Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are two of the greatest goal scorers in football history, but both are surpassed by another player in terms of goals-per-game ratio for the 21st century.
Messi, who developed at Barcelona and stayed with the club until 2021, won 9 La Liga titles and 4 Champions League trophies. He then spent two seasons at PSG before moving to Inter Miami in MLS.
Ronaldo rose to prominence at Sporting Lisbon before joining Manchester United in 2003, winning 3 Premier League titles and 1 Champions League. He later moved to Real Madrid for a world-record fee and won 2 La Liga titles and 4 Champions League trophies. Ronaldo also played for Juventus and is currently with Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League.
According to the goals-per-game ratio statistics for the 21st century, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is 10th with a ratio of 0.58. Luis Suarez is 9th with a ratio of 0.60, tied with Ruud van Nistelrooy, who is 8th due to fewer games played. Neymar is 7th with a ratio of 0.61, and Harry Kane is 6th with a ratio of 0.63.
Robert Lewandowski is 5th with a ratio of 0.70, and Kylian Mbappe is 4th with a ratio of 0.72. Ronaldo is 3rd with a ratio of 0.73, and Messi is 2nd with a ratio of 0.78.
The top spot is held by Erling Haaland of Manchester City and the Norway national team, with a ratio of 0.82. He has scored 257 goals in 315 professional matches and is likely to continue improving his scoring efficiency.
