Lionel Messi overtake Pele as second top goalscorer in the history of Football

Lionel Messi overtake Pele as second top goalscorer in the history of Football

Lionel Messi is now the second greatest goalscorer in the history of football despite an underwhelming first season with Paris Saint-Germain.

 Sure, the little Argentine helped the team win the League 1 title, but there’s no denying he was way below his very best for much of the 2021/22 campaign.

He’s unlikely to catch longtime Cristiano Ronaldo at the top, who sits on 813 career goals.

The Argentina international could become the second player in history to hit 800 goals though.

Now Lionel Messi overtake Pele to become the second-greatest goalscorer in football history, according to IFFHS.

The 23 greatest goal scorers in football history:

23. Franz Binder (Austria/Germany) – 502 goals

22. Imre Schlosser (Hungary) – 504 goals

21. Hugo Sanchez (Mexico) – 507 goals

20. Roberto Dinamite (Brazil) – 511 goals

19. Luis Suarez (Uruguay) – 520 goals

18. Gyorgy Sarosi (Hungary) – 526 goals

17. Alfredo Di Stefano (Argentina/Spain) – 530 goals

16. Uwe Seeler (Germany) – 551 goals

15. Jimmy McGrory (Scotland) – 552 goals

14. Fernando Peyroteo (Portugal) – 553 goals

13. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden) – 560 goals

12. Glenn Ferguson (Northern Ireland) – 561 goals

11. Robert Lewandowski (Poland) – 563 goals

10. Joe Bambrick (Northern Ireland) – 616 goals

9. Eusebio (Portugal) – 619 goals

8. Gerd Muller (Germany) – 634 goals

7. Jimmy Jones (Northern Ireland) – 647 goals

6. Josef Bican (Austria/Czechoslovakia) – 720 goals

5. Ferenc Puskas (Hungary) – 729 goals

4. Romario (Brazil) – 755 goals

3. Pele (Brazil) – 762 goals

2. Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 764 goals

1. Ronaldo (Portugal) – 813 goals