Top five quickest players to reach 500 career goals in 21st century ft. Harry Kane

Only a handful of players have scored 500 goals in their careers.

Scoring 500 career goals is one of the biggest achievements for a football player, and only a handful of players have reached this landmark in their careers. Before Messi and Ronaldo, it was Pelé who recorded that milestone in his career. But after that, many well-known stars have reached the 500-goal mark.

Harry Kane is now the latest player to join this list. With this, we take a look at the top five quickest players to reach 500 goals in their career in the 21st century.

The top five players to reach 500 career goals in the 21st century

Player Name	Games needed to reach 500 career goals
Luís Suárez	802
Cristiano Ronaldo	753
Harry Kane	743
Robert Lewandowski	730
Lionel Messi	632

5. Luís Suárez – 802

One of the greatest strikers in modern football, Luis Suarez, was once a top scorer in LaLiga (2015/16), which had players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. This only demonstrates how good he was during his heyday.

Luis Suárez started his career in 2005, and by November 2024, the former striker for AFC Ajax, FC Barcelona, and Liverpool had amassed over 580 goals. With 69 goals, Suárez is Uruguay’s all-time leading scorer. He has also played for Nacional (twice), Groningen, Grêmio, Atlético Madrid, and is currently playing for Inter Miami.

4. Cristiano Ronaldo – 753

No player comes close to Cristiano Ronaldo when it comes to scoring goals. The Portuguese is currently on a path to reach 1,000 career goals and is almost there. Even in modern times, he remains one of the greatest goal scorers despite being in his early 40s.

With more than 100 goals in both the Champions League and international football, Cristiano Ronaldo leads the scoring charts. The Portuguese sensation has over 950 goals overall and is expected to keep going till he reaches 1,000 goals overall for club and his nation. He is also Real Madrid’s all-time best scorer with 450 goals.

3. Harry Kane – 743

As the first Englishman to score 500 career goals in competitive games, Harry Kane created history. With a brace against Werder Bremen on Saturday (14 February, 2026), the Bayern Munich forward reached the milestone. 15 years ago, while playing for Leyton Orient against Sheffield Wednesday, Kane scored his first goal in professional football.

With 78 goals for the Three Lions, Kane is also England‘s top scorer. The Premier League has accounted for nearly half of his goals (213). Since then, he has scored 89 goals in both the Bundesliga and the Champions League.

2. Robert Lewandowski – 730

Only a few players have gone toe-to-toe with Messi and Ronaldo in terms of scoring goals. One of them is Robert Lewandowski. After netting twice for FC Barcelona against Brest in November 2024, Robert Lewandowski joined Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only other players to reach 100 Champions League goals.

Lewandowski has been the scorer more than 80 times for Poland and has scored 103 goals for Borussia Dortmund and 344 for Bayern Munich. The striker is currently increasing his tally at Barcelona and has already reached 117 goals at the club so far.

1. Lionel Messi – 632

Among the list, it’s only Lionel Messi who needed fewer matches to reach that mark in his playing career. The Argentine has it all, from being a playmaker to scoring goals. We may never see a complete player in the history of sport.

The 38-year-old continues to score goals with his mesmerising dribbling ability. Lionel Messi has scored more than 100 goals for Argentina and is Barcelona‘s all-time leading scorer with 672 goals. He now continues to add more goals to his tally while playing for Inter Miami and could reach 1,000 career goals if he continues for another two years.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Telegram.