World football strikers ranking 2023

Who are the best football strikers in the world | Ugrado ranking 2023

In this article, Ugrado will dive into some of the best strikers in the world 2023,  exploring their journeys, achievements, goal-scoring records, and the factors that make them stand out from the football competition. 

What is a Football Striker? 

In a football match, the striker (also known as the "forward") plays an important role to launch an attack and score a goal to win a point. Strikers often positioned closest to the opponent's goal to create goal-scoring chances, break the opponent team’s defence and make a precise shot to goal. As the frontline goal-scorers in the team, strikers have to equip themselves with a combination of technical, physical, and mental attributes that enable them to create and finish goal-scoring opportunities. 

A striker must have both speed and agility to get into scoring position, quick chance to the position to avoid the opponent team’s defensive tactics, stay calm and position themselves to receive passes cleanly, and most importantly,  shoot accurately with exceptional finishing skills.  And so, strikers usually get the most attention as they are aggressive and often the goal scorer.

Legend football striker in the history

Pelé is one of the most legendary football strikers in Brazil and even the world. He is widely known for his incredible goal-scoring skill (1,281 goals in 1,363 official matches), smooth dribbling, ball control,versatility and equally adept with both feet on the field.  His remarkable achievements and high level of performance throughout his career firmly established him as the global icon in the football industry, and continue to impact the following football talents. 

Unstoppable Scorers: Top 6 best strikers in the world 2023

Here are some of the best strikers in the world who have been consistently performing at the top level throughout the years.

Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

Robert Lewandowski has been a top-level forward and striker in Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Lewandowski helped the team in winning multiple Bundesliga titles, UEFA Champions League triumph, FIFA Club World Cup, and numerous individual awards. He is also best known with the individual achievement of FIFA Men's Player of the Year (2020). Other than that, he also holds the Bundesliga record for most goals (41 goals) in a single season .In September 2022, Lewandowski was also first to score a hat-trick in UEFA Champions League for three different clubs (Dortmund, Bayern & Barca).

Lewandowski's clinical finishing, flexible movement and positioning make him an exceptional striker, however running in pace may not be his strongest ability on the field.  Lewandowski is amongst the top five leading goalscorers in Champions League history and second on the list for the Bundesliga.  Lewandowski is also the scorer of La Liga chart with 14 goals. Also, scored the second goal in the 2023 Supercopa de Espana final as Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 3-1, winning his first trophy at Barca.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nassr)

The well known player- Cristiano Ronaldo has a remarkable club journey, from Sporting CP, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus, Manchester United and Al-Nassr. Ronaldo's strong pace, versatility and powerful shots makes him the perfect striker in the team. Rolnaldo has led his team with multiple domestic league titles, UEFA Champions League triumphs, European Championship winner, numerous Ballon d'Or awards. 

The 38 years old player, still the top performer, scored 21 goals in 26 matches across competitions for club and country in 2023 , including two hat-tricks for Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League. His consistent performance also broke the record of most goals scored in UEFA Champions League history, and constantly ranks among the top goal scorers in major leagues.

Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)

The all-time goalscorer Harry Kane definitely on the board, with his marvellous achievements like 2020/21 Premier League & 2019 World Cup Golden Boots. Kane is a Forward - Central in Tottenham Hotspur, and currently ranked 2 best player in Tottenham Hotspur.

Kane’s clinical finishing, passing intelligence in positioning, and playmaking skills set him on top of the game, and led to various achievements. Kane has scored 30 times, 2 assists among the 38 matches  in the season 2022/2023, making him the number 2 scorer in the Premier League so far.

Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)

The France talented player is also no doubt one of the rising stars in the football industry. Benzema has consistently scored goals in La Liga, as well as for both club and country matches. With his playmaking skill and dribbling skills, he also successfully led the team with  multiple titles including 4La Liga and 2 Copa del Rey and 5 UEFA Champions League titles.

Benzema, as the main striker, played a significant role in his team, becoming the top scorer in 2021/22 La Liga & Champions League. He was the league’s top scorer, only behind Robert Lewandowski. Benzema also scored 19 times in 38 games 2022/2023, making him ranked top 2 scorer in the La Liga.

Erling Haaland (Manchester City)

Erling Haaland, the 23 years old young talented player from Norway has become one of the best strikers in the world.  Haaland also broke Man City's record in single season, with 42 goals and 5 assists in 37 games. Moreover, he scored 86 goals in 89 matches for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga. Haaland also the quickest to score 2, 3 and 4 hat-tricks, in three consecutive home games.

Haaland's physical presence, explosive pace and clinical finishing make him a perfect striker on the field.  He has scored 36 goals in 38 matches in the season 2022/2023 Premier League, making him the number 1 scorer in the Premier League so far. 

Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain)

As the youngest French player to score in a World Cup, Mbappé definitely caught all the attention in the world. Mbappé’s speed, dribbling skill and positioning makes him dominate the match and consistently the top scorer in major leagues such as Ligue 1 with 19 goals and 7 goals in 7 starts of Champions Leagues.  

One of the marvellous individual achievements must be Mbappé’s scoring two comeback goals and hat-trick to force the World Cup finals to Extra time. Also, he surpassed Edinson Cavani’s PSG record as a top scorer, with his 200 goals record. According to statistics, Mbappe has made 29 goals after 38 appearances for PSG in the  Ligue 1 2022/2023 ,making him the number 1 scorer in the Ligue 1.

Lionel Messi

The legend of football, Messi no doubt is the all-round player, as well as the best striker in the world which cannot be disputed at this moment. Messi is a consistently remarkable goal scorer throughout his career, including numerous La Liga, Champions League titles,7 Ballon d'Or winner and World Cup champion. 

Messi also holds various goals records, such as 474 goals in La Liga, 14 goals in Supercopa de España and 3 goals for UEFA Super Cup, along with 358 assists in football history. Messi also holds the Guinness World Records as a 7 times Ballon d'Or record winner, and the first football player to earn the Laureus Award for Best Sportsman of the Year award. Messi currently scored 7 goals in just 4 appearances for Inter Miami, he also scored a free-kick in his debut game for Inter Miami.  At the same time, he has scored 19 goals in 28 appearances for PSG, Argentina, and Inter Miami in 2023. 

List of best strikers ranking in the world 2023

• Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) 

  La Liga club Barcelona Striker and Captain of the Poland national team; Known as  "The Body” due to his impressive physical attributes and quick movement; Top 50 players in the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup. 

• Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nassr)

  Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr forward and captains for both Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr and Portugal national team, was the highest international goalscorer, with 118 goals scored for Portugal. 

• Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)

  One of the world's best strikers for Tottenham Hotspur and captain of the England national team; ranked second all time goalscorer in England, and the third-highest all-time top goalscorer in Premier League; PFA Young Player of the Year.

• Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)

  Best striker for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad and known for his goal-scoring ability; ranked 2nd goal scorer (342 goals) in the history of Real Madrid, only behind Cristiano Ronaldo.

• Erling Haaland (Manchester City)

   Striker for Manchester City and the Norway national team; known for this 6'4 tall physical attributes and strength; once scored 9 goals in a single game against Honduras

• Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain)

  Paris Saint-Germain’s forward and captain for the France national team; awarded two PLayer of the Year Award in Ligue 1,  youngest French player in FIFA World Cup history and awarded the Best Young Player award.

• Lionel Messi (Inter Miami)

  Inter Miami ‘s forward and captain for both Inter Miami and the Argentina national team; the most successful player in Barcelona with 35 major trophies; first and only player in history with two FIFA World Cup Golden Balls;  Argentina’s all-time highest goalscorer 

Conclusion

There are so many remarkable footballer talents in the world of football, each position in the team plays a significant role and fulfil different duties to form an all-round team. And among all these positions, the strikers definitely stand out as the primary attacker and goal scorer that affect the final outcome of the game.  Comment and tell us who is your favourite striker of all time.

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