Europe is lucky enough to be the hunting ground for most of the world’s top talents, bringing together scorers from all corners of the globe who regularly entertain with their finishing exploits, some more incisive than others. With so many talented footballers and forwards, it was no easy task ranking the top 5.
Honorable mentions: Luis Suarez, Mohamed Salah, Edinson Cavani, Sergio Aguero, and Antoine Griezmann.
Without much ado, let us take a look at the 5 best finishers in world football at the moment:
Note: This article features the best finishers in front of goal and doesn’t matter whether the player plays as a striker or winger.
#5 Robert Lewandowski - Bayern Munich
Robert Lewandowski, one of the best strikers in the world, has consistently shown in the recent seasons what a true world class goalscorer he is with his performances for Bayern Munich. Bayern Munich is a team full of superstars, but Lewandowski is arguably their biggest trump card.
The Polish striker is capable of scoring goals from any angle and from any range. He is comfortable with both his right and left foot and also competitive and effective in the air. As he continues to demonstrate at Bayern Munich, the 30-year-old remains one of the game’s greatest strikers. Lewandowski has broken the 40-goal barrier in all competitions in each of the last three full seasons, and his touch, movement, and link-up play are still outstanding.
This season he has been in good form and got his team back to the top after a poor start to the season. He has been unstoppable in front of goal and is also the top scorer in the Champions League currently having scored 8 goals. His heading quality is absolutely fantastic. Also, he recently broke the Bundesliga record for foreign goalscorers with 195 goals in his pocket. This surely shows his quality in front of goal and that he is one of the best number 9s currently.
Statistics this season:
40 Matches
25 Goals
9 Assists
3.5 Shots per Game
7.37 Average Rating
#4 Harry Kane - Tottenham Hotspur
Winning the Golden Boot at the World Cup in Russia capped a remarkable few years for Kane, who has stepped out of the Tottenham reserve to becoming one of the world’s best strikers since 2014. The England captain scored 30 Premier League goals for the first time in his career last term, adding to the 29 he plundered in 2016/17 and the 25 he managed the season before that. Having scored more than 20 goals in each of his 3 previous seasons, Kane has proved that he can consistently bang in goals against all opposition.
Capable of scoring tap-ins and absolute world class goals, Kane is England’s next big hope and Tottenham hopes that their striker will lead them to an elusive Premier League title this season under Pochettino’s guidance. Finishing is Kane’s standout attribute, but he’s also a brilliant passer who often drifts into deeper areas to pick up possession and bring team-mates into play. And although the 25-year-old isn’t the quickest, he’s an expert at finding half a yard of space in and around the penalty area. A true all-rounder.
Kane has been great this season as well by scoring a lot of goals but unfortunately was injured for around a month. But before he got injured he managed to score almost in every game and he is one of those players who give everything on the pitch. He can shoot from outside the box as well as from near the penalty area. His physique makes him more dangerous as he is hard to tackle and beat. He has scored 16 goals in the league and is not going to give up the golden boot.
Statistics this season:
42 Matches
27 Goals
7 Assists
3.4 Shots per Game
7.53 Average Rating
#3 Kylian Mbappe - Paris Saint-Germain
The youngest player with the brightest future, this kid is rocking the world with his talent. The world’s second most expensive player, Kylian Mbappe made his switch from Monaco to the French Giants in August 2017 for a handsome amount of 180m dollars. Surely, the amount of money he cost looked to be very large at first but little did we know, he proved to the world that he worth every penny.
Mbappe single-handedly knocked out Argentina from the world cup by his brace and since then he has looked unstoppable. He has been scoring, creating, and assisting goals almost every game he plays. His pace is the key and finishing is absolutely fantastic for a 20-year-old boy.
Because of his performances for PSG and in the world cup, the finished 4th in the Ballon d’Or ranking. He has been performing very well this season will be looking forward to winning the Champions League with PSG. He has been breaking records in the Ligue 1 this season and is currently the top scorer of the league with 22 goals. With the absence of Neymar, he has made sure that PSG won’t feel that void and instead he was the star man against United in their Champions League match which they won 2-0.
Statistics this season:
42 Matches
32 Goals
10 Assists
3.4 Shots per Game
7.75 Average Rating
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo - Juventus
Undoubtedly one of the two best footballers in the world at the moment, Cristiano Ronaldo has again proved to us this season as to why he will go down as one of the all-time greats.
After switching from Madrid to Juventus this summer, it looked like the 5 times Ballon d’Or winner will find it difficult to score as we know defense in Italy is comparatively stronger than the rest of the world. But to silence his critics, Ronaldo has scored a lot of goals and is currently on top of the goalscoring charts in Serie-A.
The Portuguese have to work ahead to land a fourth straight Champions League winner’s medal after Juventus were humbled 2-0 in the first leg of their last-16 clash. But if anyone can surely he is the one. He will definitely try to win the tie for Juventus in the 2nd leg and Atletico will be aware of his talent and hunger.
His finishing ability is the key and he is indeed one of the best finishers in the world as he uses his right-foot beautifully to score goals. He has scored 19 goals in the Italian League and is on the top. He has been the lone leader of the Juventus attack as his partner Mandzukic was injured for a month and he had sure Juventus do not lose any point.
Statistics this season:
40 Matches
26 Goals
10 Assists
6.1 Shots per Game
7.68 Average Rating
#1 Lionel Messi - Barcelona
A lot of you might disagree about putting him on top of the list, but if you look at his numbers, this season Lionel Messi has been out of this world. What is there to be said about Lionel Messi that is not already known. One of the greatest (if not the greatest) footballers of all time, Messi once again showed the world what he is capable of when he won the golden shoe previous season.
Arguably the world’s best passer, dribbler, creator and finisher, the tag of ‘forward’ feels insufficient for a player of Messi’s unparalleled genius. The Argentine is the most complete footballer around, able to score, assist and control the tempo of a game – usually doing all three within the space of 90 minutes. Messi has arguably taken his game to even greater heights bringing a ruthless streak to his beautiful game.
The Brazilian legend, Pele once said Messi can only shoot with his one leg. But to prove him wrong the little magician has started scoring goals even from his weaker right foot. This season he has been in top form and it looks like its impossible for any defense to stop him. The Barcelona captain will be looking to win the Champions League this season and surely going to be unstoppable.
While arguably, Barcelona is one of the best attacking sides in the world right now, but around 50% of their goals have come through the magic man. Messi is currently in top form and has scored 25 goals in La Liga as well and is leading the European Boot at the moment.
Statistics this season:
39 Matches
35 Goals
14 Assists
5.3 Shots per Game
8.50 Average Rating
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