
Of these eight, Messi scored the most, with 672 goals between his debut in 2004 and his departure in 2021. Eight players have accomplished the feat at a single club, among them Josef Bican ( Slavia Prague), Jimmy Jones ( Glenavon), Jimmy McGrory ( Celtic), Lionel Messi ( Barcelona), Gerd Müller ( Bayern Munich), Pelé ( Santos), Fernando Peyroteo ( Sporting CP), and Uwe Seeler ( Hamburg). Hungarian Imre Schlosser was the first to reach the 500-goal mark, doing so in 1927 shortly before his retirement. Taking into account competitions of all levels, 63 players have reached the milestone according to research by the RSSSF, an organisation described by German newspaper Der Spiegel as a "Wikipedia of football statistics".

In top-level football competitions, 23 players have scored 500 or more goals over the course of their career in both club and international football, according to research by the IFFHS, first published in 2007. Cristiano Ronaldo is widely considered the top goalscorer of all time.
