In its simplest form, football is all about who scores the most goals. That’s why strikers are often the most popular players on the pitch, with everyone behind them relying on their clinical finishing to help add silverware to the trophy cabinet. Goals win games, after all. But when it comes to finding the back of the net, who does it best?
Clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich have enjoyed their fair share of otherworldly goalscorers over the years, with their marksmen spearheading trophy-laden eras and helping build incredible collections of Champions League titles. The same can be said for nations such as Portugal and Argentina, whose forwards have fired them to World Cups, European Championships and other major honours.
However, what separates the great from the truly elite is their ability to produce a season for the ages. Those are the campaigns that become the stuff of legend. Scoring goals consistently across a career is one thing, but it’s those breathtaking peaks that win trophies and define eras. With that in mind, this article explores the 12 greatest goalscoring seasons by a player since 2000.
Best Goalscoring Seasons By a Player Since 2000
12. Erling Haaland (2025/26) - 58 goals
Erling Haaland enjoyed the most prolific season of his career so far in the 2025/26 season. He didn't have his best campaign at Man City as he 'only' hit the back of the net 38 times. But he was in unstoppable form for Norway. He scored 20 goals for his country across the campaign, including five against Moldova, three against Israel and a further eight goals at the 2026 World Cup.
11. Kylian Mbappe (2025/26) - 58 goals
Like Haaland, Kylian Mbappe also enjoyed the best season of his life in 2025/26. Unfortunately for him, his incredible goal tally didn't lead to a single trophy for club or country. Despite scoring 42 times for Real Madrid, Los Blancos finished second in La Liga behind Barcelona and were also beaten by their fierce rivals in the Supercopa de Espana. They were also knocked out early in the Copa del Rey and Champions League. He scored 10 times for France at the World Cup - enough to win him his second Golden Boot - but Les Bleus were beaten by eventual champions Spain in the semi-finals and finished fourth.
10. Cristiano Ronaldo (2012/13) - 59 goals
In a generation defined by the Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi duopoly, much of this list inevitably repeats the same superlatives for the two greatest footballers to ever exist. The former’s 2012/13 season with Real Madrid is often overlooked in favour of some of his even better campaigns, but with 12 Champions League goals in as many appearances, he still became the club’s top scorer in Europe and contributed to a third of their league goals that term.
9. Robert Lewandowski (2019/20) - 59 goals
While playing for Bayern Munich, Robert Lewandowski was the overwhelming favourite to win the 2020 Ballon d'Or, only for the organisers to decide it wouldn’t be awarded that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In effect, he was denied what many felt was his due, as every other player was in the same boat, but he managed to block out outside distractions and finish as top goalscorer in every competition his club won that season - the Bundesliga, Champions League and DFB-Pokal.
8. Luis Suarez (2015/16) - 60 goals
Luis Suarez’s 2015/16 season at Barcelona was one of the most complete striker campaigns of the modern era - the kind where he was, quite literally, tearing entire teams apart by himself. He found the back of the net 40 times across 35 La Liga matches, which helped him on his way to a European Golden Shoe as teammate Messi spent much of the campaign sidelined through injury.
7. Lionel Messi (2014/15) - 62 goals
From one MSN member to the next, the 2014/15 season was arguably when all three of Suarez, Messi, and Neymar found their highest gear together, as Barcelona won the Champions League, La Liga, and Copa del Rey to complete a treble. Messi finished the campaign with 62 goals and 27 assists in 57 appearances, combining outrageous output with his usual all-round influence.
6. Cristiano Ronaldo (2013/14) - 62 goals
Appearing for the second time out of five on this list, nobody features more times than Ronaldo. This time around, in the 2013/14 campaign, Portugal's captain reached "video game" numbers, and he broke the Champions League record for most in one season when he netted 17 en route to a first Real Madrid title in 12 years.
5. Cristiano Ronaldo (2014/15) - 66 goals
Scoring 60 plus goals in one season takes some doing, but going on and doing it again a season later is just astonishing. Well, that's what Ronaldo managed to do between 2013 and 2015, but his second term wasn't nearly as memorable as, while he did all he could and more, Los Blancos missed out on all major honours they competed for.
4. Cristiano Ronaldo (2011/12) - 69 goals
It's incredible to think CR7 scored 69 goals in the 2011/12 season but still didn't win the European Golden Shoe, scoring fewer goals than one other player (more on him later, though it's an easy guess). It was a tit-for-tat battle with his old adversary, but while Ronaldo's 46 La Liga goals was four shy of his rival, his efforts counted for more as Real Madrid won the title with 100 points under Jose Mourinho.
3. Lionel Messi (2012/13) - 69 goals
Messi scored in 21 consecutive La Liga matches in the 2012/13 season, a record that still stands. He also scored nine goals in 11 Champions League matches, as well as 46 in 32 total league appearances. Incredible stuff, really, but sadly not as stunning as the idea that, during the transitional season, Barcelona won zilch.
2. Harry Kane (2025/26) - 73 goals
England's all-time top goalscorer, Harry Kane enjoyed the season of his life in 2025/26. He scored 36 goals for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, which was enough to win the European Golden Shoe for a second time. He also hit the back of the net 10 times in national cup competitions, and a further 14 times in the Champions League. He ended the campaign with an incredible 73 goals after scoring six times for England at the World Cup.
1. Lionel Messi (2011/12) - 82 goals
Of course it's Messi who holds the record for the best goalscoring season ever. He scored 73 goals in 60 matches for Barcelona, adding a further nine with Argentina. It contributed to another record of his, which was his 91 total goals in 2012, which is also the gold standard.
Stats courtesy of Pop Foot.