The 2020s have produced a compelling new generation of prolific strikers to fill the void left by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s departures from European football.
Neither Messi nor Ronaldo accumulated enough goals in Europe’s top five leagues this decade to feature in the current top ten scorers of the 2020s.
The three leading scorers in the list are separated by just four goals, setting up a fascinating race to finish the decade as the standout marksman in European football.
Ollie Watkins sits tenth with 91 goals, having become one of the Premier League’s most consistent strikers after joining Aston Villa from the Championship in 2020.
His six top-flight seasons included double figures every campaign, making him Villa’s all-time record Premier League goalscorer before his departure for the Saudi Pro League.
Osasuna’s Ante Budimir ranks ninth with 93 goals, a remarkable tally for a player who has spent his career largely outside of Europe’s elite clubs, hitting double figures in La Liga across multiple seasons this decade.
Jonathan David occupies eighth place with 94 goals, with 87 of those arriving during five prolific seasons at Lille before a move to Juventus and a subsequent loan spell at Atletico Madrid.
Serhou Guirassy is seventh on 103 goals, having built his decade-defining tally across spells at Rennes, Stuttgart, and Borussia Dortmund in France and Germany respectively.
Lautaro Martinez ranks sixth with 120 Serie A goals for Inter Milan this decade, including three consecutive seasons of 20 or more goals between 2021-22 and 2023-24 when he was crowned Serie A’s top scorer.
Mohamed Salah sits fifth with 128 Premier League goals in the 2020s alone, a staggering return that included two Golden Boots before his summer departure from Liverpool to Trabzonspor.
Salah claimed the 2024-25 Golden Boot in the same season Liverpool won the Premier League title, cementing his legacy as one of the great goalscorers of the era.
Robert Lewandowski is fourth on 174 goals, with more than 80 La Liga strikes for Barcelona following a dominant period at Bayern Munich where he denied Erling Haaland multiple Bundesliga Golden Boots.
Lewandowski, now 38 and playing for Chicago Fire in MLS, won the European Golden Shoe in each of his last two seasons at Bayern and was La Liga’s top scorer in his debut campaign at Barcelona.
Harry Kane stands third with 176 goals, having scored 99 Bundesliga goals from just 97 games since joining Bayern Munich in 2023, topping this ranking at the end of last season.
Kane’s tally was boosted by some extraordinary Premier League seasons with Tottenham Hotspur, including 30 goals in his final campaign in England before moving to Germany.
Erling Haaland is second with 178 goals, entering Europe’s top five leagues with Borussia Dortmund in January 2020 and scoring 62 Bundesliga goals before his move to Manchester City.
Haaland set a new Premier League record for most goals in a 38-game season with 36 from just 35 appearances, and surpassed 100 Premier League goals during the 2025-26 season at the age of 26.
Kylian Mbappe leads the list with 180 goals, having become PSG’s all-time record scorer before moving to Real Madrid in 2024 and scoring 31 La Liga goals in his first season at the club.
Mbappe was La Liga’s top scorer again in his second season with 25 goals, recently surpassing a half-century of La Liga strikes and showing no signs of relinquishing the top spot any time soon.
With Mbappe and Haaland both in their prime and separated by just two goals, the race to finish the 2020s as Europe’s leading scorer promises to be one of football’s most captivating individual battles.