25 players with most goals + assists since 2000, ft Messi, Ronaldo & Neymar | OneFootball

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Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest goalscorer of all-time. The Portuguese superstar has scored 844 goals for both club and country since making his professional debut in 2003, which is a quite extraordinary tally.

But is he still well clear of the rest when assists are taken into account? Pop Foot named the 25 players with the most combined goals and assists in the 21st century in August 2022.

We have now updated their list using statistics provided by FlashScore. Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robert Lewandowski all feature, but who comes out on top? Find out below...

25 Frank Lampard - 472 (303 goals, 169 assists)

Lampard's tally is remarkable given he was a midfielder. The Englishman established himself as one of Chelsea's greatest ever players in a remarkable 13-year stint, where he hit the back of the net 211 times. Lampard also turned out for West Ham United, Swansea City, Manchester City and New York City, while he netted 29 times for his country.

24 Didier Drogba - 474 (363 goals, 111 assists)

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Another Chelsea legend. Drogba scored 164 goals for the Blues across two spells. The Ivorian added to his goals and assists tally at numerous other clubs, including Guingamp, Marseille, Shanghai Shenhua, Galatasaray and Montreal Impact.

23 Gonzalo Higuain - 488 (366 goals, 122 assists)

The Argentine was a prolific goalscorer wherever he went during his career. He had great success with Real Madrid [121 goals] Napoli [91 goals] and Juventus [66 goals] before ending his career in Major League Soccer with Inter Miami.

22 Dries Mertens - 496 (280 goals, 216 assists)

Despite not being an out-and-out striker, the diminutive forward has directly contributed to just under 500 goals during his time as a professional footballer. Mertens enjoyed a highly successful nine-year spell in Serie A with Napoli, where he scored 148 goals and recorded 90 assists, per Transfermarkt. The Belgian is now 36 and playing in Turkey for Galatasaray.

21 Ronaldinho - 500 (313 goals, 187 assists)

Ronaldinho isn't just one of the greatest players of the 21st century, he's arguably one of the greatest footballers ever. He was frighteningly good at his best. A magician with the ball at his feet, Ronaldinho scored a number of insane goals and recorded a plethora of mind-boggling assists during his illustrious football career.

20 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar - 501 (408 goals, 93 assists)

Huntelaar scored 366 goals during his club career, with 128 of those coming for German side, Schalke 04. The Dutchman was prolific in Eredivisie with Heerenveen and Ajax, while he also enjoyed spells at Real Madrid and AC Milan.

19 Alessandro Del Piero - 505 (343 goals, 161 assists)

Del Piero had a very long and impressive career. The Italian made his professional debut at the age of 17 when he turned out for Padova. He went on to enjoy a highly successful 19-year spell at Juventus before hanging up his boots at the age of 40 following short spells with Sydney FC and Delhi Dynamos.

18 Ronaldo - 518 (414 goals, 104 assists)

The Brazilian managed an impressive goals and assists tally despite being blighted by numerous injury and fitness problems during his career. Ronaldo was absolutely unstoppable at his peak; he really did have it all and there was no defender in world football that could stop him. He was so good, in fact, that Jose Mourinho named him the greatest player he has ever seen back in 2019.

17 Edinson Cavani - 519 (433 goals, 86 assists)

'El Matador' has turned out for the likes of Napoli, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain during his football career, with his most fruitful spell coming at the latter. Cavani, now 36, has showed signs of slowing down in recent years but he will be looking to rediscover his goal scoring touch in Argentina with Boca Juniors.

16 David Villa - 535 (426 goals, 109 assists)

The Spaniard is the 12th highest goal scorer in La Liga history with 186. He netted 32 at Real Zaragoza, 108 with Valencia, 33 at Barcelona and 13 with Atletico Madrid. Villa, who also scored 59 times for his country, spent time at Melbourne City, New York City and Vissel Kobe before hanging up his boots in 2020.

15 Francesco Totti - 537 (316 goals, 221 assists)

Totti spent his whole 24-year professional career at Roma, where he earned the nickname L'Ottavo Re di Roma (The Eighth King of Rome). It goes without saying that he is considered by many to be the greatest player in the club's history.

14 Thomas Muller - 540 (295 goals, 245 assists)

The Bayern Munich legend makes it into the top 15 despite not being an out-and-out striker. Muller is now 33 years old and is still going strong at the Bavarian giants. It seems almost certain that he will break into the top 10 in the 2023/24 season.

13 Wayne Rooney - 541 (366 goals, 175 assists)

Few players burst onto the scene quite like Rooney. The Englishman announced himself to the world at the age of 16 when he scored a cracking goal for Everton against Arsenal in 2002. Rooney is Man United's record goalscorer with 253 goals, while he was also England's greatest goal scorer before his 53-goal tally was overtaken by Harry Kane in 2023.

12 Sergio Aguero - 544 (426 goals, 118 assists)

The Argentine was lethal in front of goal. Aguero netted 184 league goals during his time with Manchester City, the fifth most in history in Premier League history. He would almost certainly have made the top 10 but, unfortunately, he was forced to hang up his boots at the age of just 33 after suffering from a heart issue.

11 Edin Dzeko - 548 (400 goals, 148 assists)

The greatest Bosnian player in history? You would have a hard task arguing against Dzeko. He has been a prolific goalscorer for the last two decades and, now 37, recently netted the 400th of his career at Fenerbahçe.

10 Samuel Eto'o - 562 (426 goals, 136 assists)

Eto'o established himself as one of the greatest African footballers ever during a football career that saw him win Champions League titles at Barcelona (2005–06, 2008–09) and at Inter Milan (2009–10). He is also Cameroon's all-time goalscorer with 56 goals in 118 appearances.

9 Raul - 583 (432 goals, 151 assists)

Raul scored 323 times with Real Madrid before bagging goals during spells at Schalke 04, Al Sadd and New York Cosmos. With 44 goals, he is Spain's second highest goal scorer ever.

8 Thierry Henry - 647 (411 goals, 236 assists)

It was a pleasure to watch Henry light up the Premier League on a weekly basis in the 2000s. An incredible goal scorer, the Frenchman also bagged an impressive amount of assists. His best season arguably came in 2002/03, where he notched 32 goals and recorded 28 assists for Arsenal.

7 Karim Benzema - 654 (457 goals, 197 assists)

Benzema continues to get better and better with age. Now 35 years old, Benzema made the tough decision to leave Real Madrid after 14 successful years and join Al Ittihad. The Frenchman will no doubt directly contribute to plenty of goals during his time in the Saudi Pro League.

6 Neymar - 682 (434 goals, 248 assists)

Like Benzema, Neymar recently put an end to his time in Europe and decided to join the Saudi Pro League. Neymar's tally is incredibly impressive despite being riddled with injuries in recent years. At 31 years old, Neymar is still in his prime and will no doubt add to his tally at Al Hilal. Will he make break the top five? We think so, but it may take him a few seasons.