What a profile covers
The profiles of World Cup players in this section record what each player did at the men’s World Cup finals: the goals he scored, the matches he played, the squads he was named in, the tournaments he actually played in and any individual awards he received there. Club careers and debates about the greatest player of all time are left out.
Being named in a squad and playing in a tournament are counted separately. Ronaldo Nazário was in four squads but played in three tournaments, because he did not come on in 1994; Paolo Rossi was in three squads and played in two. A player left out of the squad, as Romário was in 1998 and 2002, is credited with neither.
Every profile has a tournament-by-tournament table (matches, goals, the team’s finish and any individual award) and follows the player’s World Cups in order. The awards listed include the Golden Ball for the best player and the Golden Boot for the top scorer, both first presented in 1982. For earlier tournaments FIFA lists each edition’s top scorers, such as Just Fontaine in 1958 and Eusébio in 1966.
How goals are counted
Only goals scored in the final tournament count, the basis FIFA uses for its all-time record: qualifying matches, the Confederations Cup and every other competition are left out. A penalty scored during a match is a goal; a kick in a penalty shoot-out is not. The full method is set out in How we verify.
The all-time scoring list
The ranking of every player with 10 goals or more, with matches, tournaments and goals per match, is kept on World Cup top scorers of all time. It also separates the three records that get confused with each other: most goals in total, most in a single tournament and most in a single match.
The current all-time leader is Kylian Mbappé, 22 goals. The record changed hands twice during the 2026 tournament alone.