Top 10 Most Goals In A Season In All Competitions

This post provides the top 10 football players who scored the most goals In a season In all competitions.

You will learn about;

• Number of goals scored
• Season
• Team

Without formality, here are the top 10 soccer players with the most goals In a single season In all competitions:

1. Lionel Messi
2. Gerd Muller
3. Ferenc Deak
4. Dixie Dean
5. Jimmy McGrory
6. Cristiano Ronaldo
7. Cristiano Ronaldo
8. Lionel Messi
9. Ferenc Deak
10. Luis Suarez

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Let’s have fun.

1. Lionel Messi

• Number Of Goals – 73
• Season – 2011/2012
• Team – Barcelona

Lionel Messi’s incredible goal-scoring skill is a thing of legend, and the year 2012 witnessed him shatter records in ways that the football world has never seen before.

On 7 March, he scored five goals in a single UEFA Champions League match against Bayer Leverkusen. His 14 goals in the Champions League that season tied a long-standing record set by José Altafini back in 1962–63.

And let’s not forget that he joined the elite club of players by becoming the second, after Gerd Müller, to be the top scorer in four campaigns. Just two weeks later, on 20 March, Messi reached another milestone, becoming Barcelona’s all-time top scorer at the age of 24.

He did this with a hat-trick against Granada, surpassing a record that had stood for 57 years. Despite Messi’s incredible individual form, Barcelona’s era of dominance under Pep Guardiola came to a close that season.

They narrowly missed out on the league title, were knocked out of the Champions League by Chelsea, and secured only the Copa del Rey.

Still, Messi’s achievements persisted as he finished the season as the top scorer in Spain and all of Europe, setting a La Liga record with 50 goals.

His tally of 73 goals in all competitions broke Gerd Müller’s record from the 1972–73 Bundesliga season, making him the highest single-season scorer in European club football history.

2. Gerd Muller

• Number Of Goals – 67
• Season – 1972/1973
• Team – Bayern Munich

Gerd Müller was a true goal-poacher In the game. I heard he was like a hawk, always ready to pounce on opportunities to put the ball in the net.

He became the top scorer in Germany seven times and the top scorer in all of Europe twice. Müller played for Bayern Munich, and during his time there, he scored 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga matches.

One of Müller’s most impressive records was his 40 goals in a single Bundesliga season, which happened in 1971–72. It was a record that stood for a very long time until Lewandowski broke it, scoring 41 goals in the 2020–21 season.

Müller was a scoring machine, averaging at least one goal per game in seven of his 14 seasons. Even when he played for the German national team, he was unstoppable, scoring 68 goals in just 62 games, making him one of the all-time greats for his country.

But perhaps one of Müller’s most remarkable feats was holding the record for the most goals scored in a single year, an astonishing 85 goals in 1972. It was a record that stayed unbroken for 40 years until Lionel Messi scored even more in 2012. You can tell, Gerd Müller’s goal-scoring abilities were legendary.

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3. Ferenc Deak

• Number Of Goals – 66
• Season – 1945/1946
• Team – Szentlorinci

Ferenc Deák was a Hungarian footballer who played as a striker for different clubs, including Szentlőrinci AC, Ferencváros, and Budapesti Dózsa. He is one of the greatest goal-scorers of all time, scoring 795 goals in official matches throughout his career.

Ferenc’s career to stardom began in 1940 when he made his senior debut for Szentlőrinci AC. In that very first game, he scored six goals. His talent was undeniable, and he played a pivotal role in helping his team reach the top division in 1944.

He went on to become the top scorer in Europe three times, In the 1945-46, 1946-47, and 1948-49 seasons. His best season was in 1945/46 when he scored 66 goals in just 34 matches.

Because of this incredible achievement, he was named the Hungarian Player of the Year. In 1947, Ferencváros identified his talent and signed him where he played as a center-forward for three years, from 1947 to 1950.

During this time, he helped Ferencváros win the Hungarian championship in the 1948/49 season. In that season, the team celebrated its 50th anniversary, scoring 140 goals in just 30 matches, with Deák contributing 59 of those goals.

In total, he scored 155 goals in 111 matches, with 121 of those goals coming in the league alone.

4. Dixie Dean

• Number Of Goals – 63
• Season – 1927/1928
• Team – Everton

Dixie Dean was a football legend who made history with his incredible ability to score goals. He joined Everton in March 1925 for a record fee of £3,000, which was a big deal back then.

Then, he was just 18 years old, playing for Tranmere Rovers in the Third Division when Everton signed him. However, Dean made his debut for Everton against Arsenal and soon proved his worth, scoring his first goal for the club against Aston Villa.

In his first full season in 1925-26, he scored an impressive 32 goals. However, there was a moment of worry when Dean had a motorcycle accident in the summer of 1926, which left him with a fractured skull and jaw.

People were unsure if he could play again, but Dean proved them wrong. In his next game for Everton, he scored a goal with his head, leading fans to joke that the doctors had left a metal plate in his head.

Dean returned to the first team in October 1926, and he didn’t miss a beat. He finished the 1926-27 season with 21 goals, helping Everton avoid relegation by a single place.

Dean’s greatest claim to fame is being the only player in English football history to score an incredible 63 league goals in one season, which happened in 1927-28 when he was just 21 years old. Everton then won the First Division title in 1927-28.

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5. Jimmy McGrory

• Number Of Goals – 63
• Season – 1927/1928
• Team – Celtic

Jimmy McGrory started his career at Celtic, under their first manager, Willie Maley. But before making his mark at Celtic Park, he spent a season with Clydebank, where he netted 13 goals in 30 games for the team.

McGrory earned nicknames like the ‘Human Torpedo’ and ‘The Mermaid’ because of his incredible ability to head the ball into the net, despite being shorter than 1.7 meters tall. He was not just a goal-scorer; he was also a record-breaker.

In the 1926/27 and 1935/36 seasons, he was the top scorer in Europe’s leagues, scoring 49 and 50 goals respectively. McGrory achieved something incredible during the 1927/28 season.

He recorded  63 goals in all competitions, and he even set a British record, scoring eight goals in a single match against Dunfermline Athletic FC.

Jimmy McGrory’s goal-scoring abilities were out of this world, and he holds a special place in the history of football as Britain’s greatest goal-scorer.

6. Cristiano Ronaldo

• Number Of Goals – 61
• Season – 2014/2015
• Team – Real Madrid

Ronaldo scored the most goals in a single season In all competitions during the 2014/2015 season, scoring 61 goals. It all started with him scoring both goals in Madrid’s 2–0 win over Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup.

He had an amazing start to the league campaign, scoring 15 goals in just the first eight rounds. One of his standout moments was when he scored his record 23rd La Liga hat-trick against Celta Vigo on December 6th.

This made him the fastest player ever to reach 200 goals in La Liga, achieving this milestone in just 178 matches.

In addition to his club success, Ronaldo also received the prestigious 2014 Ballon d’Or award, joining the ranks of football legends like Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini, and Marco van Basten as a three-time winner.

He extended his scoring streak away from home to a record 12 matches with a goal against Schalke 04. Even in the semi-finals against Juventus, where Madrid was eliminated, Ronaldo scored both of his team’s goals.

He had another fantastic moment in that season when he scored five goals in a single game for the first time in his career, including a fast hat-trick in a 9–1 win against Granada. Ronaldo also scored his 300th goal for his club, a remarkable achievement, and he ended the season with 48 goals.

He won the Pichichi Award for the second consecutive year and the European Golden Shoe for the fourth time, making him one of the greatest goal-scorers in football history.

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7. Cristiano Ronaldo

• Number Of Goals – 60
• Season – 2011/2012
• Team – Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo had a season to remember in 2011/12 as he achieved some incredible milestones. During this season, Ronaldo set a new record, scoring 60 goals in all competitions.

Ronaldo scored hat-tricks (that’s three goals in one game!) against teams like Real Zaragoza, Rayo Vallecano, Málaga, Osasuna, and Sevilla. His hat-trick against Sevilla put Real Madrid at the top of the league by the season’s midway point.

Ronaldo also played a big part in helping Real Madrid win their first league title in four years, and they did it with a record 100 points. He scored his 100th league goal for Real Madrid in just 92 matches across three seasons, breaking the previous club record held by Ferenc Puskás.

In a Madrid derby against Atlético Madrid, he scored another hat-trick, bringing his total to 40 league goals, equaling his record from the previous season.

Ronaldo’s final league goal of the season, against Mallorca, took his total to 46 goals. While he fell just short of the new record set by Messi, he became the first player to score against all 19 teams in a single La Liga season.

8. Lionel Messi

• Number Of Goals – 60
• Season – 2012/2013
• Team – Barcelona

Lionel Messi is a football phenomenon, and in the 2012 season under the guidance of manager Tito Vilanova, Messi helped Barcelona achieve their best-ever start to a La Liga season in the second half of 2012.

They amassed 55 points by the midway point of the competition, setting a record in Spanish football. On December 9th, he scored a double against Real Betis, breaking two long-standing records.

First, he surpassed César Rodríguez’s record of 190 league goals, becoming Barcelona’s all-time top scorer in La Liga. Messi also broke Gerd Müller’s record for the most goals scored in a calendar year, overtaking Müller’s 85 goals scored in 1972 for Bayern Munich and West Germany.

To honor Müller and show his respect, Messi sent him a Barcelona number 10 shirt signed “with respect and admiration.” It was a touching gesture from one legend to another. By the end of the year, Messi had scored

Although FIFA didn’t officially acknowledge this achievement due to some issues, he received the Guinness World Records title for the most goals scored in a calendar year.

Messi’s incredible achievements didn’t go unnoticed, winning the FIFA Ballon d’Or once again, becoming the only player in history to win it four times in a row.

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9. Ferenc Deak

• Number Of Goals – 59
• Season – 1948/1949
• Team – Ferencvaros

Ferenc Deák, known as “Bamba,” was a goal-scoring phenomenon. In the 1948/49 season, playing for his hometown team Ferencvaros, Deák made headlines by scoring 59 league goals in just 30 games.

Deák’s goal-scoring skill helped his team win the national championship by 11 points. He was crowned the European top scorer three times.

In the seasons 1945/46 ( 66 goals), 1946/47 (48 goals), and again in 1948/49 ( 59 goals), he was the undisputed goal-scoring king of Europe. However, his best season was in 1945/46 when he scored 66 goals in just 34 matches.

10. Luis Suárez

• Number Of Goals – 59
• Season – 2015/2016
• Team – Barcelona

The 2015–16 season was a season of records and triumphs for Suárez. He began with a bang, scoring and assisting a goal in Barcelona’s thrilling 5–4 extra-time victory over Sevilla in the 2015 UEFA Super Cup.

On October 31st, Suárez achieved a notable milestone, netting in a 2–0 away win against Getafe. November 21st saw Suárez impress the world like always, with a double in Barcelona’s 4–0 away win against Real Madrid.

In December, he made history, scoring all three goals as Barcelona defeated Guangzhou Evergrande 3–0 in the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup semi-final, becoming the first player to record a hat-trick in the competition.

His incredible journey continued with an exceptional moment on February 3rd, 2016 when Suárez scored four goals in a sensational 7–0 Copa del Rey victory over Valencia.

In the Champions League, he displayed his acrobatics skills in a crucial goal against Arsenal, securing a 3–1 victory. In April, he achieved the extraordinary, scoring four times and assisting three more goals in an 8–0 La Liga victory over Deportivo La Coruña.

Just three days later, he repeated this feat with four goals in a 6–0 home win against Sporting Gijón. In all, Suárez sealed the season in style, bagging a hat-trick in a 3–0 victory at Granada, securing Barcelona’s second consecutive Spanish championship.

He scored an impressive 40 league goals during the season, clinching his first Pichichi Trophy and a second European Golden Shoe. In total, he ended the season with 59 goals and 22 assists in all competitions.