Portugal Top Scorers of All Time

We can also call them Portugal all-time top scorers in football. The list is actually long, and we are going to let you know only about the first 10 footballers on the list, lest it might get out of your patience. Of course, at the end of the post, we will also let you know about which other footballers will follow, but only we mention their names and the number of goals they have scored for Portugal.

And there is the question who the

Portugal top scorer in 2022

is. Well, the answer to that question is Diogo Jota with 17 goals - in 2021-22 season. The second Portugal top scorer in 2022 is Cristiano Ronaldo with 14 goals who actually shares his position as the second Portugal top scorer in 2022 with Ricardo Horta who has scored the same number of goals as him in 2022 or better said in 2021-22 season.

We should mention here that although Diego Jota is Portugal top scorer in 2022, he’s not among the first ten Portugal all-time top scorers in football - he actually occupies the 25th position on the list with 9 international goals which, of course, may increase in future improving his position on the list.

A List of Portugal Top Scorers of All Time

Well, as we mentioned above, Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list of Portugal top scorers of all time, but let’s see which other footballers are on the list.

Cristiano Ronaldo (115 Goals)

Number one among

Portugal all-time international top scorers

, Cristiano Ronaldo is the Portuguese star who tops the list of Portugal top scorers of all time with 115 goals. He has scored that many goals from 2003 till this date and in 186 appearances which gets him an internatioal goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.62 meaning that he has scored around 3 goals (exactly 3.1) in every 5 of his international appearances. His goal-to-appearance ratio is actually the second on the list behind Eusebio who is in front of him by 0.02. Ronaldo is also the only active footballer on the list of Portugal top scorers of all time which means he will probably add to his  international goals and improve his goal-to-appearance ratio, too.

What is quite notable about the number of international goals Ronaldo has scored (115) is that it is at least more than two times higher (around 2.5 times) than the number of international goals other footballers on the list scored during their careers. This is something rare; you don’t see it much. For the top scorers of other nations, the difference is not that much even though there are also stars or prolific goalscorers on their lists, too, and that we believe what proves Cristiano Ronaldo is a superstar at international level, and not only among the top scorers of his own nation. Don’t forget that sometime ago he also surpassed the record of the Iranian footballer, Ali Daei, for international goals when he scored his 109th international goal and became actually number one on the list of top international top scorers, too.

If you would like to know about a more detailed account of how many international goals Ronaldo has scored and in which competitions, here is a brief stats of it with the number of appearances he made, assists he provided and any yellow or red cards he has received: Friendlies, 20 goals, 11 assists, and 5 yellow cards in 52 appearances, World Cup qualification rounds, 36 goals, 14 assists, and 9 yellow cards in 47 appearances, Euro qualification rounds, 31 goals, 4 assists, and 4 yellow cards in 35 appearances, World Cup finals, 7 goals, 2 assists, and 4 yellow cards in 17 appearances, Euro finals, 14 goals, 9 assists, and 3 yellow cards in 25 appearances, UEFA Nations League, 5 goals and one yellow card in 6 appearances, and finally Confederations Cup, 2 goals and one assist in 4 appearances. That actually sums up to a total of 186 appearances, 115 goals, 41 assists, and 26 yellow cards at international level for Ronaldo.

The most number of goals Ronaldo scored in a single international match was in a Euro 2020 qualification round match against Lithuania where he scored 4 goals contributing to his team’s 5-1 win, and also in a 2018 World Cup qualification match against

where he also scored 4 goals, this time, helping his team in a 6-0 win. It might be interesting for you to know that Ronaldo has captained the Portuguese national team in 109 of his 115 appearances for them. Just deny those 6 appearances and you can call it all.

Pauleta (47 Goals)

Second among

Portugal all-time top scorers in football

, Pedro Miguel Carreiro Resendes, simply known as Pauleta in the world of football, is a 48-year-old retired Portuguese forward who served the Portuguese national team between 1997 and 2006 making 88 appearances and scoring 47 goals for them in the process. That actually gets him an international goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.53 which means he scored around one goal (exactly 1.06) in every 2 appearances that he made for his country’s national team. The interesting fact here is that with that number of international goals (47), Pauleta actually topped the list of Portugal top scorers of all time at the time of his retirement in 2006 - Cristiano Ronaldo had scored only 43 international goals by that time.

Pauleta is often known as a PSG player since he served the French club more than any other club during his career and scored the most number of goals he scored for a single club in his career for them; actually 109 goals in 211 appearances. He was indeed a prolific goalscorer both at club and international level, but he’s not even comparable to Ronaldo at the latter. The retired Portuguese forward actually took part in two editions of FIFA World Cup, namely the 2002 and 2006 editions, finishing as fourth in the latter as Portugal lost 3-1 to Germany in the third-place playoff match, and two editions of Euro, namely the 2000 and 2004 editions, where in the latter Portugal finished as runners-up after their 1-0 loss to Greece.

Here is a brief stats of how Pauleta performed internationally concerning the number of goals he scored, appearances made, assists provided, and any yellow or red cards he received: Friendlies, 22 goals and 2 yellow cards in 43 appearances, World Cup qualification rounds, 19 goals, 2 assists, and 1 yellow card in 25 appearances, Euro qualification rounds, 2 goals and one second yellow card in 5 appearances, World Cup finals, 4 goals, 2 assists, and one yellow card in 9 appearances, and Euro finals, 1 assist and 2 yellow cards in 6 appearances. That actually sums up to 47 goals, 5 assists, 6 yellow cards, and one second yellow card in 88 appearances for Pauleta at international level. The most number of goals Pauleta scored in a single international match was in a friendly against

in 2003 where he managed to score 4 goals contributing to his team’s 8-0 win.

Eusebio (41 Goals)

The only passed footballer on the list of

Portugal top scorers of all time

- at least among the first ten footballers on the list, Eusebio was such a great player during his playtime that they later called him as one of the greatest footballers in the history of football, one of the Portuguese legends, and one of the greatest players of Benfica in the club’s history. He’s one of the three players on the list alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Lusi Figo who managed to win a Ballon d’Or trophy during his career - actually in 1965, though, just like the number of international goals he scored, he’s not comparable to Cristiano Ronaldo in this case, either, since the latter has won 5 Ballon d’Or trophies to this date. Yet, some people consider Eusebio as a legend; what Ronaldo has been deprived of, at least up until now - maybe in the future, they will call him a legend, too, due to his numerous achievements.

only took part in one edition of FIFA World Cup, namely the 1966 edition, and managed to finish as third with his country’s national team in the competition after beating the former USSR 2-1 in the competition’s third-place match. He also scored the most number of goals he had ever scored in a single international match until then - and indeed throughout his career - in that competition as he netted 4 goals against North Korea in quarter-finals helping his team in a 5-3 win.

Here is a brief stats of how Eusebio performed internationally considering the number of goals he scored, appearances he made, assists he provided, and any yellow or red cards he received: Friendlies, 15 goals in 26 appearances, World Cup qualification rounds, 12 goals and one assist in 18 appearances, Euro qualification rounds, 5 goals in 14 appearances, and World Cup finals, 9 goals, 1 assist, and 1 yellow card in 6 appearances. That actually sums up to 64 appearances, 41 goals, 2 assists, and one yellow card for Eusebio at international level. It should also be mentioned here that Eusebio has the highest international goal-to-appearance ratio on the list (0.64), though with a very narrow margin from that of Cristiano Ronaldo (0.62) and means almost the same thing: he scored 3.2 goals in every of his 5 international appearances.

Luis Figo (32 Goals)

He is also one of the Portuguese legends who not only, like Eusebio, has been named on FIFA 100 list - a list of the greatest living footballers in 21st century compiled by the Brazilian legend, Pele - but also is a Ballon d’Or winner - actually the 2000 edition of the prize - again just like Eusebio and Cristiano Ronaldo. Ja! That’s Luis Figo. The number of international goals he scored may not look so high, but never forget that he served the top European clubs, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Inter Milan, for quite a time during his career; in fact, for three fourth of his career’s length. Figo also served the Portuguese national team sometime between 1991 and 2006 making 127 appearances and scoring 32 goals for them in the process which translates to around 1 goal in every four appearances averagely.

Although Figo didn’t score that many goals to have a better place among Portugal all-time international top scorers, it might be interesting for you to know that by providing 106 assists during his time at La Liga, he’s actually the second footballer after Messi to have provided the most number of assists in La Liga history. Maybe Figo’s role as a winger justifies why he scored less goals than the footballers already mentioned in this post, but if you ask us, to become his nation’s fourth top scorer for a winger is still an achievement, no matter how many goals he has scored plus that, as you see, Figo was a top assist provider within La Liga during his playtime which shows he did well in his own role. It might also be interesting for you to know that Figo’s transfer fee to Real Madrid in 2000 (€62 million) was a world record at its own time.

As for Figo’s international stats concerning the number of goals he scored, appearances he made, assists he provided, and any yellow or red cards he received, and in which competitions, we should say that it’s like this: Friendlies, 15 goals, 5 assists, and 4 yellow cards in 54 appearances, World Cup qualification rounds, 9 goals, 8 assists, and 4 yellow cards in 29 appearances, Euro qualification rounds, 6 goals, 3 assists, and 2 yellow cards in 20 appearances, World Cup finals, 5 assists and 1 yellow card in 10 appearances, and finally Euro finals, 2 goals, 5 assists, and 4 yellow cards in 14 appearances. That actually sums up to 127 appearances, 32 goals, 26 assists and 15 yellow cards for Figo at international level. It should be mentioned here that with that number of appearances (127), Figo is actually the third most capped Portuguese footballer of all time, too.

Figo took part in three editions of Euro, namely the 1996, 2000, and 2004 editions, to finish as runner-up in the 2004 edition with the Portuguese national team after losing 1-0 to Greece in the competition’s final. He captained his team in all the matches in the same competition except for the first match. He also took part in 2002 and 2006 World Cups and captained the Portuguese national team in all the matches they played except for the last which was a third-place match against Germany that ended in a 3-1 loss for Portugal putting them on the fourth place among the top four teams of the competition. And finally the most number of goals Figo scored in a single international match was in a friendly against

in 2001 where he scored all the three goals of the match leading Portugal to a 3-0 win.

Nuno Gomes (29 Goals)

A top striker who was also famed for his assists, Nuno Miguel Soares Pereira Ribeiro, simply known as Nuno Gomes in the world of football, is a 45-year-old retired Portuguese forward who served the top Portuguese club, Benfica, for the majority of his career; actually for 12 years of his 19-year career and in two time periods; once from 1997 to 2000 and another time from 2002 to 2011. Gomes is the only footballer on the list of Portugal top scorers of all time to have served all the under-aged Portugal teams including U15, U16, U17, U18, U20, U21, and U23 teams before being promoted to the nation’s senior national team. This actually happened between 1990 and 1996 during which Gomes made a total of 64 appearances and scored 29 goals for the above-mentioned under-aged teams altogether. This, as you see, almost equals his appearances and goals for the Portugal senior national team; in fact, if we were to sort the footballers on the list based on the number of their goals and appearances both for Portugal senior and under-aged teams, then Gomes would occupy the second place behind Cristiano Ronaldo.

Well, let’s see how Gomes performed specifically for the Portugal senior national team. He actually made a total of 78 appearances and scored 29 goals for the Portuguese national team between 1996 and 2011 which gets him an international goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.37 meaning that he scored around one goal (exactly 1.11) in every three appearances that he made for Portugal averagely. Gomes took part in three editions of Euro, namely the 2000, 2004, and 2008 editions, with the Portuguese national team finishing as runner-up in 2004 and captaining his team in 2008 edition in three of the four matches his team played. He was also a part of the

in 2002 and 2006 editions of World cup, though he was sidelined in most of the matches his team played.

Here is a brief stats of how Gomes performed internationally concerning the number of goals he scored, appearances he made, assists he provided, and any yellow or red cards he received and in which competitions: Friendlies, 11 goals and 2 assists in 32 appearances, World Cup qualification rounds, 8 goals and 4 assists in 14 appearances, Euro qualification rounds, 3 goals and 2 assists in 14 appearances, Euro finals, 6 goals, 1 assists, 1 yellow card, and 1 red card in 14 appearances, World Cup finals, 1 goal and 1 yellow card in 4 appearances. That sums up to 78 appearances, 29 goals, 9 assists, 2 yellow cards, and 1 red card for Gomes at international level. The most number of goals Gomes scored in a single international match was in a 2002 World Cup qualification match against Andorra where he managed to score 4 goals contributing to his team’s 7-1 win. He also provided 2 assists in that game.

Helder Postiga (27 Goals)

One of the footballers on the list of Portugal top scorers of all time to have served several clubs during his career including the top Premier League club, Tottenham Hotspur, Helder Postiga is a 39-year-old retired Portuguese forward who is, of course, more known for his service to the Portuguese club, Porto, with whom he actually won almost all his club trophies including a UEFA Cup in 2002-03 season. Postiga also served the Portuguese national team sometime between 2003 and 2014 making 70 appearances and scoring 27 goals for them in the process. That actually gets him an international goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.38 which means he scored around one goal (exactly 1.14) in every 3 appearances that he made for his country’s national team.

Here is a brief stats of how Postiga performed at international level concerning the number of goals he scored, appearances he made, assists he provided, and any yellow or red cards he received: Friendlies, 9 goals, 1 assist, and 1 yellow card in 30 appearances, World Cup qualification rounds, 9 goals and one red card in 18 appearances, Euro qualification rounds, 6 goals, 1 assist, and 3 yellow cards in 11 appearances, Euro finals, 3 goals, 1 assist, and 2 yellow cards in 7 appearances, and World Cup finals, only 4 appearances. That sums up to 70 appearances, 27 goals, 3 assists, 6 yellow cards, and 1 red card for Postiga at international level. Postiga took part in 3 editions of UEFA Euro, namely the 2004, 2008, and 2012 editions, with the Portuguese national team and two editions of World Cup, namely the 2006 and 2014 editions.

The most number of goals Postiga scored in a single international match never went beyond 2 and it actually happened in four matches against Bolivia in a friendly, against

in a 2006 World Cup qualification round match, against Spain in a friendly, and against Bosnia in a 2012 Euro qualification round play-off match.

Rui Costa (25 Goals)

Another midfielder on the list of

Portugal top scorers of all time

, Rui Costa is a 50-year-old retired Portuguese footballer who was considered as one of the best midfielders in the world during his playtime and, indeed, one of the best Portuguese footballers at least in the current century if not of all time. He actually served the two top Italian clubs, Fiorentina and AC Milan, for a major part of his career; actually for two third of it which lasted for 12 years between 1994 and 2006. And the rest? Well, he served the top Portuguese club, Benfica, and in two time periods; once from 1990 to 1994 and another time from 2006 to 2008.

also served the Portuguese national team sometime between 1993 and 2004 making 94 appearances and scoring 25 goals for them in the process which translates to around one goal (exactly 1.04) in every 4 international appearances for Costa averagely. Here is a brief stats of how Costa performed internationally and in which competitions concerning his goals, appearances, assists, and any yellow or red cards he received: Friendlies, 9 goals, 3 assists, and one yellow card in 37 appearances, World Cup qualification rounds, 3 goals, 1 assist, and 1 second yellow card in 23 appearances, Euro qualification rounds, 10 goals, 1 assist, and 2 yellow cards in 20 appearances, Euro finals, 2 goals, 3 assists, and 1 yellow card in 12 appearances, and World Cup finals, 1 goal and one assist in 2 appearances. That actually sums up to 94 appearances, 25 goals, 9 assists, 4 yellow cards, and one second yellow card for Costa at international level.

Costa never scored more than two goals in a single international match, however, he managed to provide 3 assists in an international match against England - actually a Euro 2000 group-stage match - that ended in Portugal’s 3-2 win. Costa is a moderately decorated footballer on the list with his best shot at international level being the second place in Euro 2004 and the FIFA U-20 World Cup with Portugal U20 team. Rui Costa is one of the three Portuguese footballers alongside Luis Figo and Eusebio to have been named on Pele’s FIFA 100 list and the 9th most capped Portuguese footballer of all time. It might be interesting for you to know that by joining AC Milan in 2000-01 season for a transfer fee of €43,898,836, Costa actually became the Italian club’s most expensive player ever; the record he has kept to this date.

Nani (24 Goals)

One of the only two active footballers on the list of Portugal top scorers of all time besides Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Carlos Almeida da Cunha, simply known as

in the world of football, is a 35-year-old Portuguese forward who is currently a player of the Serie A club, Venezia. Although Nani has served more than five clubs to this date, he’s often known as a Manchester United player since he actually served the English club more than any other club he has served to this date; actually for 8 years between 2007 and 2015 during which he managed to make a total of 230 appearances and score 40 goals for them. And he also won most of his club trophies with Manchester United including four Premier League titles and a FIFA Club World Cup in 2008.

Nani also served the Portuguese national team sometime between 2006 and 2017 during which he made a total of 111 appearances - and thus becoming the nation’s 5th most capped footballer of all time - and 24 goals for them. That actually gets Nani an international goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.21 meaning that he scored around one goal (exactly 1.05) in every 5 appearances that he made for his country’s national team averagely. If you would like to know about Nani’s international goals, appearances, assists, and yellow or red cards in detail, here is a brief stats of it plus the competitions in which he actually took part: Friendlies, 8 goals, 7 assists, and 1 yellow card in 38 appearances, World Cup qualification rounds, 4 goals, 5 assists, and 2 yellow cards in 24 appearances, Euro qualification rounds, 7 goals, 7 assists, and 4 yellow cards in 27 appearances, Confederations Cup, 1 goal in 4 appearances, Euro finals, 3 goals, 4 assists, and one yellow card in 15 appearances, and World Cup finals, 1 goal in 3 appearances.

That actually sums up to 111 appearances, 24 goals, 23 assists, and 8 yellow cards for Nani at international level. Nani took part in three editions of Euro, namely the 2004, 2008, and 2012 editions, with the Portuguese national team winning the 2012 edition with them - this was also the only edition in which Nani scored - and one edition of FIFA World Cup, namely the 2014 edition, where Portugal was eliminated in the competition’s group stage.

Joao Pinto (23 Goals)

Part of the Portuguese national team’s golden generation during 1990s, Joao Pinto is a 50-year-old retired Portuguese forward who played almost all his career for Portuguese clubs. He also served the Portuguese national team sometime between 1991 and 2002 during which he made a total of 80 appearances and scored 23 goals for them. That actually gets him an international goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.28 which means he scored around one goal (exactly 1.12) in every 4 appearances that he made for his country’s national team.

Pinto also served Portugal U16, U18, U20, and U21 teams for quite a time, actually for 7 years between 1987 and 1994, before he was promoted to the Portuguese senior national team. During this time, he made almost the same number of appearances and scored around the same number of goals for the under-aged Portugal teams he served: 24 goals in 71 appearances. If you add up all the appearances and goals he scored for Portugal under-aged and senior national teams, that will be 47 goals in 152 appearances which is quite noticeable. In fact, the only footballer on the list of Portugal top scorers of all time who is in front of him only concerning the number of goals he scored for Portugal under-aged teams is Nuno Gomes with 29 goals. The rest including Cristiano Ronaldo neither made that many appearances nor scored that many goals for their country’s under-aged teams.

And although Pinto never won an international trophy with the Portuguese senior national team, he managed to win two FIFA U-20 World Cup trophies with Portugal U20 team in 1989 and 1991 and finish as runner-up in UEFA U20 European Championship in 1994, UEFA U18 European Championship in 1988 and 1990, and UEFA U16 European Championship in 1988. Quite active with Portugal under-aged teams, but let’s see how Pinto’s stats are with the Portuguese senior national team.

Before anything else we should say that some sources say the real number of international goals Pinto scored is 22 which if we take as true, then Pinto’s international stats concerning his goals, appearances, assists, and yellow or red cards will be as follows: Friendlies, 2 goals and 2 yellow cards in 28 appearances, World Cup qualification rounds, 7 goals, 2 assists, and 1 yellow card in 24 appearances, Euro qualification rounds, 11 goals, 2 assists, and 2 yellow cards in 17 appearances, Euro finals, 2 goals and 4 yellow cards in 8 appearances, and World Cup finals, 1 assist and 1 red card in 3 appearances. That actually sums up to 80 appearances, 22 goals, 5 assists, 9 yellow cards, and 1 red card for Joao Pinto at international level.

Nene (22 Goals)

The only one-club man and old-timer on the list of

Portugal top scorers of all time

, Tamagnini Manuel Gomes Batista, simply known as Nene in the world of football, is a 72-year-old retired Portuguese forward who, as mentioned above, served only one club during his career, namely

, making a total of 421 appearances and scoring 262 goals for them in the process - only at league level. That’s actually around 1.2 goals in every 2 appearances which shows Nene was, indeed, a prolific goalscorer at club level. However, that was not the case with him at international level since he managed to score only 22 goals in his 65 appearances for the Portuguese national team which counts for 0.66 goals in every two appearances - half of his average goals at club level in the same number of appearances - or around one goal in every 3 appearances averagely.

It might be interesting for you to know that Nene is the holder of two broken records: First, he was Portugal’s most capped footballer with 66 caps up until 1994 that his record was broken by Joao Pinto who made his 67th international appearance in the same year, and second, from 1984 to 2008, Nene was the oldest footballer ever to have scored in a Euro competition as he scored a goal against Romania in Euro 1984 at 34 years and 213 days. His record was broken by the Austrian footballer, Ivica Vastic, who scored a goal against Poland in Euro 2008 at the age of 38 years and 257 days. And if you would like to know about Nene’s international stats concerning the goals he scored, appearances he made, and any yellow or red cards he received and in which competitions: Friendlies, 10 goals in 25 appearances, World Cup qualification rounds, 4 goals in 16 appearances, Euro qualification rounds, 7 goals and 1 yellow card in 22 appearances, and Euro finals, 1 goal and 1 yellow card in 2 appearances. That actually sums up to 22 goals, 65 appearances, and 2 yellow cards for Nene at international level.

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