The path towards the 2026 World Cup finals is well and truly underway. Including the three host nations – the US, Mexico and Canada – 18 nations have already booked their place at next summer’s showpiece event.
The tournament, held across three countries for the very first time, is, quite literally, the biggest yet. Forty-eight teams will battle it out for football greatest prize, expanded from 32 teams at the 2022 edition in Qatar.
The full list of qualified teams will not be known until the inter-confederation play-offs decide the final two spots in March, however, the draw will be held a few months earlier on December 5, 2025 in Washington, DC.
So, with 30 spots still up for grabs, and ahead of the upcoming round of internationals, 101GreatGoals is taking a look at the top scorers in men’s World Cup qualifying.
Who tops the list?
=1st) Carlos Ruiz (39 goals in 47 appearances)
Well in fact, two players currently share the top-spot. And while it’s probably fair to say that, when it comes to football, Guatemala don’t often place high on many lists, in Carlos Ruiz they have a player whose World Cup qualifying goal record is yet to be bettered.
Nicknamed ‘The Fish’, Ruiz bagged a hugely impressive 39 goals in just 47 World Cup qualifying matches. He twice retired from international football only to return shortly after, and also represented his country at the 2000 Futsal World Championships.
He spent much of his club career in the MLS and represented Guatemala across five different World Cup qualifying campaigns from 2002 to 2018, although they never reached the finals.
=1st) Cristiano Ronaldo (39 in 49 appearances)
From a relative unknown in Ruiz to perhaps the most recognisable football player in the world, it is hardly surprising to see Cristiano Ronaldo’s name appear at the top of any goalscoring list.
And should the 40-year-old, who has an astonishing 141 goals in 223 appearances for Portugal, find the net against either Ireland or Hungary over the next seven days, he will become the outright record-holder.
And few could begrudge that accolade going to a player with such drive and relentlessness in the pursuit of greatness. Should Portugal make it to next summer’s finals, it will surely be Ronaldo’s last shot at football’s ultimate prize.
3rd) Lionel Messi (36 in 72 appearances)
It is perhaps only fitting that on any list where Ronaldo appears, Lionel Messi should also feature. But while holders Argentina have already booked their place at the 2026 World Cup, there still remains question marks over whether arguably their greatest ever player will be on the plane.
Still, Messi’s record in World Cup qualifying – one goal every other game – makes for impressive reading. The Inter Miami player, still going strong at 38, has 32 goals and 17 assists across all club competitions this season, and is tied with Norway’s Erling Haaland and Jordan Ayew of Ghana for the most goal involvements in 2026 World Cup qualifying with 11.
4th) Ali Daei (35 in 51 appearances)
For more than a little while, Iran’s Ali Daei topped the list of all-time male goalscorers in international football. In 2004, he became the first male player to reach 100 international goals and remains among the top 50 most capped players.
It’s not exactly a shock therefore to see his name appear high on the list of World Cup qualifying goals. Daei played at two World Cup finals with Iran, in 1998 and 2006, but failed to find the net.
5th) Robert Lewandowski (32 in 41 appearances)
At club level, Robert Lewandowski has scored goals wherever he has gone. And so it only seems logical that such a prolific goal-getter would extend that return on the international stage.
He is the Polish men’s team’s all-time leading goalscorer by some distance, having netted nearly twice as many as the player in second place, and his tally in World Cup qualifying makes for decent reading.
Such is the importance of the 37-year-old, that when he announced earlier this year that he would not play for his country while the manager, Michal Probierz, was in charge after being stripped of the captaincy, Probierz resigned from his position just a few days later.
