Lionel Messi leads the list of players with the most goals in a season

Former FC Barcelona player Lionel Messi has scored the most goals in a season. In the 2011-12 season, the Argentine superstar had scored a whopping 73 goals for the Catalan club. Consequently, he had even broken the Bundesliga legend Gerd Muller‘s goal tally of 67 goals from the 1972-73 season.

Though not many players have exhibited such consistency at the top level, below is the list of all the footballers with the most number of goals in a single season across club competitions.

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Most Goals in a season

Lionel Messi | 73 Goals | 2011-12 season

Lionel Messi was untouchable in Pep Guardiola’s dream team at Camp Nou that La Liga season, the most prolific season that the football maestro has ever had. The left-footed player had scored in every single competition at the club level in that season – 50 goals in La Liga, three goals in Copa del Rey, 14 goals in the UEFA Champions League, two goals in the Club World Cup, three goals in the UEFA Super Cup and three goals in the Supercopa. Messi had also assisted an unbelievable 32 times in the 2011-12 season. No footballer has managed to beat this record in football history.

Riding on his unreal form, Barcelona had ended the season with four titles – the Copa del Rey, Supercopa, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. Surprisingly, Barcelona couldn’t get their hands on either La Liga or the UEFA Champions League. Messi ended the calendar year with 91 goals as he had 14 international goals. He is currently second on the list of Champions League top-scorers.

Gerd Muller | 67 Goals | 1972-73

One of the legends of the game, Gerd Muller’s tally of 67 goals for Bayern Munich had stood the test of time for 39 long years. The striker scored 36 goals in Bundesliga, 11 goals in the European Cup, and five goals in the DFB-Pokal tournament. Apart from this, Muller had also scored 12 goals for the German national team. Bayern Munich went on to win the Bundesliga that season.

Josef Bican | 63 Goals | 1941-42

Austrian-Czech footballer Josef Bican is known as one of the most prolific goalscorers in football history for his sheer number of goals in his career. With 805 goals in official matches his name, Bican sits only behind Cristiano Ronaldo in the list of players with the most goals in football. Josef Bican also sits fifth on the list of most goals scored in a season. He had scored an impressive 63 goals for Slavia Prague in the 1941-42 season. He had tallied 45 league goals and 18 cup goals in the Czech League.

Others on this list are Hungary’s Ferenc Deák and Hungary’s Arthur Ceuleers, who have the joint third-highest goal tally of 66, while Hungary’s Gyula Zsengellér sit third with 65 goals.

Most Goals in a season: In Europe’s top football leagues 

Josef Skoblar | 44 Goals | 1970-71

The Croatian forward had shown how it is done in Ligue 1 long before Neymar and Kylian Mbappe started dominating the French League. His goal tally of 44 in a single Ligue 1 season is still unbroken despite the league seeing some of the most world-class strikers.

His scoring prowess had seen Marseille win the Ligue 1 and Skoblar win the European Golden Boot award in 1971. Marseille fans referred to him as “l’Aigle Dalmate” or Mister Goal.

Robert Lewandowski | 41 Goals | 2020-21

The most recent feat on this list, Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski became a Bundesliga legend when he overcame Gerd Muller’s tally of 40 league goals by scoring one more against FC Augsburg in the last match of the 2020-21 Bundesliga season.

The Polish international had also scored five Champions League goals, and two Club World Cup goals as the Bavarians went on to win the Bundesliga, DFL Supercup, UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup that season.

Ciro Immobile | 36 Goals | 2019-20

The Lazio striker was in some form two seasons back when he fired in a whopping 36 goals in 25 games for the Serie A club. Adding three more goals to the tally that came in the Italy Cup and the UEFA Europa League group stages, Immobile had struck ten winning goals in 28 matches for Lazio. In an otherwise Juventus-dominated Serie A, the 2019-20 season had seen Lazio winning the Supercoppa Italiana and finishing fourth in the league. Ciro Immobile had beaten Cristiano Ronaldo to the Golden Boot by scoring five more goals.

Before Immobile, the 36-goal tally a season was attained by Gonzalo Higuain while playing for Napoli. The former Real Madrid striker had fired in 36 goals in 35 games apart from two more in the UEFA Europa League. Napoli had finished second in the Serie A, riding on Higuain’s supreme form.

Mohamed Salah | 32 Goals | 2017-18

Liverpool‘s Mohamed Salah holds the record for most goals in a single Premier League season. The Premier League history has seen players like Arsenal’s Thierry Henry, Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez, Alan Shearer and more scoring galore to attain this feat.

Salah’s mammoth season had seen the Egyptian international producing insane individual performances, with the best being a four-goal feat against Watford. He had also scored ten goals for Liverpool in the Champions League that season apart from stringing together a tally of 16 assists. Liverpool’s top scorer was also the Premier Golden Boot winner that season.

Cristiano Ronaldo | 17 Goals | 2013-14 Champions League season

A five-time Champions League winner and all-time UCL top-scorer, Cristiano Ronaldo’s best season in the elite tournament in the 2013-14 season while playing for Real Madrid. He had scored 17 goals in 11 games and provided five assists. Real Madrid had gone on to win the UEFA Champions League that season.

FAQs

Who has the most goals in a season in all competitions? 

Former FC Barcelona star Lionel Messi has the most goals in a season in all competitions. It happened in the 2011-12 season when the Argentine had scored 73 goals in all club competitions. Messi had scored 50 goals in La Liga, three goals in Copa del Rey, 14 goals in the UEFA Champions League, two goals in the Club World Cup, three goals in the UEFA Super Cup and three goals in the Supercopa.

Who has the most goals in one season of La Liga?

This record also stands beside Lionel Messi’s name for the 2011-12 La Liga season. He had scored 50 goals, but Barcelona could only finish second in la Liga.

What is the most goals in a season by Ronaldo? 

The most goals in a season by Cristiano Ronaldo is 61 that came in the 2014-15 La Liga season. The Portuguese goalscorer was in stupendous form as he tallied an unbelievable 48 goals in 35 La Liga appearances. This season had seen the player scoring eight hat-tricks. However, Real Madrid could only finish second in the league despite winning the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.

Who has the most goals in a Premier League season?

Mohamed Salah of Liverpool has the most goals in a single Premier League season that came in the 2017-18 campaign.