Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominated the 2010s, but by the 2020s, football was undergoing a change of guard, with a new generation of players reaching the top of the European scoring charts.
A Norwegian striker arrived in a European league for the first time in January 2020 to join Borussia Dortmund, marking the dawn of a new era.
We take a closer look at the 10 players who have scored the most goals in Europe's major leagues (Premier League, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, La Liga and Serie A) since the turn of the century.
10. Lionel Messi – 64 goals
The Argentine icon's pace has slowed in recent years, with an impressive six league goals in his inaugural season at Paris Saint-Germain, but he remains one of Europe's deadliest goalscorers of the 2020s.
Messi was as prolific as ever in his final years at Barcelona and quickly adapted to Ligue 1 – as evidenced by 32 appearances and 16 goals and 16 assists in 2022-23 – but narrowly surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo as the all-time best player after becoming the top scorer in Europe's five major leagues, and he appears to have played his final game in Europe.
He has proven that after a brilliant start to Miami Inter, he is still capable enough to compete in the European elite. Considering he's done football, we're not jealous of him living an upper-class life in Florida. For a short and romantic return, never say never.
9. Lautaro Martinez – 67 goals
The Argentine striker has scored 21 Serie A goals for Inter Milan in two consecutive seasons. He almost beat his striker Romelu Lukaku (with 63 goals in the same period) to finish in the top 10.
The 25-year-old, who has recently won Serie A and the World Cup, speaks for himself – Martinez is undoubtedly one of the best strikers in Europe. His two goals in Inter's 2023-24 season opener against Monza reminded people of this.
8. Cristiano Ronaldo – 69 goals
Ronaldo left European football after nearly two decades in the big five leagues to get his last handsome salary and become a poster boy for stretching muscles in Saudi Arabia.
Even without scoring any goals in 2023 and having had some rather disappointing seasons with Juventus and Manchester United, the Portuguese still scored regularly until the end of the game, where he scored 69 league goals in his last three years in the top flight.
7. Mohamed Salah – 75 goals
Liverpool's King of Egypt won the Premier League Golden Boot in three of Anfield's six full seasons, so it's no surprise to see him among Europe's most prolific goalscorers of the 2020s.
Salah lifted all trophies on behalf of Jurgen Klopp's Reds, and his consistent performance in attacking the three zones was one of the main reasons. Despite Liverpool's plummeting results after finishing fifth in 2022-23, he still enjoyed a respectable individual season with 19 league goals.
6. Harry Kane – 78 goals
Since the turn of the century, 30 of the 77 goals Kane has scored in the Premier League have come last season. Tottenham may have been a mess in 2022-23, but Kane showed his world-class abilities in Tottenham Hotspur's swan song.
The England captain scored on his Bayern debut and you can imagine that he might reach the level that Gerd Müller and Robert Lewandowski reached in the Bundesliga. One day, returning to the Premier League to score another 47 goals and break Alan Shearer's record is not unthinkable.
5. Karim Benzema – 78 goals
在皇马只有C罗为皇家马德里队打进的进球比本泽马多，本泽马可以说在三十多岁的时候达到了巅峰。
After 14 years, the French finally left the Bernabeu. He arrived in Saudi Arabia as the current Ballon d'Or winner and scored a career-high 44 goals in 2021-22 (27 in the league), helping Real Madrid to the prestigious La Liga and Champions League double.
4. Ciro Immobile – 79 goals
尽管因莫比莱一直位居此类榜单的顶端，但不知何故，它还是受到了人们的关注。 The 33-year-old has won Serie A's top scorer award four times, including 36 goals in 2019-20 and 27 in 2021-22.
There are questions about his spell for the Azzurri and whether his unique style suits elite teams, but his goal record at Lazio is indisputable.
3. Kylian Mbappe – 92 goals
Watching Mbappe and Haaland face off in the coming years will be an appointment watch, or if you've been scarred by years of online fan debate over Messi and Ronaldo, watching Mbappe and Haaland go headdowns will be very boring.
Whether you have a preference or not, Mbappe's place among the European elite is undeniable. At just 24 years old, he is already Paris Saint-Germain's all-time top scorer – 91 of his total 164 Ligue 1 goals have been scored over the past three and a half seasons.
He also scored a penalty in his debut for Paris Saint-Germain in the 2023-24 season. More to come.
2. Ellin Haaland – 100 goals
The Norwegians don't need any time to get used to top football. He scored 62 goals in 67 Bundesliga games for Borussia Dortmund and broke the record for the most goals in 38 Premier League games in his debut season at Manchester City.
Haaland is expected to break his own record for the fastest player to score 50 goals in a major European league. And he is only 23 years old.
1. Robert Lewandowski – 114 goals
Haaland never really won the Golden Boot during his time in Germany. It seems that his arrival has pushed Lewandowski to absolutely disgusting new heights.
The Poland international won the European Golden Boot for 2020-21 and 2021-22 with 41 and 35 goals respectively. Haaland beat him in 2022-23, but Lewandowski still became La Liga's top scorer with 23 league goals in his first season with Barcelona.