Ronaldo, Messi, Bican, Pele: Who has the best goals-per-game record?

Cristiano Ronaldo broke Josef Bican’s record for the most goals scored by a single player in men’s professional football history last weekend.

The 37-year-old scored a hat-trick in Manchester United’s 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford.

Ronaldo has now scored an incredible 807 goals for club and country, a figure that almost defies comprehension.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s record haul is expected to last for decades, with Lionel Messi the only guy capable of breaking it.

While the Paris Saint-Germain star has scored fewer goals, there is one area where he outperforms Ronaldo, and that is goals-per-game.

At the time of writing, Messi has a record of 0.79, while Ronaldo has a record of 0.73.

However, Messi’s amazing ratio is far from the greatest among the 30 highest goal scorers in football history, according to the experts at Neogol.

Surprisingly, the Argentine genius has to settle for the joint-16th position, and you can see who’s ahead of him by scrolling down to our 30-man list.

30. Rivaldo (Brazil) – 0.43
Games: 1033 | Goals: 446

29. Henrik Larsson (Sweden) – 0.54
Games: 874 | Goals: 471

28. Hugo Sanchez (Mexico) – 0.58
Games: 883 | Goals: 516

=26. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden) – 0.60
Games: 956 | Goals: 572

=26. Roberto Dinamite (Brazil) – 0.60
Games: 838 | Goals: 507

25. Luis Suarez (Uruguay) – 0.61
Games: 846 | Goals: 517

=23. Zico (Brazil) – 0.68
Games: 773 | Goals: 522

=23. Alberto Spencer (Ecuador) – 0.68
Games: 662 | Goals: 451

22. Jimmy Greaves (England) – 0.71
Games: 660 | Goals: 466

=20. Alfredo Di Stefano (Argentina) – 0.72
Games: 706 | Goals: 509

=20. Robert Lewandowski (Poland) – 0.72
Games: 797 | Goals: 576

19. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – 0.73
Games: 1111 | Goals: 807

18. Dixie Dean (England) – 0.74
Games: 601 | Goals: 442

=16. Jef Mermans (Belgium) – 0.79
Games: 629 | Goals: 500

=16. Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 0.79
Games: 960 | Goals: 759

15. Romario (Brazil) – 0.80
Games: 961 | Goals: 772

14. Uwe Seeler (Germany) – 0.83
Games: 592 | Goals: 489

13. Stjepan Bobek (Croatia/Yugoslavia) – 0.87
Games: 554 | Goals: 480

11. Gunnar Nordahl (Sweden) – 0.91
Games: 548 | Goals: 498

=10. Eusebio (Portugal) – 0.92
Games: 596 | Goals: 547

=10. Pele (Brazil) – 0.92
Games: 831 | Goals: 767

9. Gerd Muller (Germany) – 0.93
Games: 793 | Goals: 735

8. Ferenc Puskas (Hungary) – 0.99
Games: 746 | Goals: 741

7. Jimmy McGrory (Scotland) – 1.02
Games: 515 | Goals: 528

=5. Ferenc Bene (Hungary) – 1.03
Games: 493 | Goals: 508

=5. Gyula Zsengellér (Hungary) – 1.03
Games: 433 | Goals: 448

4. Jimmy Jones (Northern Ireland) – 1.05
Games: 614 | Goals: 647

3. Imre Schlosser (Hungary) – 1.22
Games: 388 | Goals: 475

2. Isidro Lángara (Spain) – 1.27
Games: 414 | Goals: 525

1. Josef Bican (Czech Republic) – 1.51
Games: 530 | Goals: 805