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The World Cup's greatest goalscorer
Steven LynchJune 14, 2014
With the World Cup now underway, who is the overall leading scorer in the history of the tournament? asked John Gotherington.
The leading goalscorer in the World Cup finals is Ronaldo, of Brazil, with 15 between 1998 and 2006. But just one behind, before the 2014 tournament got under way, was the veteran German striker Miroslav Klose, 36, who is part of Joachim Loew's squad for his fourth World Cup in Brazil. Another famous German, Gerd Muller, also scored 14 goals in the World Cup finals (1970-74).
Just Fontaine of France scored 13 goals, all of them in 1958 (a record for a single tournament), while Pele found the net on 12 occasions between 1958 and 1970.
England's leading World Cup scorer is Gary Lineker, with ten (1986-90), twice as many as Geoff Hurst. Bobby Charlton and Michael Owen both scored four.
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