein is a retired Egyptian footballer who played as a striker, and a current coach.A prolific goalscorer, he amassed well over 150 caps for Egypt, netting more than 50 times...

 10
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left| (1934–1990)(2)
(1994)
|72||41||16||15||146||63||139||UEFA||A. Kvasnak
Andrej Kvašnák
Andrej Kvašňák was a Slovak football player. Born in Košice, he played for Czechoslovakia, for which he played 47 matches and scored 13 goals....

 10
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|112||36||30||46||123||137||138||UEFA||D. Healy
David Healy (footballer)
David Jonathan Healy, MBE is a Northern Ireland international footballer who plays as a striker for Scottish Premier League champions Rangers...

 8
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|95||36||29||30||122||116||137||CONCACAF||A. Bunbury
Alex Bunbury
Alexander "Alex" Bunbury is a former Canadian professional footballer, who played as a striker.-Club career:Bunbury started playing professionally with the Hamilton Steelers in Canada, also having one-year spells in the Canadian Soccer League with the Toronto Blizzard and Montreal Supra.In 1993,...

 12
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|106||37||26||43||143||149||137||UEFA||J. Carew
John Carew
John Alieu Carew , is a Norwegian professional association football player who plays for West Ham United and the Norwegian national team. His father is Gambian and his mother is Norwegian; he was born and raised in Norway.-Vålerenga:John Alieu Carew began his career with his local club Lørenskog,...

 8
K. Rekdal
Kjetil Rekdal
Kjetil André Rekdal is a Norwegian football coach and a former footballer. He is currently managing Aalesund in Norwegian Tippeligaen. His previous tenure was at Kaiserslautern of the 2...

 8
|-
|align=left|
|84||40||16||28||128||78||136||CAF||Kalusha Bwalya
Kalusha Bwalya
Kalusha Bwalya , known as simply Kalusha, is a Zambian footballer and coach. He is Zambia's most capped player, all-time top goalscorer, and is regarded as the greatest Zambian player to play the game...

 9
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|77||41||11||25||135||72||134||AFC||J. Al Huwaidi 13
A. Al Anbari 12
F. Al Dakhil 12
B. Abdulaziz 10
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|108||38||20||50||146||165||134||UEFA||H. Sukur
Hakan Sükür
Hakan Şükür is a retired Turkish footballer who played as a striker. He spent the majority of his professional career with Galatasaray, being a three-time Gol Kralı , representing the club in three different spells and winning a total of 14 major titles.Şükür represented Turkey a...

 16
|-
|align=left|
|100||35||28||37||145||127||133||CONCACAF||C. Ruiz 24
JC. Plata
Juan Carlos Plata
Juan Carlos Plata is a Guatemalan retired football striker. He is the highest-scoring player in the history of Guatemala's top division...

 10
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|109||34||27||48||123||157||129||CONMEBOL||A. Delgado
Agustín Delgado
Agustín Javier Delgado Chalá is a retired Ecuadorian footballer. Nicknamed Tín, Delgado is the all-time top scorer for the Ecuadorian national team with 31 goals in 71 games. He played professional club football in Ecuador, Mexico and England.-Southampton:Delgado moved to Southampton in 2001...

 16
E. Mendez
Edison Méndez
Édison Vicente Méndez Méndez is an Ecuadorian football midfielder who plays for Emelec and the Ecuadorian national team.-Playing style:...

 10
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left| (1934–1938)
(1950—)

|102||33||29||40||137||149||128||UEFA||E. Ohana
Eli Ohana
Eli Ohana is a former Israeli football player and later a manager. He is currently the manager of the Israel U21 team. He is considered to be one of the greatest Israeli players ever.-Early life and playing career:...

 8
|-
|align=left|
|78||36||16||26||125||82||124||AFC||M. Al Enazi 15
M. Souf 12
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|70||36||13||21||169||75||121||OFC||V. Coveny
Vaughan Coveny
Vaughan Coveny is a former football player, who frequently represented New Zealand from 1992 onwards. Coveny's senior club career spanned 20 years, with his most notable stint being at South Melbourne during their National Soccer League era. He was primarily a striker although he also played as a...

 19
S. Sumner
Steve Sumner
Steven Paul Sumner is an English-born, New Zealand football player, who was captain of the national team during the country's first successful campaign to qualify for the World Cup, in 1982.-Club career:...

 14
G. Turner
Grant Turner
Grant Lawton Turner was an association football player who represented New Zealand 42 times in A-internationals from 1980 to 1988,...

 11
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|69||35||16||18||157||73||121||AFC||A. Radhi 15
E. Mohammed
Emad Mohammed
Emad Mohammed Ridha is an Iraqi football striker who currently plays for Sepahan in Iran Pro League and the Iraq national football team. Emad Mohammed has been a regular starter for Iraq ever since he played for the youth national team...

 10
L. Hussain Shaaib 10
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|113||31||28||54||118||159||121||CONMEBOL||R. Palacios
Roberto Palacios
Roberto Carlos Palacios Mestas is a Peruvian football midfielder from the district of Chorrillos in Lima, the capital of Peru.-Biography:...

 9
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|116||33||21||62||144||216||120||CONMEBOL||J. Botero
Joaquín Botero
Joaquín Botero Vaca is a Bolivian football striker. He was the top goalscorer in world football in the 2002 season, with 49 goals scored for Club Bolívar...

 16
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|63||33||20||10||115||55||119||CAF||D. Drogba
Didier Drogba
Didier Yves Drogba Tébily is an Ivorian footballer who plays in the centre forward position. He currently plays for Chelsea in the Premier League, where he is deputy vice-captain, and is the captain and all-time top scorer of the Côte d'Ivoire national football team...

 15
I. Bakayoko
Ibrahima Bakayoko
Ibrahima Bakayoko is an Ivorian footballer who plays as a striker for PAS Giannina in the Greek Superleague.-Club career:...

 11
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|73||32||21||20||95||72||117||CAF||R. Madjer
Rabah Madjer
Mustapha Rabah Madjer is a retired Algerian footballer.A skilled striker, he reached stardom as an F.C. Porto player during the 1980s, and is widely regarded as one of the best Algerian football players of all time. He is widely remembered for scoring on 77 minutes, an audacious back-heeled...

 9
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|80||32||20||28||95||100||116||CONCACAF||M. King
Marlon King
Marlon Francis King is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Birmingham City. After starting his career in non-League football with Dulwich Hamlet, he played for Barnet, Gillingham, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest before moving to Watford in 2005...

 8
D. Burton
Deon Burton
Deon John Burton is a Jamaican-British football striker who currently plays for Gabala.-Early career:...

 8
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|67||32||17||18||98||55||113||CAF||M. Amoah
Matthew Amoah
Mathew Amoah is a Ghanaian international striker, who plays for Turkish Süper Lig club Mersin İdmanyurdu SK. He formerly played for Vitesse, starting as a youngster in 1998 until 2005.-Vitesse and Fortuna:...

 8
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|69||32||17||20||99||65||113||AFC||Hong Yong Jo 8
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|76||32||15||29||123||109||111||CONCACAF||E. Sanon
Emmanuel Sanon
Emmanuel "Manno" Sanon was a Haitian footballer. He starred in the Haiti national football team during its venture into the 1974 FIFA World Cup in Germany.-1974 FIFA World Cup:...

 19
G. Pierre
Golman Pierre
-Club career:He played throughout his career in the Haitian league playing for FICA , located in Cap-Haïtien, where he has been the leading scorer....

 15
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|100||30||20||50||129||144||110||UEFA||I. Rush
Ian Rush
Ian James Rush, MBE, is a retired football player from Flint, Wales. He is best remembered as a player for Liverpool, where he was among the top strikers in the English game in the 1980s and 1990s. He also had spells playing at Chester City, Juventus, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Sheffield...

 11
D. Saunders
Dean Saunders
Dean Nicholas Saunders is a former Wales international footballer who played as a striker in a professional career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He is the manager of Doncaster Rovers....

 10
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|71||31||16||24||112||78||109||AFC||A. Al Talyani 15
YS. Ali
Yaser Salem Ali
Yaser Salem Ali is a retired UAE football player who played as a striker for Al Wahda S.C.C..Salem Ali has represented the UAE national team 27 times, scoring 13 goals. He scored 10 goals in the 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign and also played in the 1997 Confederations Cup.-External links:*...

 10
|-
|align=left|
|64||31||10||23||100||78||103||CAF||P. Feindouno
Pascal Feindouno
Pascal Feindouno is a Guinean international footballer, who currently plays for Swiss side FC Sion as a winger.- Early career :...

 12
|-
|align=left|
|111||28||17||66||120||265||101||UEFA||M. Forssell
Mikael Forssell
Mikael Kaj Forssell is a Finnish footballer who plays as a striker for Football League Championship team Leeds United and for the Finnish national team.-Club career:...

 10
|-
|align=left|
|74||26||22||26||82||77||100||AFC||A. Hubail 8
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left| (1974–1994)
(1998—)
|61||28||13||20||101||72||97||CAF||S. Nonda
Shabani Nonda
Shabani Christophe Nonda is a DR Congolese international footballer who is currently a free agent. His last club Galatasaray released his contract on 28 January 2010.-Club career:...

 10
|-
|align=left| (1)
|62||27||15||20||137||69||96||AFC||B. Al Said 17
|-
|align=left|
|58||27||13||18||123||72||94||AFC||M. Shatskikh
Maksim Shatskikh
Maksim Aleksandrovich Shatskikh , is an Uzbek professional footballer who plays for Arsenal Kyiv in the Ukrainian Premier League....

 14
M. Kasimov 13
J. Irismetov
Jafar Irismetov
Jafar Irismetov is an Uzbekistan footballer currently playing for FK Samarqand-Dinamo.He has won 33 caps and scored 18 goals for the Uzbekistan national football team between 1997 and 2001 .*-Club: Dustlik Tashkent...

 11
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|53||23||18||12||71||48||87||CAF||Akwa 14
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|48||23||17||8||65||36||86||UEFA||A. Shevchenko
Andriy Shevchenko
Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko is a Ukrainian footballer who plays for Dynamo Kyiv and the Ukraine national team as a striker. He is the third-highest scorer in the history of European club competition with 67 goals as of 2011-03-10, behind Filippo Inzaghi and Raúl. With 175 goals scored with A.C...

 26
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left| (1998—) (2)
|46||26||7||13||90||34||85||UEFA||M. Baros
Milan Baroš
Milan Baroš is a Czech footballer who plays as a striker for Galatasaray and the Czech national football team.In the 2008–09 season, Baroš scored 20 goals in Turkish Süper Lig, the highest total in the league...

 12
J. Koller
Jan Koller
Jan Koller is Czech footballer currently playing in AFK Smetanova Lhota.As an international player he played as a striker for the Czech Republic national team. He is the all-time leading goal scorer for either the Czech Republic or the former Czechoslovakia, with 55 goals in 91 caps...

 11
T. Rosicky
Tomáš Rosický
Tomáš Rosický is a Czech footballer who plays for Arsenal and captains the Czech national team. He has a brother named Jiří who is also a footballer...

 9
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|38||23||12||3||75||33||81||UEFA||B. Balaban
Boško Balaban
Boško Balaban is a Croatian footballer who currently plays for Panionios in the Super League Greece as a striker. He is a former member of the Croatia national team.-Early career:...

 7
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left| (1998—) (2)
|44||23||10||11||82||47||79||UEFA||S. Nemeth
Szilárd Németh
Szilárd Németh is a former Slovakian footballer who was last playing for German club Alemannia Aachen. He usually plays as a striker or right midfielder.-Club career:...

 8
(P. Dubovsky
Peter Dubovský
Peter Dubovský was a Slovak footballer who played as a forward.After starting his career with Slovan Bratislava, he played seven years in Spain, amassing La Liga totals of 151 games and 19 goals for two teams....

 scored 6 goals for RCS and 3 goals for Slovakia, thus 9 goals in total)
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|60||20||17||23||83||91||77||CONCACAF||L. More
Lester Moré
Lester Moré is a Cuban soccer player who currently plays for Los Angeles Azul Legends in the USL Premier Development League.-Club:...

 11
|-
|align=left| (1970)
(1974—)
|57||21||14||22||59||71||77||CAF||P. Ndlovu
Peter Ndlovu
Peter Ndlovu is a Zimbabwean footballer, who plays as a striker.-Coventry City:Ndlovu was originally spotted by John Sillett, prior to his official signing from Highlanders by Terry Butcher in July 1991...

 11
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|47||22||8||17||87||65||74||Defunct||J. Streich
Joachim Streich
Joachim Streich is a former East German footballer, who won the bronze medal with East Germany at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich....

 14
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|36||22||5||9||43||29||71||CAF||S. Bartlett
Shaun Bartlett
Shaun Bartlett is a retired South African football striker who last played for Bloemfontein Celtic.-Early life:...

 7
|-
|align=left|
|46||19||12||15||89||47||69||AFC||H. Al Dhabit
Hani Al Dhabit
Hani Al-Dhabit is an Omani football striker currently playing for Dhofar S.C.S.C.. He played for the Oman national football team between 1998 and 2008, and was captain in 2002 and 2003...

 11
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|47||18||15||14||64||43||69||CAF||EH. Diouf
El Hadji Diouf
El Hadji Ousseynou Diouf is a Senegalese footballer who currently plays for Doncaster Rovers. He can play on both wings as well as in attack. He has also garnered a large amount of notoriety for a series of controversial incidents.-Early career:Diouf started his career in France with...

 14
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|53||19||12||22||62||70||69||CAF||E. Adebayor
Emmanuel Adebayor
Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor is a Togolese footballer who plays for Tottenham Hotspur as a striker on loan from Manchester City. He plays in the same position for the Togo national team. Adebayor previously played for Metz, Monaco and Arsenal and was voted African Footballer of the Year for 2008...

 16
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left| (1938)
(1950—)
|63||18||15||30||79||113||69||AFC||I. Jaya 5
|-
|align=left|
|63||19||12||32||78||115||69||AFC||Lau Wing Yip 10
|-
|align=left|
|106||18||14||74||87||259||68||CONMEBOL||R. Moran
Ruberth Morán
Dickson Ruberth Morán Puelo is a retired Venezuelan football striker. He has played 65 times for the Venezuela national team scoring 15 goals, making him the 3rd all time top scorer in the history of Venezuelan international football.Morán has played professional club football in a number of...

 10
|-
|align=left|
|56||18||12||26||60||82||66||CAF||D. Oliech
Dennis Oliech
Dennis Oliech is a Kenyan professional football forward currently playing for Auxerre.- Club career :Dennis Oliech started playing football for Dagoretti Santos in his earlier years, then Mathare United....

 12
|-
|align=left|
|65||18||12||35||89||116||66||AFC||PO. Piyapong 10
|-
|align=left|
|43||19||7||17||103||82||64||OFC||O. Vakatalesau
Osea Vakatalesau
Osea Vakatalesau is a Fijian football striker playing for Fiji national football team and Ba F.C.-International career:...

 12
E. Masinisau 11
|-
|align=left| (1938–1974)
(1978—)
|57||17||13||27||85||96||64||CONCACAF||R. George 6
|-
|align=left|
|84||16||15||53||83||191||63||UEFA||E. Gudjohnsen 11
|-
|align=left| (1978)
(1990—)
|45||18||7||20||66||66||61||CAF||M. Dagano
Moumouni Dagano
Beli Moumouni Dagano is a Burkinabé footballer. He currently plays for Al-Khor in Qatar.-Career:Dagano began his career at Ivorian side Stella Club d'Adjamé, based in Abidjan. In 1999 he moved back to his homeland, with Etoile Filante, before making his move to Europe a year later, with Belgian...

 18
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|42||16||12||14||55||50||60||UEFA||M. Acimovic
Milenko Acimovic
Milenko Ačimović is a former Slovenian footballer who last played for Austria giants Austria Wien. He was a playmaker who has a great passing range and an abundance of skill...

 6
Z. Zahovic
Zlatko Zahovic
Zlatko Zahovič is a retired Slovenian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.After making a name for himself in Europe in Portugal, most notably with Porto and Benfica, he went on to have unassuming spells in Spain and Greece...

 6
|-
|align=left|
|56||15||15||26||53||84||60||CAF||H. Kamal 7
|-
|align=left|
|43||17||7||19||49||51||58||CAF||GR. Nzamba
Guy Roger Nzamba
Guy Roger Nzamba is a former Gabonese footballer, who played as a forward. He also represented the Gabon national football team....

 5
T. Zue 5
|-
|align=left|
|43||16||9||18||50||49||57||CAF||A. Masli 5
A. Osman
Ahmed Osman
Ahmed Osman is an Egyptian-born author. He has put forward a number of theories, some revisionist in nature, about Ancient Egypt and the origins of Judaism and Christianity.-Biography:...

 5
|-
|align=left|
|55||15||12||28||65||92||57||UEFA||M. Verpakovskis
Maris Verpakovskis
Māris Verpakovskis , is a Latvian football forward, currently playing for the Azerbaijan Premier League club FK Baku in Azerbaijan and the Latvia national football team.-Latvia:...

 8
|-
|align=left|
|47||14||12||21||58||71||54||AFC||D. Salleh
Dollah Salleh
Dollah Salleh is a former Malaysian footballer and currently coach of Pahang FA.-Playing career:Dollah is one of Malaysia top footballer in the 80's and 90's. He with striking partner Zainal Abidin Hassan was memorize as the twin striker by the local football fans. Dollah was first introduce in...

 7
|-
|align=left|
|42||15||8||19||54||54||53||AFC||B. Al Shagran 5
E. Abu Touk 5
|-
|align=left| (3)
|46||15||8||23||46||63||53||CAF||A. Mamouna-Ossila 4
|-
|align=left|
|52||15||8||29||57||88||53||AFC||N. Shah 4
D. Tokijan 4
S. Moorthy 4
A. Duric
Aleksandar Duric
Aleksandar Đurić , is a Yugoslav-born Singaporean professional association football player who plays as a striker for the Tampines Rovers in the S...

 4
F. Ahmad
Fandi Ahmad
Fandi bin Ahmad is a football coach and former professional footballer from Singapore. During his playing career, he enjoyed success playing in both Europe and Asia, and was captain of the Singapore national football team...

 4
|-
|align=left|
|38||15||7||16||58||50||52||UEFA||E. Dzeko
Edin Džeko
Edin Džeko is a Bosnian footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester City and the Bosnian national team. He was named Bosnian Footballer of the Year for 2009 and 2010...

 9
E. Bolic
Elvir Bolic
Elvir Bolić is a former Bosnian football forward. He is the all-time leading scorer for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team....

 9
|-
|align=left|
|33||15||6||12||91||68||51||OFC||C. Menapi
Commins Menapi
Commins Menapi is a Solomon Islands striker, who is currently a Marist FC player.-Club career:He has also played for YoungHeart Manawatu in New Zealand, Sydney United of the old National Soccer League in Australia and for Marist FC, a club from the Solomon Islands.In the 2006-2007 season, he...

 16
|-
|align=left|
|53||13||11||29||43||80||50||UEFA||E. Jankauskas
Edgaras Jankauskas
Edgaras Jankauskas is a retired Lithuanian footballer who works as a coach-interpreter for FC Lokomotiv Moscow.A tall, powerful striker who plays to the physical side of the game, he is also known for skill. Other than in his own, he played professionally in nine different countries, and...

 6
|-
|align=left|
|51||12||13||26||52||77||49||CAF||C. Msowoya
Chiukepo Msowoya
Chiukepo Msowoya is a Malawian footballer, who currently plays for in the South African Premier Soccer League.-International career:...

 6
|-
|align=left|
|49||13||10||26||34||73||49||CAF||G. Weah
George Weah
George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah is a Liberian humanitarian and politician, and an ex-footballer. He ran unsuccessfully for president in the 2005 election, losing to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the second round of voting...

 6
|-
|align=left|
|58||13||10||35||57||124||49||CONCACAF||J. Dely Valdes
Julio Dely Valdes
Julio César Dely Valdés is a retired Panamanian association football player. He is a twin brother of Jorge Dely Valdés and younger brother of Armando Dely Valdés...

 11
|-
|align=left| (1958)
(1962–2010)
(2014—)
|48||10||14||24||33||95||44||CONCACAF||R. Rovina 3
|-
|align=left|
|84||11||11||62||53||164||44||UEFA||E. Bogdani 7
|-
|align=left|
|94||11||10||73||74||266||43||UEFA||M. Konstantinou 14
|-
|align=left|
|32||11||9||12||58||43||42||AFC||R. Antar
Roda Antar
Roda Antar is a Lebanese football midfielder who currently plays for Shandong Luneng Taishan in the Chinese Super League, and is captain of the Lebanon national team....

 9
|-
|align=left|
|30||13||3||14||50||43||42||AFC||B. Kuliev 6
|-
|align=left|
|40||11||9||20||48||60||42||UEFA||R. Vasilyuk
Roman Vasilyuk
Raman Vasilyuk is a Belarusian footballer. A striker, he currently plays for FC Minsk, and is a member of the Belarus national team. He has previously played for Dinamo Brest, Slavia Mozyr, Spartak Moscow, Dinamo Minsk, Hapoel Tel Aviv and FC Gomel....

 5
T. Kalachev
Timofei Kalachev
Timofei Kalachev ; ; born 1 May 1981 in Mogilev) is a Belarusian footballer. He plays in midfield for FC Rostov and the Belarus national side....

 5
|-
|align=left|
|56||11||8||37||46||127||41||UEFA||A. Oper
Andres Oper
Andres Oper is an Estonian footballer who plays as a striker. He played in AEK Larnaca. He has set the goalscoring record for the Estonian national team, by scoring 36 goals in 117 matches.-Early career:...

 11
|-
|align=left|
|42||12||4||26||58||116||40||CONCACAF||R. Jack
Rodney Jack
Rodney Jack is a professional football player from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. He is best known for his spells with Torquay United and Crewe Alexandra and also his long-term friendship with singer/songwriter Ash Cherrington...

 10
|-
|align=left| (1986–1990)
(1994—)
|38||10||9||19||47||60||39||AFC||A. Al Nono
Ali Al Nono
Ali Al-Nono is a Yemeni football striker who is currently playing for Al-Ahli San'a'. He is the captain of the Yemen national football team.-International goals:...

 7
|-
|align=left|
|40||11||6||23||59||81||39||UEFA||R. Baltiyev 6
|-
|align=left|
|26||11||5||10||39||34||38||CAF||F. Kanoute
Frédéric Kanouté
Frédéric Oumar Kanouté is a French-born Malian footballer who currently plays for Sevilla FC in the Spanish La Liga. On 2 February 2008, Kanouté was named the 2007 African Footballer of the Year and is the first foreign-born player to win it.-Lyon:Born in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, Rhône, Kanouté's...

 10
|-
|align=left|
|26||10||7||9||60||38||37||CONCACAF||J. Nusum
John Nusum
John Nusum is a retired Bermudan football defender who spent two seasons in the North American Soccer League and at least one in the Major Indoor Soccer League...

 11
S. Goater
Shaun Goater
Leonard Shaun Goater MBE is a Bermudian footballer who played as a striker for a number of English clubs in the 1990s and 2000s...

 10
|-
|align=left|
|31||10||7||14||36||41||37||CAF||H. Randrianaivo 5
|-
|align=left|
|40||9||9||22||49||71||36||UEFA||G. Pandev
Goran Pandev
Goran Pandev , is a Macedonian footballer who plays as a forward for Italian Serie A club Napoli on loan from Internazionale. He is also considered a key player for the Macedonian national team.-Early career:...

 6
|-
|align=left| (1974)
(1986—)
|36||10||5||21||36||77||35||CAF||R. Omotoyossi
Razak Omotoyossi
Razak Omotoyossi is a Nigerian-born Beninese footballer who plays for Egyptian club Zamalek and also for the Benin national football team....

 8
|-
|align=left|
|20||10||4||6||47||17||34||AFC||S. Hamidov 5
N. Hakimov 5
|-
|align=left|
|31||10||3||18||65||72||33||OFC||S. Soromon
Seule Soromon
Seule Soromon is an association football striker from Vanuatu who currently plays for ASB Premiership team YoungHeart Manawatu.He hails from Mele, which is located northwest of Port Vila.-Club career:...

 9
E. Mermer
Etienne Mermer
Etienne Mermer is a footballer from Vanuatu. He currently plays for Tafea Football Club and, from June 2010, has been the coach of the Vanuatu national side.-External links:* at transfermarkt.co.uk...

 9
|-
|align=left|
|38||8||9||21||40||65||33||UEFA||A. Iashvili
Alexander Iashvili
Alexander Iashvili is a Georgian football striker. He currently plays for German club Karlsruher SC.He started his career in Dinamo Tbilisi, where he was a great goalscorer. With 24 goals in 24 games and 26 goals in 25 games he attracted interest from foreign clubs, and decided to join VfB...

 7
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|align=left|
|31||8||9||14||34||64||33||AFC||JP. Ancheri
Jo Paul Ancheri
Jo Paul Ancheri is a leading Indian football player and was the former Indian Football team Captain. He was named the AIFF Player of the Year by the All India Football Federation in 1994 and 2001.-Career:...

 4
|-
|align=left|
|16||9||4||3||38||15||31||OFC||M. Hmae
Michel Hmae
Michel Hmaé is a footballer who used to play for AS Magenta in the New Caledonian football league. He has been playing as a striker for the Noumea outfit since 2003/2004. On January 2010, he signed for AS Mont-Dore....

 11
|-
|align=left|
|28||9||4||15||29||49||31||CAF||S. Moriri 2
G. Massa
Geofrey Massa
Geofrey Massa is a Ugandan footballer for Itesalat in the Egyptian Premeir League and Uganda.-Club career:Born in Jinja, Massa began his career in 2004 with Police FC in the Ugandan Premier League before moving to Egypt side Al-Masry Club in 2005...

 2
G. Serunkuma 2
E. Sepuya
Eugene Sepuya
Andrew Eugene Sseppuya is a Ugandan football striker playing with FK Borac Čačak in the Serbian SuperLiga. Sseppuya is an international for the Uganda national team.-Biography:...

 2
H. Mubiru
Hassan Mubiru
Hassan Mubiru is an Ugandan football striker who plays for [victor FC]].-Career:Nicknamed 'Figo', he played for local team Lukuli United before moving to Police FC...

 2
I. Sekajja 2
|-
|align=left|
|37||8||7||22||27||57||31||CAF||C. Mansaray
Chernor Mansaray
Chernor Mansaray is a Sierra Leonean international footballer, who currently plays as a striker for Al-Sekka Al-Hadid, one of Egypt biggest and most popular clubs, and for the Sierra Leone national football team. Mansaray was a member of the Sierra Leone squad at the 1996 African Nations Cup in...

 2
K. Conteh
Kewullay Conteh
Kewullay Conteh is a Sierra Leonean footballer currently playing for Serie B side Piacenza. He is also a first choice defender for the Leone Stars, Sierra Leone national football team...

 2
S. Mansaray
Sidique Mansaray
Sidique Mansaray is a Sierra Leonean footballer, who currently plays as a striker for East End Lions in Sierra Leone National Premier League. He is also a regular member of the Leone Stars, Sierra Leone national football team...

 2
A. Kanu
Abu Kanu
Abu Kanu commonly known as Gbanaloko is a retired Sierra Leonean football Striker. Kanu was member of the Leone Stars squad that participated in the 1994 African Nations Cup in Tunisia. He is the second all-time goal scorer for the Sierra Leone national football team with 15 goals...

 2
M. Kallon 2
|-
|align=left|
|25||8||6||11||30||57||30||OFC||F. Tagawa 4
N. Bennett 4
|-
|align=left|
|27||8||4||15||27||55||28||CONCACAF||J. Alexander 6
L. Riley 6
|-
|align=left|
|20||8||3||9||43||36||27||CONCACAF||K. Gumbs
Keith Gumbs
Keith "Kayamba" Gumbs is a St. Kitts and Nevis international football player who currently plays as a striker for the Indonesia Super League side Sriwijaya FC...

 7
|-
|align=left|
|21||8||2||11||28||34||26||AFC||S. Kutsov 3
S. Chikishev 3
|-
|align=left|
|31||6||8||17||34||54||26||CAF||T. Ingdawerk 3
|-
|align=left|
|20||7||3||10||19||26||24||CAF||A. Gomes 5
C. Morais
Carlos Morais
-References:...

 5
|-
|align=left|
|27||6||6||15||23||38||24||CAF||A. Said 6
|-
|align=left|
|42||4||12||26||30||83||24||UEFA||A. Petrosyan
Artur Petrosyan
Arthur Petrosyan is a former Armenian football midfielder. He currently is one of the coaches of FC Zurich. Artur is the all-time leading scorer for the Armenia national team, and has participated in 70 international matches and scored 11 goals since his debut in a home friendly match against...

 4
|-
|align=left|
|36||7||3||26||26||86||24||AFC||M. Hossain Joarder 3
M. Alfaz 3
|-
|align=left|
|25||4||10||11||24||31||22||CAF||J. Tegete
Jerson Tegete
Jerson Tegete is a Tanzanian footballer who currently plays for Young Africans S.C. and the Tanzania national football team.He appeared in 2 of the 3 qualification matches for the 2010 FIFA World Cup scoring 2 goals.-References:...

 3
T. Ali 3
|-
|align=left|
|26||6||4||16||28||69||22||CONCACAF||D. Edwards
Derrick Edwards
Derrick Edwards is an Antiguan and Barbudan former footballer and current manager of the Antigua and Barbuda national team.-International career:...

 8
|-
|align=left|
|19||6||3||10||23||37||21||CONCACAF||O. Zapata 4
DAB. Rodriguez 4
|-
|align=left|
|20||6||3||11||15||33||21||CAF||I. Alhassane 2
M. Yahaya
Moussa Yahaya
Moussa Yahaya is a former Nigerien footballer, who played as a striker.-Football career:Yahaya started his football career with JS du Ténéré...

 2
|-
|align=left|
|31||5||6||20||24||75||21||CAF||R. Tjikuzu
Razundara Tjikuzu
Razundara Tjikuzu is a Namibian football player. The defensive midfielder plays for Kasımpaşa S.K. in Turkey.-Career:...

 4
|-
|align=left|
|24||5||5||14||22||38||20||CAF||Dario
Dario
Dario is a masculine given name, etymologically related to Darius.-Given name:*Dario Argento, an Italian film director*Dario Badinelli, an Italian triple jumper*Dario Bellezza, an Italian poet*Dario Benuzzi, an Italian test driver...

 5
|-
|align=left|
|16||5||4||7||14||22||19||CAF||N. Demba 2
M. Jarjue 2
|-
|align=left|
|24||5||4||15||18||38||19||CAF||D. Selolwane 8
|-
|align=left|
|16||6||0||10||18||70||18||OFC||L. Taufahema 4
|-
|align=left|
|50||5||3||42||26||139||18||UEFA||U. Arge
Uni Arge
Uni Jógvansson Arge is a Faroese journalist, musician and a former international football striker. He is also a former handball player. He played 105 matches for the handball club Kyndil from Tórshavn and scored 693 goals for the club.-Club career:Arge started his career with HB Tórshavn and made...

 4
|-
|align=left|
|15||5||2||8||39||33||17||CONCACAF||R. Charles
Ricky Charles
Ricky Charles is a footballer from Grenada playing currently for St. Ann's Rangers in the TT Pro League. He is also a member of Grenada national football team.-Club career:...

 8
|-
|align=left|
|14||5||2||7||10||17||17||CAF||C. Nahimana 2
H. Mbazumutima 2
|-
|align=left|(4)
|28||5||2||21||20||63||17||AFC||HS. Nguyen 6
|-
|align=left|
|22||5||2||15||28||95||17||AFC||A. Ashfaq
Ali Ashfaq
Ali Ashfaq is a Maldivian footballer nicknamed "Dhagandey" . He has played as a forward for club Valencia, New Radiant, DPMM FC and currently playing for V.B Sports Club in the Maldivian Dhiraagu Dhivehi League...

 7
|-
|align=left|
|38||3||7||28||12||74||16||UEFA||V. Vasilyev 2
V. Javadov 2
E. Mammadov
Elvin Mammadov
Elvin Mammadov is an Azerbaijani footballer playing currently for FK Baku and Azerbaijan's national football team. He made his national debut on August 20, 2008.-International goals:-External links:...

 2
|-
|align=left|
|48||4||4||40||24||176||16||AFC||Jui Te Chen 3
Duh Deng Chyan 3
Wei Yi Huang 3
|-
|align=left|
|14||5||0||9||18||28||15||CONCACAF||E. Jean
Earl Jean
Earl Jude Jean is a former St. Lucian footballer and current Assistant coach of W Connection.-Ipswich:Earl famously told the local media that despite his short stature he could leap very high - he was therefore nicknamed 'The Flea'...

 5
|-
|align=left| (1994–1998)
(2002—)
|14||5||0||9||25||39||15||OFC||J. Michael
Junior Michael
Junior Michael is a former association footballer from Samoa, who played as a forward during his career. Michael played for 5 clubs as well as the Samoa national football team.-Titavi FC:...

 5
|-
|align=left|
|10||4||2||4||22||19||14||OFC||R. Davani
Reginald Davani
Reginald "Reggie" Davani is a Papua New Guinea footballer, who currently plays as a striker for Australian football club Sunshine George Cross.-Club career:...

 6
|-
|align=left|
|14||4||2||8||19||27||14||AFC||E. Abou El Kair 4
|-
|align=left| (5)
|27||3||5||19||19||67||14||AFC||K. Jayasuriya
Kasun Jayasuriya
Kasun Nadika Jayasuriya is a Sri Lankan football player who plays for Renown Sports Club and the Sri Lanka national football team....

 4
|-
|align=left|
|38||2||8||28||19||75||14||UEFA||S. Rogaciov
Serghei Rogaciov
Serghei Ivanovich Rogaciov is a Moldovan footballer who plays in attack for FC Dynamo Saint Petersburg.-Career:He previously played for Constructorul Chişinău, FC Sheriff Tiraspol, FC Olimpia Bălţi, and Cristalul Făleşti, Saturn Ramenskoye, FC Aktobe and FC Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast.-International:He...

 3
S. Clescenco
Serghei Clescenco
Serghei Cleşcenco is a retired Moldovan football player who holds the record for most international appearances for his country as well as the record for most goals scored in a single season by a foreigner in Israel....

 3
|-
|align=left|
|114||3||4||107||54||381||13||UEFA||A. Schmit
Ady Schmit
Ady Schmit is a former footballer from Luxembourg.-References:*...

 4
R. Langers 4
|-
|align=left|
|82||1||9||72||25||247||12||UEFA||C. Busuttil
Carmel Busuttil
Carmel Busuttil is one of Malta's most experienced football players. Now retired from playing, he is assistant coach of the Malta national football team.-Career:...

 5
|-
|align=left|
|20||3||2||15||16||45||11||CONCACAF||C. Watson
Clyde Watson
Clyde Watson is a retired American soccer player who played professionally in the American Soccer League. He is currently assistant coach at the Washington Freedom....

 4
|-
|align=left|
|10||3||1||6||10||15||10||CAF||F. Oumar 3
|-
|align=left|
|40||2||4||34||18||121||10||UEFA||M. Frick
Mario Frick (footballer)
Mario Frick is a Swiss-born Liechtensteiner football striker, who plays for Liechtenstein side FC Balzers in the Swiss 1st League.-Liechtenstein:...

 5
|-
|align=left|
|31||3||1||27||13||148||10||AFC||Kin Seng Chan 2
A. Carvalhal 2
D. Pinto 2
|-
|align=left|
|10||1||6||3||9||14||9||UEFA||M. Vucinic
Mirko Vucinic
Mirko Vučinić is a Montenegrin footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Juventus. Originally from the city of Nikšić, Vučinić found himself playing for the local team there during his early teen years...

 3
|-
|align=left|
|12||2||3||7||12||35||9||CONCACAF||V. Casimir 3
|-
|align=left|
|13||2||3||8||5||28||9||CAF||S. Dlamini
Siza Dlamini
Siza Selby Dlamini is a retired Swazi football striker. He has been capped for Swaziland.-Clubs:*1994–1999 : Mbabane Highlanders*1999–2001 : Bush Bucks*2001–2004 : Lamontville Golden Arrows*2004–2006 : Durban Stars...

 3
|-
|align=left|
|10||2||3||5||10||35||9||CONCACAF||K. Davies
Kevin Davies
Kevin Cyril Davies is an English footballer who currently plays for Bolton Wanderers and the England national football team as a striker. He was made Bolton team captain in January 2009....

 2
A. Haven 2
|-
|align=left|
|17||2||3||12||13||49||9||CONCACAF||R. Ortiz 2
P. Villegas
Petter Villegas
Petter Villegas is a Ecuadorian-born Puerto Rican footballer currently playing for Puerto Rico Islanders in the North American Soccer League.-Youth and college:...

 2
M. Lugris 2
|-
|align=left|
|24||2||2||20||15||87||8||AFC||N. Ramayajhi 7
|-
|align=left|
|10||2||0||8||7||17||6||CAF||R. Eyoma 1
C. Mba
Casiano Mba
Casiano Mba is an Equatoguinean footballer.-International career:He played with his national team against Gabon in two matches corresponding to the Africa Cup of Nations 2000 Qualifying. . He also played against Congo in two matches corresponding to the World Cup 2002 Qualifying.-International...

 1
SJ. Barila 1
R. Bodipo
Rodolfo Bodipo
Rodolfo Bodipo Díaz is a naturalized Equatoguinean footballer who plays for Deportivo de La Coruña in the Spanish second division, as a striker.-Club career:...

 1
JE. Dyowe
Juan Epitié Dyowe
Juan Ramón Epitié Dyowe Roig , known as Epitié, is a naturalized Equatoguinean footballer who plays for Gimnàstic de Manresa in the Spanish ninth division, as a forward.-Club career:...

 1
J. Edjogo 1
F. Carolino 1
|-
|align=left|
|8||1||2||5||5||13||5||CAF||P. Tavares 2
|-
|align=left|
|14||1||2||11||7||33||5||CAF||A. Teguedi 2
|-
|align=left|
|12||1||2||9||8||35||5||CONCACAF||D. McCauley
Deon McCauley
Deon McCaulay is a Belizean international footballer who plays for Honduran club Deportes Savio, as a striker.-Career:...

 2
|-
|align=left|
|16||1||2||13||12||44||5||CAF||D. Imbert 2
W. Marquette
Wesley Marquette
Wesley Marquette is a football player who currently plays for AS Possession in the Réunion Premier League and for the Mauritius national football team as a forward. He is featured on the Mauritian national team in the official 2010 FIFA World Cup video game.- References :*...

 2
|-
|align=left|
|14||1||2||11||6||76||5||AFC||S. Thongphachan 1
V. Dalaphone 1
V. Phaphouvanin 1
P. Phounsamay 1
N. Khouphachansy 1
P. Chanthalome 1
|-
|align=left|
|32||1||2||29||12||109||5||UEFA||I. Lima 3
|- style="background:gray;"
|align=left|
|4||1||1||2||4||8||4||Defunct||H. Binkert 1
G. Siedl
Gerhard Siedl
Gerhard Siedl was a German footballer who played international football for both the Saar and West German national teams. During his club career he played for FC Bayern Munich, Borussia Neunkirchen, 1. FC Saarbrücken, Karlsruher SC, FC Basel, AZ, SV Austria Salzburg and FC Dornbirn 1913.-External...

 1
H. Martin
Herbert Martin
Herbert Martin is a German former footballer who spent the majority of his career with 1. FC Saarbrücken. He was the leading goal scorer for the Saarland national football team with six goals, while the team existed between 1950 and 1956.-External links:* at worldfootball.net...

 1
W. Otto
Werner Otto
Werner Otto is a retired track cyclist from East Germany, who represented his native country at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. There he won the silver medal in the Men's Tandem, alongside Jürgen Geschke....

 1
|-
|align=left|
|10||1||1||8||12||31||4||CONCACAF||W. Gross
Wander Gross
Wander Gross is an Aruban football player. He has played for Aruba national team.-References:*...

 3
|-
|align=left|
|9||1||1||7||5||40||4||CAF||M. Hirir 1
H. Robleh 1
M. Khaireh 1
AH. Daher 1
H. Yussin 1
|- style="background:gray;"
|align=left| (4)
|3||1||0||2||1||5||3||Defunct||unknown goalscorer vs. Thailand on 16.05.1973
|-
|align=left|
|4||1||0||3||2||13||3||CAF||C. Pontes 1
A. Ramos 1
|-
|align=left|
|6||1||0||5||2||24||3||CONCACAF||G. Glinton
Gavin Glinton
Gavin Glinton is a Turks and Caicos Islands soccer player who currently plays for Nam Dinh FC in the V-League.-College and amateur:...

 1
D. Lowery
David Lowery
David Lowery is an American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter; he is the founder of alternative rock band, Camper Van Beethoven, and co-founder of the more traditional rock band, Cracker...

 1
|-
|align=left|
|14||0||3||11||6||33||3||CAF||T. Masia 1
T. Ramoseli 1
M. Ramafole 1
S. Leboela 1
S. Muso
Sello Muso
Sello Muso is a Mosotho footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Lioli Teyateyaneng. Since 2006, he has won 22 caps and scored four goals for the Lesotho national football team.-External links:* at national-football-teams.com...

 1
L. Seema
Lehlohonolo Seema
Lehlohonolo Seema is a Lesotho football defender and midfielder for Orlando Pirates in the South African Premier Soccer League. He also holds South African citizenship.-Career:...

 1
|-
|align=left|
|14||1||0||13||8||55||3||OFC||T. Mateariki 2
|-
|align=left|
|4||0||2||2||0||7||2||CAF||zero goalscorer
|-
|align=left|
|7||0||2||5||1||15||2||CAF||unknown goalscorer vs. Niger on 27.08.1980
|-
|align=left|
|8||0||2||6||3||19||2||CONCACAF||M. Forbes 1
A. Grant 1
T. Elliot 1
|-
|align=left|
|10||0||2||8||6||26||2||CAF||P. Zialor
Philip Zialor
Philip Zialor is a Seychellois footballer. He is a striker on the Seychelles national football team.Zialor scored two of his team's four goals in the 2010 World Cup Qualifying matches. In his career, he has 11 goals in 31 international matches.-References:*...

 3
|-
|align=left|
|6||0||2||4||4||27||2||CONCACAF||A. Williams 2
|-
|align=left|
|14||0||2||12||5||54||2||AFC||C. Makara 2
H. Sochetra 2
|-
|align=left|
|26||0||2||24||11||112||2||AFC||G. Zaman 3
|-
|align=left|
|46||0||2||44||8||205||2||UEFA||A. Selva
Andy Selva
Andy Selva is an Italian-born Sanmarinese professional footballer who currently plays as a striker for Fidene and the San Marino national team.-Club career:...

 5
|- style="background:gray;"
|align=left|
|2||0||1||1||4||7||1||Defunct||AI. Al Mass 1
|-
|align=left|
|4||0||1||3||2||22||1||OFC||V. Sekifu 1
|-
|align=left|
|6||0||1||5||2||27||1||CONCACAF||K. Hughes
Kenneth Hughes
Kenneth Hughes is an actor, dancer, director and writer and has a background in film, TV and Stage internationally.He should not be confused with Ken Hughes ....

 7
R. O Connor 1
|-
|align=left|
|12||0||1||11||5||32||1||CONCACAF||E. Palacios
Emilio Palacios
Emilio Palacios is a Nicaraguan footballer, currently playing for the Nicaragua national football team and Salvadoran side Independiente Nacional 1906. He was the first Nicaraguan to score a hat-trick in an international competition, in February 2007, when Nicaragua won 4-2 against Belize, during...

 2
|-
|align=left|
|9||0||1||8||2||39||1||AFC||J. Dona 1
Y. Barsales 1
|-
|align=left|
|10||0||1||9||4||44||1||AFC||L. Donorov 1
O. Selenge 1
B. Davaa 1
B. Buman-Uchral 1
|-
|align=left|
|2||0||0||2||1||4||0||CAF||L. Djim 1
|-
|align=left|
|2||0||0||2||2||10||0||CAF||I. Bakar 1
D. Midtadi 1
|-
|align=left|
|2||0||0||2||3||11||0||AFC||E. Da Silva
Emílio da Silva
Emilio Ribeiro Neves da Silva, known simply as Emílio da Silva; born 5 April 1982 in Dili, East Timor , is a footballer from East Timor who has represented AD Esperança since 2004...

 3
|-
|align=left| (6)
|2||0||0||2||0||11||0||AFC||zero goalscorer
|-
|align=left|
|4||0||0||4||1||18||0||AFC||O. Karimi
Obaidullah Karimi
Obaidullah Karimi is an Afghan footballer who is currently free agent. He was the only Afghan player who scored a goal in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification ‎ against Syria.In his career he had four metatarsal fractures.-Club career stats:...

 1
|-
|align=left|
|5||0||0||5||2||33||0||CONCACAF||V. Farrell
Vladimir Farrell
Vladimir Santos Farrell is a footballer who played as a striker for Hucknall Town. He has also represented Montserrat at international level.He made his debut in 2002 against the Dominican Republic...

 1
W. Dyer
Wayne Dyer
Wayne Walter Dyer is an American self-help advocate, author, and lecturer.- Early life :Dyer was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Melvin Lyle and Hazel Irene Dyer and spent much of his adolescence in an orphanage on the east side of Detroit. Dr. Wayne Dyer is a 1958 graduate of Denby High School;...

 1
|-
|align=left|
|5||0||0||5||1||35||0||CONCACAF||J. Santos 1
|-
|align=left|
|2||0||0||2||0||35||0||AFC||zero goalscorer
|-
|align=left|
|12||0||0||12||2||57||0||AFC||K. Zainudin 1
A. Rahim 1
|-
|align=left|
|12||0||0||12||2||129||0||OFC||N. Natia
Natia Natia
Natia Natia is an American Samoan international footballer.-International career:On May 12, 2004, he scored the first goal in a World Cup qualification match in the history of his national team, in a 9-1 loss against Vanuatu....

 1
R. Ott
Ramin Ott
Ramin Ott is a football player for the American Samoa national football team. He is nicknamed "The Machine" and he is of German descent...

 1
|-
|align=left|
| 0|| 0|| 0|| 0|| 0|| 0|| 0||AFC||zero goalscorer
|}
World Cup winners' results in World Cup preliminary competition
Team Pld W D L GF GA Pts Topscorers
99 66 22 11 226 70 220 F. Hierro
Fernando Hierro
Fernando Ruiz Hierro is a retired Spanish footballer. He is mostly known for his spells with Real Madrid and Spain, appearing in more than 500 official games with the former and representing the latter on nearly 100 occasions, whilst appearing in four World Cups and two European...

 10
D. Villa
David Villa
David Villa Sánchez , nicknamed , is a Spanish footballer who currently plays as a striker for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national football team. He can also operate as a winger....

 8
J. Salinas
Julio Salinas
Julio Salinas Fernández is a retired Spanish footballer who played during the 1980s and 1990s....

 8
Raul
Raúl González
Raúl González Blanco , known simply as Raúl, is a Spanish footballer who plays as a striker. He currently plays for German club Schalke 04....

 8
F. Torres
Fernando Torres
Fernando José Torres Sanz , nicknamed , is a Spanish footballer who plays for Chelsea and the Spain national team as a striker....

 7
I. Langara
Isidro Lángara
Isidro Lángara Galarraga was a Spanish football striker. He played 12 times for Spain, scoring 17 goals.- Biography :...

 7
Michel 7
Alfonso
Alfonso
Alfonso , Alfons , Afonso , Affonso , Alphonse, Alfonse , Αλφόνσος , Alphonsus , Alphons , Alfonsu in ,...

 6
92 62 19 11 226 60 205 M. Owen
Michael Owen
Michael James Owen is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester United.The son of former footballer Terry Owen, Owen began his senior career at Liverpool in 1996. He progressed through the Liverpool youth team and scored on his debut in May 1997...

 10
F. Lampard
Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Chelsea and the England national team. He also holds the position of vice-captain for his club side...

 9
W. Rooney
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Mark Rooney is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team...

 9
I. Wright
Ian Wright
Ian Edward Wright, MBE is a retired English footballer turned television and radio personality.Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal, spending six years with the former and seven years with the latter. With Arsenal he has lifted the Premier League title and both major...

 8
D. Platt 7
T. Taylor
Tommy Taylor
Thomas "Tommy" Taylor was an English footballer, who was known for his aerial ability. He was one of the eight Manchester United players who lost their lives in the Munich air disaster....

 7
P. Gascoigne
Paul Gascoigne
Paul John Gascoigne , commonly referred to as Gazza, is a retired English professional footballer.Playing in the position of midfield, Gascoigne's career included spells at Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio, Rangers, Middlesbrough, Everton and Gansu Tianma, where he scored at least a goal...

 7
A. Shearer
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer OBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team...

 6
B. Robson
Bryan Robson
Bryan Robson OBE is an English football manager and a former player. He is best known for playing in midfield for Manchester United, where he was the longest serving captain in club history. He was the manager of Sheffield United, being relieved of his first team duties at the club in February 2008...

 6
S. Gerrard
Steven Gerrard
Steven George Gerrard MBE is an English footballer who plays for and captains Premier League club Liverpool. He also has 89 caps for the England national team. He has played much of his career in a centre midfielder role, but he has also been used as a second striker and right winger...

 6
T. Woodcock
Tony Woodcock
Anthony Stewart "Tony" Woodcock is a retired English international footballer who played professionally in both England and Germany as a striker. He won the European Cup in 1979 with Nottingham Forest.-Early career:...

 6
87 61 19 7 181 51 202 G. Riva 14
R. Bettega
Roberto Bettega
Roberto Bettega is an Italian former footballer. Bettega was regarded as a player of noteworthy intelligence and at his prime was one of the most feared strikers . Bettega is mostly remembered for his time at his hometown club Juventus...

 11
F. Inzaghi
Filippo Inzaghi
Filippo Inzaghi, Ufficiale OMRI commonly known as Pippo, is a World Cup and UEFA Champions League-winning Italian footballer who plays for Serie A club Milan....

 7
S. Mazzola 7
A. Gilardino
Alberto Gilardino
Alberto Gilardino, Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Fiorentina and the Italian national team....

 6
A. del Piero
Alessandro Del Piero
Alessandro Del Piero Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who plays for Serie A club Juventus, of which he is also club captain....

 6
F. Graziani
Francesco Graziani
Francesco "Ciccio" Graziani is an Italy football manager and former player.-Playing career:Graziani was born in Subiaco, in the province of Rome....

 6
R. Baggio
Roberto Baggio
Roberto Baggio is a retired Italian footballer. Widely regarded as one of the finest footballers of his generation, Baggio won both the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year in 1993. He is the only Italian player ever to score in three World Cups. He is also one of the top 5 all-time...

 6
102 59 24 19 181 96 201 H. Crespo
Hernán Crespo
Hernán Jorge Crespo is an Argentine footballer who plays for Parma in the Italian Serie A. Crespo has scored over 300 goals in a career spanning 18 years. His honors include an Olympic Games silver medal, a Copa Libertadores, an English Premier League title and three Scudettos. He was topscorer in...

 19
G. Batistuta
Gabriel Batistuta
Gabriel Omar Batistuta , nicknamed Batigol, is a former professional footballer. The prolific Argentine striker played most of his club football at Fiorentina in Italy, and he is the tenth top scorer of all-time in the Italian Serie A league, with 184 goals in 318 matches...

 11
A. Ortega
Ariel Ortega
Arnaldo Ariel Ortega is an Argentine football attacking midfielder. His nickname is "El Burrito" , thus he is called "Burrito Ortega"....

 7
C. Lopez 7
J. Riquelme 7
O. Corbatta
Omar Oreste Corbatta
Omar Oreste Corbatta Fernández was an Argentine footballer who played as a forward.Dubbed Arlequín and El dueño de la raya , he played for five teams in his country - six in total - namely Racing Club and Boca Juniors, winning four major titles and scoring 86 official goals with both teams...

 7
J. Veron
Juan Verón
Juan Verón may refer to two Argentine footballers:*Juan Ramón Verón, nicknamed La Bruja*Juan Sebastián Verón, his son, nicknamed La Brujita...

6
92 56 25 11 199 59 193 Romario
Romário
Romário de Souza Faria , better known simply as Romário , is a former footballer who played striker,manager and current politician where is currently running for a mayor like position in his hometown...

 11
Zico
Zico
Arthur Antunes Coimbra , better known as Zico , is a Brazilian coach and former footballer. He is the current head coach of the Iraq national football team. Often called the "White Pelé", he is commonly considered one of the most skilled finishers and one of the best passers ever and possibly the...

 11
Kaka
Kaká
Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite , commonly known as Kaká , is a Brazilian football attacking midfielder who currently plays for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and the Brazilian national team. Kaká started his footballing career at the age of eight, when he began playing for a local club...

 10
L. Fabiano
Luís Fabiano
Luís Fabiano Clemente , commonly known as Luís Fabiano, is a Brazilian footballer who currently plays for São Paulo and the Brazilian national football team as a striker.-Early career:...

 10
Ronaldo
Ronaldo
Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima , commonly known as Ronaldo, is a retired Brazilian footballer who last played for Corinthians. Ronaldo is widely considered to be the greatest 'pure' striker in the history of the modern game, and by some accounts, in the history of football. Ronaldo was one of the...

 10
Tostão
Tostão
Eduardo Gonçalves de Andrade , better known as Tostão, is a former Brazilian footballer, who played as a forward. In his prime, he was considered one of the best offensive players in the world, while also contributing with many assists thanks to his passing abilities.-Football career:Born in Belo...

 10
Rivaldo
Rivaldo
Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira , commonly known simply as Rivaldo , is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for São Paulo, on loan from Mogi Mirim, as an attacking midfielder and sometimes as a supporting striker.He most notably played five years with Spanish club FC Barcelona, with whom he...

 9
Adriano
Adriano
Adriano is the form of the Latin given name Hadrianus commonly used in the Italian and Portuguese languages; the form Adrian is used in the English language instead.-People with the given name Adriano:...

 7
Bebeto
Bebeto
José Roberto Gama de Oliveira, known as 'Bebeto', is a former football forward, a World Champion for Brazil in the 1994 World Cup...

 7
Careca 6
Pelé
Pelé
However, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...

 6
Robinho
Robinho
Robson de Souza , more commonly known as Robinho, is a Brazilian professional footballer who currently plays as second striker and winger for Serie A club AC Milan...

 6
118 52 33 33 156 119 189 D. Forlan
Diego Forlán
Diego Forlán Corazo is an Uruguayan footballer who plays as a striker for Internazionale and the Uruguayan national team. He is a two-time winner of both the Pichichi Trophy and the European Golden Shoe, and also received the Golden Ball as the best player at the 2010 World Cup.Forlán was born...

 13
D. Silva
Darío Silva
Darío Debray Silva Pereira is a retired Uruguayan footballer who played as a striker.After making a name for himself in his country and in Italy with Caglari, he spent the following seven years of his career in Spain - scoring 48 La Liga goals in 163 games, mostly for Málaga - before moving to...

 8
S. Abreu
Sebastián Abreu
Washington Sebastián Abreu Gallo is an Uruguayan footballer who plays with Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas in Brazil as a striker.Best known by his nickname El Loco , the prolific goalscorer – for club and country – played for more than 20 teams during his professional career, in six different...

 8
R. Sosa 7
C. Bueno
Carlos Bueno
Carlos Heber Bueno Suárez is an Uruguayan footballer who plays for Querétaro F.C. in Mexico, as a striker.-Club career:...

 6
(1934–1938)
(1950–1990)
(1994—)
74 55 17 2 213 56 182 KH. Rummenigge
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
Karl-Heinz "Kalle" Rummenigge is a German former football player.He had his greatest career success with German club Bayern Munich, where he won the Intercontinental Cup, the European Cup, as well as two league titles and two domestic cups.A member of the German national team, Rummenigge won the...

 13
M. Ballack
Michael Ballack
Michael Ballack is a German professional footballer, who is currently playing for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. He is among the top goal scorers in the history of his international team. Ballack has worn the number 13 shirt for every team he has played for except for Kaiserslautern...

 10
G. Müller
Gerd Müller
Gerhard "Gerd" Müller is a former German football player and one of the most prolific goalscorers of all time.With national records of 68 goals in 62 international appearances, 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games and the international record of 66 goals in 74 European Club games, he was one of the...

 9
M. Klose
Miroslav Klose
Miroslav Josef Klose is a German footballer who plays as a striker for Lazio in the Serie A. Since bursting onto the international stage at the 2002 World Cup, he has become well known for his knack of scoring headers, front-flip goal celebrations, and decisive short passing.Klose holds German...

 9
K. Fischer
Klaus Fischer
Klaus Fischer is a German former football player and coach.-Career:Fischer was born in Kreuzstraßl, near Lindberg in the district of Regen....

 7
P. Littbarski
Pierre Littbarski
Pierre Michael Littbarski is a German football manager and former player. He was mainly a winger or attacking midfielder and is best known for his brilliant dribbling abilities. He was a FIFA World Cup winner with West Germany in 1990. He was also runner–up twice in 1982 and 1986 with West Germany...

 7
L. Podolski
Lukas Podolski
Lukas Josef Podolski ; born Łukasz Podolski ) on 4 June 1985 in Gliwice, Poland) is a German footballer who plays as a striker/winger for 1. FC Köln and for the German national team. He joined 1. FC Köln in 1995 where he broke into the first team in 2003 and made 81 appearances for the club before...

 6
M. Morlock
Max Morlock
Maximilian Morlock was one of the most popular German football players in the 1950s and early 1960s. In his time with the West German national team, he earned 26 caps and scored 21 goals...

 6
O. Bierhoff
Oliver Bierhoff
Oliver Bierhoff is a retired German former football striker, who scored the first golden goal in the history of major international football, for Germany in the Euro 96 final...

 6
R. Völler
Rudi Völler
Rudolf 'Rudi' Völler is a German former international football striker, and a former manager of the German national team...

 6
91 52 19 20 180 74 175 M. Platini
Michel Platini
Michel François Platini is a former French football player, manager and current president of UEFA. Platini was a member of the French national team that won the 1984 European Championship, a tournament in which he was the top goalscorer and voted the best player. He participated in the 1978, 1982...

 12
E. Cantona
Eric Cantona
Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona is a French actor and former French international footballer. He played for Auxerre, Martigues, Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nîmes and Leeds United before ending his professional footballing career at Manchester United, where he won four Premier League titles in...

 7
T. Cisowski
Thadée Cisowski
Thadée Cisowski , originally Tadeusz Cisowski, is a former French footballer who played striker, son of Polish immigrants like Raymond Kopa and one of the best goalscorers in Championnat de France....

 7
JP. Papin
Jean-Pierre Papin
Jean-Pierre Papin is a former French professional football player who was European Footballer of the Year in 1991.Papin achieved his greatest success while playing for Olympique Marseille between 1986 and 1992...

 6
T. Henry
Thierry Henry
Thierry Daniel Henry is a French professional footballer who plays for the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer.Henry was born in Les Ulis, Essonne where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goal-scorer. He was spotted by AS Monaco in 1990 and...

 6


Last updated: 16 July 2010.

Topscorers in preliminary competition 1934–2010

Rank Nation Player Goals Games Goal ratio Qualification tournaments
1   Ali Daei
Ali Daei
Ali Daei is an Iranian retired football player and former national team coach who currently manages a local Iranian team, Rah Ahan. He is a former captain of the Iran national football team, and is the world's all-time leading goalscorer in international matches...

35 51 0.69 1994 (7 goals), 1998 (9), 2002 (10), 2006 (9)
2   Karim Bagheri
Karim Bagheri
Karim Bagheri is a retired professional Iranian player, most notably playing for Persepolis in the Iran Pro League. He was known as a two-footed midfielder and is famous for his powerful and thundering long range shots and free kicks.-Early years:...

28 29 0.97 1998 (19 goals), 2002 (8), 2010 (1)
3   Kazu Miura 27 25 1.08 1994 (13 goals), 1998 (14)
4   Andriy Shevchenko
Andriy Shevchenko
Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko is a Ukrainian footballer who plays for Dynamo Kyiv and the Ukraine national team as a striker. He is the third-highest scorer in the history of European club competition with 67 goals as of 2011-03-10, behind Filippo Inzaghi and Raúl. With 175 goals scored with A.C...

26 40 0.65 1998 (4 goals), 2002 (10), 2006 (6), 2010 (6)
5   Carlos Pavon
Carlos Pavón
Carlos Alberto Pavón Plummer is a Honduran football striker.He is most costly related to Real C.D. España of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Honduras....

25 37 0.68 1998 (2 goals), 2002 (15), 2006 (1), 2010 (7)
6   Carlos Ruiz 25 30 0.80 2002 (8 goals), 2006 (10), 2010 (6), 2011 (1)
7   Jared Borgetti
Jared Borgetti
Jared Francisco Borgetti Echavarría is a retired Mexican footballer. Borgetti is the all-time leading goal scorer for the Mexican national team, with 46 goals. A prolific goal scorer at both club and national level, Borgetti was renowned for his heading ability...

23 24 0.96 2002 (6 goals), 2006 (14), 2010 (3)
8   Paulo Wanchope
Paulo Wanchope
Pablo César Wanchope Watson , more commonly known as Paulo Wanchope, is a Costa Rican former professional footballer. As of February 2009, Wanchope is the second most prolific goalscorer in the history of the national football team, behind Rolando Fonseca, with 45 goals in 73 international...

21 37 0.57 1998 (6 goals), 2002 (7), 2006 (8)
9   Stern John
Stern John
Stern John is a Trinidadian football player currently playing for North East Stars in Trinidad. He played for a number of high profile English football clubs that included Nottingham Forest, Birmingham City and Coventry City.-Early Career in US:John moved to the United States to attend Mercer...

20 45 0.44 1998 (3 goals), 2002 (3), 2006 (12), 2010 (2)
10   Vaughan Coveny
Vaughan Coveny
Vaughan Coveny is a former football player, who frequently represented New Zealand from 1992 onwards. Coveny's senior club career spanned 20 years, with his most notable stint being at South Melbourne during their National Soccer League era. He was primarily a striker although he also played as a...

19 19 1.00 1998 (4 goals), 2002 (9), 2006 (6)
11   Pauleta
Pauleta
Pedro Miguel Carreiro Resendes, OIH , commonly known as Pauleta , is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a striker....

19 24 0.79 2002 (8 goals), 2006 (11)
12   Hernan Crespo
Hernán Crespo
Hernán Jorge Crespo is an Argentine footballer who plays for Parma in the Italian Serie A. Crespo has scored over 300 goals in a career spanning 18 years. His honors include an Olympic Games silver medal, a Copa Libertadores, an English Premier League title and three Scudettos. He was topscorer in...

19 33 0.58 1998 (3 goals), 2002 (9), 2006 (7)

Current format

Currently, 32 places are available in the final tournament. One of them is reserved for the host nation, but if two or more nations host the competition jointly, each is awarded a place. The 2006 Finals
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...

 were the first in which an automatic entry was not guaranteed to the previous champion; 2002 winner qualified for 2006 at the top of their qualifiers group. The decision to remove the reigning champions' automatic spot, announced in November 2001, was said by FIFA to address the issue of the returning champions being at a disadvantage to their fellow competitors due to having not played a competitive match in the previous two years. The problem was amply demonstrated at the 2002 FIFA World Cup
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...

 as returning champions tumbled out in the first round, finishing bottom of their group having failed to score a single goal. However, , defending champions from 2006, finished bottom of their group
2010 FIFA World Cup Group F
Group F of the 2010 FIFA World Cup began on 14 June 2010 and ended on 24 June 2010. The group consisted of reigning World Cup holders Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia. Italy previously met Paraguay in 1950, in which Italy defeated Paraguay 2–0; neither qualified for the next round.Paraguay...

 in 2010
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...

, despite playing in the qualifying matches.

FIFA decides beforehand the number of spots awarded to each of the continental zones. For the 2014 World Cup
2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be the 20th FIFA World Cup, an international association football tournament that will take place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014....

, the following numbers will be used:
  • UEFA
    UEFA
    The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

     (Europe)
    – 13 berths
  • CAF
    Confederation of African Football
    The Confederation of African Football is the administrative and controlling body for African association football.CAF represents the national football associations of Africa, runs continental, national, and club competitions, and controls the prize money, regulations and media rights to those...

     (Africa)
    – 5 berths
  • AFC
    Asian Football Confederation
    The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football in Asia. It has 46 member countries, mostly located on the Asian continent. However, due to the disputed boundary of Europe and Asia, nations such as Russia and Turkey which are located mostly in geographic Asia are...

     (Asia)
    – 4 berths
  • CONMEBOL
    CONMEBOL
    The South American Football Confederation , commonly known as CONMEBOL , is the continental governing body of association football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations...

     (South America)
    – 4 berths, plus the host
  • CONCACAF
    CONCACAF
    The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football is the continental governing body for association football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean...

     (North and Central America and Caribbean)
    – 3 berths
  • 2 berths for the winners of play-offs between the best team from the OFC
    Oceania Football Confederation
    The Oceania Football Confederation is one of the six continental confederations of international association football, consisting of Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and island nations such as Tonga, Fiji and other Pacific Island countries...

     (Oceania), as well as additional teams from the AFC, CONMEBOL and CONCACAF. The pairings for these play-offs will be determined by an open draw.


These numbers vary slightly between tournaments (see above).

Qualification in all zones ends at approximately the same time, in September–November of the year preceding the finals.

The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations and over time. The systems to be used in 2014
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
The 2014 FIFA World Cup will feature 32 teams. One place was allocated to the hosts, , but no automatic place is given to the defending champions, . The remaining 31 places will be determined by a qualification process, in which entrants from among the other 207 teams from the six FIFA...

 are outlined below.

Africa

The CAF qualification process
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
The Confederation of African Football section of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification sees teams competing for berths in the final tournament in Brazil.-Format:...

 will begin with a preliminary round (to narrow the field of 52 entrants to 40 teams) in November 2011. was the only team not to enter the qualifying draw.

The group stage will consist of 10 groups of 4, with the group winners advancing. The final stage will pair the 10 remaining teams in 5 knock-out ties, with the winners advancing to the World Cup finals.

Asia

and did not enter the AFC qualification process
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
The Asian Football Confederation section of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification sees teams competing for berths in the final tournament in Brazil...

, while were suspended and therefore ineligible.

Qualifying has only been altered slightly from the 2010 method, with changes to the structure of the preliminary rounds – which will be held before the main draw. As with the 2010 qualifying, two knock-out preliminary rounds will reduce the 43 entrants to 20, followed by first group stage with the top two sides from 5 groups of 4 advancing to a final group stage. The winners and runners-up of the two final groups of 5 will advance to the World Cup finals with the two third-placed sides playing off for the right to play in an inter-confederation play-off for a final World Cup spot.

Europe

The European qualification
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
The European Zone of qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup will see teams competing for places at the finals in Brazil. As in recent tournaments, UEFA will have 13 direct qualfiers for the finals tournaments, with the 2014 qualifiers chosen as the winners of each of nine qualifying groups as...

 is unchanged from the 2010 system. The 53 national teams will be divided into nine groups, with the group winners qualifying directly to the finals, and the best eight runners-up playing home-and-away ties for the remaining four places.

North and Central America and Caribbean

The CONCACAF
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
The CONCACAF qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup will see teams competing for places at the finals in Brazil.As in recent tournaments, CONCACAF will have three direct qualifiers for the finals tournament in addition to a further possible place via the inter-confederation play-offs against the...

 qualification process has changed significantly from 2010 qualification. A single preleminary round involved the 10 lowest ranked teams will reduce the 35 entrants to 30. The six highest ranked sides will receive byes in the first group stage, while the remaining 24 teams will play in six groups of four, with the winners advancing to a second group stage. As in 2006 and 2010, the remaining 12 teams with play in 3 semifinal groups of 4 teams with the top two in each group advancing to a final 6-team group.

The final round – often referred to as "the hexagonal" because of the number of teams involved – will see the top three teams advance to the World Cup finals, while the fourth placed side will enter an inter-confederation play-off for a final World Cup spot.

Oceania

Qualification in Oceania
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)
The OFC qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup will see teams competing for places at the finals in Brazil.-Format:The initial format was scheduled to begin in August 2011 at the 2011 Pacific Games in Noumea, New Caledonia, where the men's football tournament was to double as the first stage of...

 will be held as part of two further competitions. The first stage will take place at the 2011 Pacific Games
Men's Football at the 2011 Pacific Games
The 2011 Pacific Games men's football tournament was the 13th edition of Pacific Games men's football tournament. The competition was held in New Caledonia from 27 August to 9 September 2011 with the final played at the Stade Numa-Daly in Nouméa....

, with the top 3 eligible teams advancing to a final round group stage with . The winner of the final group stage (which will also act as the 2012 OFC Nations Cup
2012 OFC Nations Cup
---------Group B:---------Knockout stage:The group winners and runner-ups will compete in a single elimination knockout stage. The winner of this knockout stage earns a place in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. These same four teams compete in a separate event for the OFC third round of qualifying...

) will enter an inter-confederation play-off for a World Cup spot.

South America

As in recent qualification series CONMEBOL
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
The South American Zone of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification sees nine teams competing for places in the finals which are to be held in Brazil.-Format:The format for CONMEBOL's 2014 World Cup qualifying tournament is identical to the previous four editions...

 qualification will consist of a single group of all entrants not automatically qualified for the finals. , as hosts of the 2014 finals, qualifies automatically and does not compete in qualifying.

The top 4 teams from the 9 teams group will advance to the World Cup finals, while the fifth placed team will enter an inter-confederation play-off for a World Cup spot.

Intercontinental play-offs

Unlike previous tournaments, the pairings for the two play-offs will be determined by an open draw on 30 July 2011, a day prior to the main draw. Intercontinental play-offs are played as home-and-away ties.

Qualification tournament rules

Qualification tournaments generally consist of a number of stages, made up of groups or knock-out ties.

Groups

In all group tournaments, three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. FIFA has set the order of the tie-breakers for teams that finish level on points:
  1. goal difference
    Goal difference
    In sports such as ice hockey and association football, goal difference is often the first tiebreaker used to rank teams which finish a league competition with an equal number of points....

     in all group matches
  2. greater number of goals scored in all group matches

Where teams are still not able to be separated, the following tie-breakers are used:
  1. greater number of points obtained in matches between the tied teams
  2. goal difference in matches between the tied teams
  3. greater number of goals scored in matches between the tied teams

Where teams are still equal, then a play-off on neutral ground, with extra time and penalties if necessary will be played if FIFA deems such a play-off able to be fitted within the coordinated international match calendar. If this is not deemed feasible, then the result will be determined by the drawing of lot.

Note that this order of tie-breaker application has not always been applied. While it was used in the 2010 qualifiers, the qualification for the 2006 World Cup used the head-to-head comparison prior to goal difference (although this system was – where applicable – used in the 2006 finals themselves). If these rules had applied in 2006, then would have qualified rather than .

Home-and-away ties

Most knock-out qualifiers (such as the inter-confederation play-offs, the second round of UEFA qualifying and many preliminary ties) are played over two legs. The team that scores a greater aggregate number of goals qualifies. Away goals rule
Away goals rule
The away goals rule is a method of breaking ties in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. By the away goals rule, the team that has scored more goals "away from home" will win if scores are otherwise equal...

 applies. If these rules fail to determine the winner, extra time and penalty shootout
Penalty shootout (football)
A penalty shoot-out, referred to as kicks from the penalty mark in the Laws of the Game, is the FIFA official term for a method used in association football to decide which team progresses to the next stage of a tournament following a tied game...

s are used.

Occasionally – usually when one entrant lacks adequate facilities to host international matches – ties are played over a single leg, in which case matches level after 90 minutes will go to extra time and then to a penalty shootout
Penalty shootout (football)
A penalty shoot-out, referred to as kicks from the penalty mark in the Laws of the Game, is the FIFA official term for a method used in association football to decide which team progresses to the next stage of a tournament following a tied game...

 if required.

Alternatively, "home" matches can be played in neutral countries, or occasionally one team will host both matches. In the latter case the visiting team will still be considered as the "home" team for one of the legs – which may determine which side advances under the away goals rule
Away goals rule
The away goals rule is a method of breaking ties in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. By the away goals rule, the team that has scored more goals "away from home" will win if scores are otherwise equal...

, as occurred in CONCACAF qualification in 2010.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK