The best strikers in the world are the most valuable people in the game.
The most difficult thing in football is to score goals – so naturally, the best players in the world are going to be the ones who find the net more than your average guy.
The transfer market would certainly agree and of course, being a striker isn’t just about finishing anymore: you also have to hold up, link play, press, run the channels and bully defences. That makes judging the position particularly tough in the modern age.
How FourFourTwo's expert panel decided the best strikers in the world
FourFourTwo brought together a selection of experts to a panel, including the likes of European football expert Julien Laurens, Breaking the Lines' chief editor Zach Lowy, freelance analyst/scout Ben Mattinson and Scouted co-founders Phil Costa and Tom Curren, as we asked for their opinions on the best players on Earth in every position.
Points were assigned to centre-forwards from 10 to one based on the experts' rankings, before minimal additional points were awarded for statistical metrics, such as successful take-ons, shot-creating actions, and, well… goals, and goals per 90 minutes.
The longlist consisted of 26 players with only nine points between the top three, as we sorted genuine no.9s from the best right-wingers in the world (well hello, Bryan Mbeumo) and best left-wingers in the world (good to see you, Luis Diaz) who put in a shift up front. The list was whittled down to the 10 we present below, with the five next highest-rated receiving an honourable mention below, while all values are courtesy of Transfermarkt and correct as of June 2025.
If it's another list you're looking for, we also have compilations of players further back on the field. We've totted up the best goalkeepers in the world, along with defenders (right-backs, centre-backs and left-backs) and midfielders (defensive midfielders, central midfielders and attacking midfielders).
The full list
10. Julian Alvarez
Club: Atletico Madrid
Date of birth: January 31 2000 (25)
National team: Argentina
Value: €100.00m
Julian Alvarez made his name as Erling Haaland’s sidekick, but he was always destined for greater things.
He registered immense output for Manchester City in his final season, but onlookers were left agog at the Argentinian’s £82 million purchase by Atletico Madrid.
Their jaws remained on the floor when the 25-year-old got to work in the Spanish capital, notching 29 goals and providing seven assists in his debut season under fellow countryman Diego Simeone.
With a World Cup, two Copa Americas, a Champions League and two Premier Leagues on his CV, to name just a few, Alvarez has a very realistic opportunity to end his career as one of the most decorated football players of all time.
9. Omar Marmoush
Club: Manchester City
Date of birth: February 7 1999 (26)
National team: Egypt
Value: €75.00m
The second-in-command role behind Erling Haaland at Manchester City demands a difficult profile: supplying chances and chipping in with goals for the frontman, while being ready to step in and lead the line at any moment.
Julian Alvarez managed it, too well, earning himself a headline gig at Atletico Madrid, so it’s now Omar Marmoush’s turn.
Early signs suggest he’ll be fine, taking half a season to clock 11 goal contributions in all competitions for Pep Guardiola’s side, with an injury to Haaland exposing Marmoush to the full breadth of his assignment.
Clinching the Premier League’s Goal of the Season for his smashed strike against Bournemouth, the Egyptian has already shown a spark for the spectacular, which has sometimes evaded City at times in the last 18 months.
8. Viktor Gyokeres
Not since the days of Mario Jardel has a player moved to Portugal and put up the kind of numbers that Viktor Gyokeres has in Lisbon – 97 goals in 102 appearances – and he’s done so answering critics along the way.
To those who claimed it’s not the strongest league, he’s netted a hat-trick against Manchester City. To those who claimed he was piggybacking off Ruben Amorim’s system, he continued to thrive after his mentor left for Manchester.
He may not be complete enough as a threat aerially or against low blocks for an elite club to take a stab at, but he’s one of the best finishers in the world, and he’s unbeatable in the penalty area.
7. Lautaro Martinez
Club: Inter Milan
Date of birth: August 22 1997 (27)
National team: Argentina
Value: €95.00m
Lautaro Martinez is probably the best striker in the world to have never quite been considered the best striker in the world.
Often, a striker will come along to Serie A and battle or better the Argentinian’s scoring record for a season, but none boast his relentless consistency in front of goal. In all competitions last term, he notched 22 goals, shadowed by his 27 goals the season previous, which is just edged out by his 28 bows the campaign before that.
Oh, and that’s without mentioning his 32 goals in 70 Argentina caps.
Martinez is probably the best striker in the world to have never quite been considered the best striker in the world.
Isaac Stacey Stronge
He truly is the picture of consistency. He's thrived alongside a rotating cast of strike partners and has delivered in the biggest moments in the San Siro: yet somehow, he's never on anyone's lips as the man.
The 27-year-old – no, really, only 27 – has a World Cup, two Copa Americas and two Scudetti, amongst other silverware, to comfort himself with, but he may just be the most underrated forward of a generation.
6. Robert Lewandowski
Those who thought he was finished are eating their words.
Another prime example of forward excellence, Robert Lewandowski, epitomises what it means to be a top-level striker in every aspect of the word – and he's enjoying life under Hansi Flick once more.
Power, precision, aerial ability, the Poland international has it all, as he continues to yield more and more silverware with current club Barcelona. Now 36, who knows how much longer the former Bayern Munich will continue to flourish – but one thing is for certain: Lewandowski’s knack for goalscoring is a dying breed and most of us have been lucky to watch his talents across what has been a glittering club career.
It could have even included a spell at Blackburn Rovers many moons ago…
5. Erling Haaland
Club: Manchester City
Date of birth: July 21 2000 (24)
National team: Norway
Value: €180.00m
A Scandinavian goal machine who simply had to be lab-created, Erling Haaland is already a generational talent, despite his tender age of 24.
And yet we've already sort of normalised just how phenomenal he really is. 31 goals in 44 appearances would have been the peak of some players' powers and yet the Norwegian did it in 2024/25 to a collective shrug.
We count ourselves in that camp. Is it that Haaland's not well-rounded to be any higher on this list right now? Or are we just numb to his brilliance at this stage
Erling Haaland is already a generational talent, despite his tender age of 24.
Matthew Holt
Perhaps it's a bit of both. Still, it takes re-reading the numbers to let them sink in: 121 goals in 142 games for City, 86 in 89 before that for Borussia Dortmund.
An injury-hit campaign in 2024/25 served as a gentle reminder as to what City miss without him, but we all know what he's capable of: still averaging close to a goal a game at the Etihad Stadium bodes well, and we expect Haaland to carry on that rate for a very long time indeed.
4. Alexander Isak
Club: Newcastle United
Date of birth: September 21 1999 (24)
National team: Sweden
Value: €120.00m
It’s the headlines that have made Alexander Isak one of the most feared footballers on the continent: the way he wallops the ball into the top corner when a side-foot finish will do, the lean back to his left to stroke the ball past goalkeepers like peak Thierry Henry.
But while it’s easy to see him as a killer in the box, there’s more to his game.
Isak is a really underappreciated passer, who’s delivered balls this season with a deftness that a man of such power simply shouldn’t possess. He has a swagger to his game, an arrogance that has made him inevitable in the past 18 months: he’s stronger than his lanky frame suggests, too.
Isak has an arrogance that has made him inevitable.
Mark White
Newcastle’s transfer strategy relied on picking up players like Isak, Tonali and Bruno that other clubs were simply too cautious to gamble on – well Isak might be the crowning glory of such a plan.
Other clubs are kicking themselves for missing out on him: he’s world-class.
3. Ousmane Dembele
Club: Paris Saint-Germain
Date of birth: May 15 1997 (28)
National team: France
Value: €90.00m
It takes a top coach to notice something special in a player and harness it.
Take Ousmane Dembele. Technically speaking, the Frenchman may well be the most unique footballer in the world: infamously, he favours shooting with his right foot, despite using his left to create more.
Well, Luis Enrique’s vision to see the 28-year-old as a complete forward capable of starting up front has not just platformed his two-footedness to explosive effect – it's allowed the PSG star to embrace his spontaneity while it's in flow state.
Moving Dembele from the right to the centre has changed everything: the team are far more unpredictable.
Julien Laurens
He’s in our centre-forwards list simply because he’s played there more for PSG – but really, Dembele has been unconstrained by position and role this term, popping up where he’s needed and proving himself as a leader in a young team. He has been impossible to defend against, showing a blend of poise and pace, control and chaos that has been utterly undefendable.
How do you stop a man who can beat you in so many ways? He’s favourite for the Ballon d’Or for a reason.
2. Harry Kane
Club: Bayern Munich
Date of birth: July 28 1993 (31)
National team: England
Value: €75.00m
Arguably England’s best-ever centre forward, Harry Kane sums up everything you need from a world-class striker.
The former Tottenham man has come into his own as an all-round forward, often criticised for dropping too deep and not being in the right place at the right time. But is more a testament to his play style of wanting to add that creator role to his game, striking up a memorable partnership with Son Heung-min before he departed for Bayern Munich.
Since then, his trophy hoodoo has ended with German top-flight success and no matter what happens from here, he will be remembered categorically as one of the best strikers of all time.
1. Kylian Mbappe
Club: Real Madrid
Date of birth: December 20 1998 (26)
National team: France
Value: €180.00m
Few predicted that PSG’s all-time record scorer would struggle at Real Madrid. His World Cup final display for France against Argentina in 2022 is ranked at no.7 in FourFourTwo's list of the greatest individual performances of all time, so Kylian Mbappe is no stranger to the spotlight.
But it took a few months. It may take another season for this side to truly orbit its new Galactico in a way that it did when Cristiano Ronaldo embraced his own god mode.
Mbappe's already come good, though. He's already delivering on the seismic promise.
A hat-trick against Manchester City in the Champions League was the perfect encapsulation of his upturn in form: the Frenchman is back to his devastating best and now targeting a first European title. 43 goals in your first season is some return, all right.
Honourable mentions
These five players only just missed out on a shot in our top 10…
FAQs
Who is the most expensive striker of all time?
Kylian Mbappe. The Frenchman broke the record when he joined PSG from Monaco, becoming the most expensive Frenchman in world football, too.
Who is the best striker of all time?
It's Pele, according to FourFourTwo, who finished no.2 in our list of the greatest players of all time behind Lionel Messi. Fellow no.9s, Ronaldo, Alfredo Di Stefano and Marco van Basten all made the top 10.
Who is the greatest striker in Premier League history?
Thierry Henry. The Arsenal legend was ranked no.1 in FourFourTwo's list of the greatest Premier League players of all time.
What is the primary role of a striker?
The primary role of a striker is to score goals. They operate in advanced positions, aiming to convert chances, hold up play, link with attacking midfielders and wingers, and generally lead the team's offensive line.
What are the most important traits for a striker?
A top striker possesses excellent finishing ability, off-the-ball movement, tactical intelligence to find space, strength to hold off defenders, and often good aerial prowess. Poise and composure in front of goal are paramount.
