Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo concluded 2023 as the world’s top scorer. The Al-Nassr superstar, who will turn 39 in February, scored an astonishing 54 goals for club and country throughout the year. Bayern Munich powerhouse Harry Kane and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) ace Kylian Mbappe finished joint-second, with both players scoring 52 goals in 2023. Manchester City goalmachine Erling Haaland secured the next available slot, having scored 50 times for the Cityzens and Norway.
The top scorer rankings take quite a dramatic turn when national-team goals and non-European leagues are discarded. Continue reading to meet the five players who scored the most goals for their respective clubs in 2023:
Special note: The list only takes the top 15 European leagues and associated competitions into account.
#5 Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan): 37 Goals
Scoring 37 goals in 59 matches for Inter Milan in 2023, Lautaro Martinez has claimed the fifth spot in the rankings. Martinez scored 20 goals in 26 matches for the Nerazzurri in the first half of 2023. He has carried over his scintillating form to the 2023-24 season, netting 17 times in 23 games before the end of the year.
The Argentine striker is leading the race for the Paolo Rossi Award this season. He has scored 15 goals in 16 appearances in Serie A — six more than his nearest rival Domenico Berardi.
#4 Santiago Gimenez (Feyenoord): 37 Goals
In fourth place, we have Feyenoord’s charismatic center-forward, Santiago Gimenez. The 22-year-old, who caught everyone’s eye with his instinctive finishing in 2023, scored 37 goals for the Dutch outfit in 49 matches.
Gimenez capped off the second half of the 2022-23 campaign with a solid return of 17 goals in 27 games across competitions. He enjoyed an even better start to the 2023-24 season, netting 20 times in 22 games until the end of 2023. With 18 goals to his name in 16 games, the Mexican is currently sitting at the top of Eredivisie’s top-scorer rankings.
#3 Kylian Mbappe (PSG): 42 Goals
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) poster boy Kylian Mbappe enjoyed a goal-laden 2023, scoring a whopping 42 times in only 44 games for the club in all competitions. With an average of 0.95 goals/game, Mbappe is the most efficient goalscorer on this list.
Mbappe was equally productive in both halves of 2023. In the second half of the 2022-23 season, he scored 21 times for the Parisians in 22 matches. Interestingly, he scored 21 goals in 22 games in the first half of the 2023-24 season as well (until December 31, 2023), with 18 of those coming in 16 Ligue 1 matches.
#2 Harry Kane (Bayern Munich/Tottenham Hotspur): 43 Goals
Harry Kane has been in a league of his own since leaving Tottenham Hotspur for Bayern Munich in August 2023. Buoyed by his outstanding goalscoring form for the Bavarians, the Englishman finished the year with 43 club goals in just 48 matches across competitions.
In the 2023-24 season, Kane has played 22 games for Bayern, scoring 25 times and providing eight assists. He scored the remaining 18 goals in 20 matches for Spurs in the second half of the 2022-23 season. With 21 Bundesliga goals to his name this season, the 31-year-old is currently leading the European Golden Boot race.
#1 Erling Haaland (Manchester City): 44 Goals
Manchester City sharpshooter Erling Haaland has conquered the list, courtesy of his stellar performance for the European giants in 2023. The Norwegian talisman scored an astonishing 44 goals in only 54 appearances for the club, propelling them to their first-ever Treble. He finished the 2022-23 season as the top scorer in both the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League, scoring 36 in the former and 12 in the latter.
Haaland is eyeing those awards once again this season and finds himself in a strong position heading into the second half of 2023-24. He has so far netted 14 times in 15 games in the Premier League and five times in as many matches in the Champions League, emerging as the joint-top scorer in both competitions.
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