Defenders with Most Goals in Football History

You might think to yourself whoever is the

highest goal scoring defender in soccer history

might have scored between 100 and 150, but did you know that the first defender on the list of top scoring defenders of all time scored more than 200 goals during his career?

And even the last one on the list scored more than 100 goals. Remember! That’s the list of top goal scoring defenders of all time! So that means we are only to defenders with most goals ever.

The List of Top Scoring Defenders of All Time

As we already mentioned, in this post, we are to highest scoring defenders ever in the history of football. How is it possible that a defender scores more than 200 goals? Let’s see!

Ronald Koeman (253 Goals)

Number one on the list of defenders with most goals in football history, Ronald Koeman is a 53-year-old retired Dutch footballer who managed to score 253 goals during his career. The club Koeman served more than any other club was

for whom he also scored the most number of goals: 67 goals in the 192 appearances at league level which is a little bit more than one goal (exactly 1.05) in every 3 appearances that he made for the La Liga club.

A defender who scores one goal in every 3 appearances; that’s quite an asset! And the interesting fact here is that the 53-year-old former Dutch footballer is currently serving the club he scored the most number of goals for (Barcelona) as a manager.

He has actually managed more teams than he played for (11 vs 5), and among the clubs he has managed are even top-tier clubs such as Ajax, Southampton, and Everton, and a national team; actually his own country’s (Netherlands) national team.

From among all the 253 goals Koeman scored during his career 193 were scored at league level which actually comprise 76% of all his goals. He even managed to score 26 goals for the Dutch club, PSV, in a single season - actually 1987-88 season - which is quite an impressive record for a defender.

From among all these 26 goals 22 were scored at league level and considering that he scored a total of 51 goals for PSV in all the seasons he served them, we can say he scored 43% of all the goals he scored for the Dutch club only in one season.

Koeman also played for the Dutch national team between 1983 and 1994 and with good goal scoring records, though not better than his record at Barcelona: 14 goals in 78 appearances which actually translates to almost one goal in every 5 appearances.

The retired Dutch footballer was named the Dutch Footballer of the Year in two consecutive years, namely 1987 and 1988, and UEFA Champions League top scorer in 1993-94 season when there were forwards, for sure, to take over him. And he also won a number of league titles during his career; actually four La Liga titles with Barcelona, four Eredivisie with PSV, and 3 with

.

Daniel Passarella (175 Goals)

The first and only Argentinian footballer on the list of

defenders with most goals in football history

, Daniel Passarella is a 67-year-old retired footballer who played both as a center back and sweeper during his career and mostly for Argentinian clubs.

The only non-Argentinian club Passarella played for during his career was the Italian club, Fiorentina, for whom he made 109 appearances between 1982 and 1986 and scored 26 goals.

However, the club that Passarella served the most and also scored the most number of goals for was the Argentinian club,

, for whom he scored 99 goals in the 258 league appearances between 1973 and 1982.

That even gets him a better goal-to-appearance ratio than that of Ronald Koeman: almost 0.4 which means he scored 1.2 goals in every 3 appearances that he made for the club he served the most during his career. That is as Koeman scored 1.05 goals in every 3 appearances.

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So despite scoring less goals than Koeman - actually 78, Passarella has a better goal-to-appearance ratio concerning the club he served the most. They say Passarella is one of the best South American footballers of all time and if it was not for the great footballers such as

he could even be the greatest Argentinian footballer ever along with the Argenitian legend, Diego Maradona.

Whatever they say may not matter, but what stats say confirms it to some extent: Passarella was named the Argentinian Footballer of the Year in 1976, in FIFA World Cup All-Star Team in 1978, and on FIFA 100 list which is a list of 20th century greatest footballers chosen by the Brazilian legend, Pele. He was also named in AFA (The Argentine Football Association) Team of All Time in 2015.

Passarella also served the Argentinian national team between 1976 and 1978 and scored 22 goals in the 70 appearances that he made for them which again means he almost scored one goal in every 3 appearances for his country’s national team.

Fernando Hierro (163 Goals)

The first Spanish footballer on the list of defenders with most goals in football history, Fernando Hierro is a 52-year-old retired footballer who served

more than any other club during his career; actually for 14 years between 1989 and 2003 - more than two third of all his career - during which he scored 102 goals in the 439 appearances that he made for the La Liga giants.

That actually gets him a goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.23 which means the retired Spanish footballer scored almost one goal (exactly 0.92) in every 4 appearances that he made for Real.

And how many goals in 3 appearances? 0.69. So in terms of the number of goals in every 3 appearances for the club most served and compared to the two other footballers mentioned above - we mean Ronald Koeman and Daniel Passarella - Fernando Hierro is and deserves to be on the third position on the list of

top goal scoring defenders of all time

.

Hierro played both as a center back and defensive midfielder during his career. It might be interesting for you to know that the number of goals he scored for Real Madrid are by far higher than the number of goals he scored for the three other clubs during his career, namely Valladolid of Spain, Al Rayyan of Qatar, and

of England (102 vs 3 and 1).

Real Madrid is actually the club Hierro has won all his club trophies with including 5 La Liga titles and one Copa del Rey in 1992-93 season. He also served the Spanish national team between 1989 and 2002 and scored 29 goals in the 89 appearances that he made for them.

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Laurent Blanc (153 Goals)

The first and only French footballer on the list of defenders with most goals in football history, Laurent Blanc is a 54-year-old retired footballer who served nine clubs during his career including some top-tier ones such as Barcelona and

.

The interesting fact about Laurent Blanc is that his career years are distributed almost evenly among the clubs he served with each club getting a year or two, however, that’s not true concerning the number of goals he scored at league level and also the number of appearances he made at the same level during his career.

Blanc scored 125 goals at league level - out of all his 153 goals - from which his mother club, Montpellier, gets a share of 76 or 60% of all the goals Blanc scored at league level. He also made 243 appearances for the same French club which are actually more than a one third of all the appearances that he made at league level (602).

It is as the second club Blanc scored the most number of goals for and made the most number of appearances is another French club, namely Saint-Etienne, for whom he made 70 appearances and scored 18 goals.

Graham Alexander (130 Goals)

The only Scottish footballer on the list of

defenders with most goals in football history

, Graham Alexander is a 49-year-old retired footballer who only served English clubs during his career - actually no Premier League clubs except for Burnley and only in one season, namely 2009-10 season when

competed in the Premier League. From among all the 130 goals Alexander scored 107 were scored at league level which actually comprise 82% of all his goals.

The club Alexander served more than any other club is the Championship club,

, whom he served in two time periods, namely from 1999 to 2007 and in 2011-12 season which sums up to 9 years in total.

And during this time he made 370 appearances and scored 54 goals for them which are more than two times higher than the number of appearances he made and the number of goals he scored for other clubs during his career. It also means that he scored almost one goal (exactly 0.98) in every 7 appearances that he made for the Championship club.

Alexander has also served four English clubs as a manager after his retirement in 2012 with the last one being Salford City whom he served from 2018 to 2020. He also served the Scottish national team between 2002 and 2009 but never scored a goal for them.

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Steve Bruce (113 Goals)

The only English footballer on the list of defenders with most goals in football history, Steve Bruce is a 59-year-old retired footballer who scored 113 goals for English clubs at different tiers during his career which actually lasted for 20 years between 1979 and 1999.

Despite the fact that Bruce served English clubs at different tiers, it was

who he served the most; actually for 9 years between 1987 and 1996 which is almost 2 to 3 times longer than the period he served other clubs.

And it was for Manchester United that Bruce made the most number of appearances and scored the most number of goals; again actually 36 goals in 309 appearances at league level which translates to almost one goal (exactly 0.99) in every 9 appearances that he made for the Premier League club.

Bruce is a product of the League One club,

, and the second club he has served the most, has made the most appearances for (205), and scored the most number of goals for (29), indeed at league level, is Gillingham.

The third footballer on the list of

highest scoring defenders ever

after Ronald Koeman and Daniel Passarella who has managed more teams than he played for, Steve Bruce has actually managed more than twice as much teams as he played for during his career (11 vs 5), and all these teams have been English teams with some of them being Crystal Palace, Sunderland, and Aston Villa. Bruce never served the England national team; he only appeared once for the England B team in 1987 with no goals scored for them.

Paul Breitner (113 Goals)

Sharing the 6th position with Steve Bruce on the list of defenders with most goals in football history, Paul Breitner is a 69-year-old retired footballer who scored 113 goals during his career from among which 103 were scored at league level - actually 91% of all his goals.

The club Breitner served more than any other club was

for whom he played in two time periods, once from 1970 to 1974 and another time from 1978 to 1983 which actually sum up to a total of 9 years.

During these 9 years Breitner scored 83 goals in the 255 appearances that he made for Bayern at league level. That actually gets him a goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.32 which means the retired German footballer scored almost one goal (exactly 0.96) in every 3 appearances that he made for the Bavarians.

That again means his goal-to-appearance ratio for the team he served the most during his career is almost as good as the top two footballers on the list of highest goal scoring defender in soccer history, Ronald Koeman and Daniel Passarella.

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Also the first German footballer among the

defenders with most goals ever

in soccer history, Breitner served another top-tier club during his career: Real Madrid for who he made 84 appearances and scored 10 goals, indeed at league level. Bayern Munich and

are actually the two teams Breitner has won all his club trophies with including 5 Bundesliga and 2 La Liga titles.

The retired German footballer also served the German national team between 1971 and 1982 - in fact the West Germany national team - and during this time scored 10 goals in the 84 appearances that he made for them. He was also named Germany’s Footballer of the Year in 1981.

Roberto Carlos (113 Goals)

Also on the 6th position on the list of defenders with most goals in football history along with Paul Breitner and Steve Bruce, Roberto Carlos is a 47-year-old retired Brazilian footballer who scored 113 goals during his career. He played as a left back and from all his 113 goals 66 were scored at league level which actually comprise more than a half of all his goals.

The two top-tier clubs Carlos served during his career are

and Real Madrid, however, the Brazilian retired footballer served Real more - in fact more than any other club during his career - and also made the most number of appearances and scored the most number of goals for.

He actually served Real Madrid for 11 years between 1996 and 2007 and during this time scored 47 goals in the 370 appearances that he made for them at league level. That is 12 time more appearances that he made for Inter Milan and almost 10 times more goals than he scored for Inter - he actually 5 goals in the 30 appearances that he made for Inter.

However, if we consider the number of years Carlos served Inter Milan - actually only one year, that will be quite justifiable why he appeared so much less and scored less goals for Inter. And as you might guess, the Brazilian retired footballer also won most of his club trophies with Real Madrid including 4 La Liga and 3 UEFA Champions League titles - the rest of his club trophies Carlos won with the Brazilian club,

. He also served the Brazilian national team between 1992 and 2006 and during this time scored 11 goals in the 125 appearances that he made for them.

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Sergio Ramos (110 Goals)

And here comes the second Spanish and the only footballer on the list of

defenders with most goals in football history

who is currently in the business: Sergio Ramos; a 34-year-old center back who has been serving the La Liga club, Real Madrid, since 2005 - actually for 15 years - and since he’s still in the business, though by high chances at the end of it, he could still score more goals and improve his standing on the list of defenders with most goals ever.

Ramos has scored a total of 110 goals during his career from among which 78 have been scored at league level and from among these 78 goals 72 have been scored for Real Madrid. So with that count, we can say 70% of Ramos’ goals have been scored at league level and from his league goals 92% have been scored for Real Madrid.

Ramos has actually served two clubs during his career: Real Madrid and

, and if it was not for two years from 2003 to 2005 that he served served Sevilla, we could say he had served Real Madrid for all his career.

So you might probably guess that Ramos has won all his club trophies with

. That’s true and some of these trophies include 5 La Liga and 4 UEFA Champions League titles. Ramos is also one of the high-decorated Spanish footballers with a number of individual honors and trophies he has won - more than 20 - including La Liga Best Defender in 5 seasons four of which have been consecutive.

The Spanish defender has also served the Spanish national team since 2005 - the same year he joined Real Madrid - and has scored 23 goals in the 175 appearances that he has made for them.

Franz Beckenbauer (109 Goals)

The second German footballer on the list of defenders with most goals in football history, Franz Beckenbauer is a 75-year-old retired footballer, and as some believe, one of the legendary German footballers in history.

He’s a product of the Bundesliga club,

, and served them for the majority of his career; in fact, for 13 years between 1964 and 1977 which actually comprises more than two third of all his career, and during this time, he made 429 appearances and scored 60 goals for Bayern only at league level which gets him a goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.13 meaning that the retired German footballer scored a little bit more than one goal (exactly 1.04) in every 8 appearances that he made for the Bavarians.

From among all the 109 goals Beckenbauer scored during his career 79 were scored at league level which actually comprise 72% of all his goals and from all these 79 goals, as mentioned above, 60 were scored for Bayern which is actually 75% of all his league goals. Beckenbauer also served the West Germany national team between 1965 and 1977 and during this time scored 14 goals in the 103 appearances that he made for them.

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Beckenbauer is the only footballer among the

top goal scoring defenders of all time

who has won the Ballon d'Or reward and in two years: 1972 and 1976. The number of individual trophies Beckenbauer has won exceeds 30 with some of them being FIFA World Cup Silver Ball in 1974, FIFA Presidential Award in 2012, and European Coach of the Year Award in 1990, not to mention that he is also a member of Germany's Sports Hall of Fame, was named Germany’s Footballer of the Year in four years and on FIFA 100 list by Pele, and won 4 Bundesliga titles and 3 European Cup trophies with Bayern Munich. Now you see why some people call him a legendary footballer!

Sinisa Mihajlovic (105 Goals)

The last but not least on the list of defenders with most goals in football history, Sinisa Mihajlovic is a 51-year-old retired Yugoslavian footballer who managed to score 105 goals during his career. From among all the 105 goals Mihajlovic scored during his career 70 were scored at league level which actually comprise 66% of all his gaols.

Unlike some other footballers who have scored most of their goals for only one club, Mihajlovic’s goals are distributed between 7 clubs that he served during his career with three of them having a 51-goal share of all Mihajlovic’s goals.

The three clubs mentioned above are Lazio, Sampdoria, and the Serbian club, Vojvodina, whose share from Mihajlovic’s goals is 20,12, and 19 respectively. Other than Lazio and Sampdoria, Mihajlovic also served two other top-tier Italian clubs, namely Inter Milan and AS Roma, during his career, but not more than 2 years and he didn’t score more than 5 goals for them - for the latter 5 and for the former 1.

The club Mihajlovic served the most during his career is

for whom he made 126 appearances and scored 20 goals between 1998 and 2004 - actually for 6 years. The retired Yugoslavian footballer also served his country’s national team between 1991 and 2003 and during this time scored 10 goals in the 63 appearances that he made for them.

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