January 23 – Swedish striker Viktor Gyökeres has been revealed as the top scorer of 2024 by the CIES Football Observatory after a superb season for Sporting CP, netting 64 goals across the past twelve months, 54 for his club and 10 at national team level.
He ranked top of the CIES study, which presents the 100 players across world football who have scored the most goals in official club or national team matches (senior, U23 or U21) over the last twelve months.
The achievement is even more impressive considering Sweden’s absence at the UEFA European Championships last summer, which could have presented an opportunity to add to the 26-year-old’s tally.
Manchester City’s Erling Haaland placed second in the rankings despite a goal slump towards the end of the year. The Norwegian, who also missed the Euros, netted 52 times across the 12-month timeframe, including 11 goals for his national team.
England captain Harry Kane completes the podium with 47 goals across 2024, including 40 goals for FC Bayern Munich as he continues to thrive in Germany.
The evergreen Cristiano Ronaldo placed fourth in the rankings with 44 goals in 2024. Whilst 37 of these came for Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr, the 39-year-old still tallied seven goals for his country, proving he still has what it takes at the highest level despite turning 40 this year.
Olympiacos forward Ayoub El Kaabi completes the top five, aided by a remarkable 15-goal haul in the UEFA Conference League to push his overall tally to 43 goals for club and country.
In terms of goal frequency, the top three ranked players by CIES are Irishman Garbhan Coughlan of Cashmere Technical in New Zealand (one goal every 43 minutes), Japan’s Tomoyuki Doi of Geylang United in Singapore, and Uruguay’s Martín Cauteruccio of Sporting Cristal in Peru.
The study also presents the rankings for the last two and three years. Over the last two years, nobody has scored more goals than Erling Haaland (101), while Kylian Mbappé tops the last-three-year list with 147 goals.
To see the full data, click here.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1737666626labto1737666626ofdlr1737666626owedi1737666626sni@g1737666626niwe.1737666626yrrah1737666626