Top players with most goals in a single season football: Not Messi or Ronaldo in first place

The topic of top goalscorers is always a hot one, as goals are at the very heart of what fans look for in football. The all-time rankings of the most prolific scorers feature a fascinating blend of historic icons, modern superstars, and a few lesser-known names that may come as a surprise.

In this article, spbolivescore.net lists the top players with the most goals scored in a single football season, achieved while competing at the professional level in top-flight leagues.

Top players with most goals in a single season football

Neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list of the greatest single-season goalscorers in football history. That honour belongs to Josef Bican, who netted an astonishing 76 goals during the 1943-44 season. The legendary Austrian and Czechoslovak forward is recognised by the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) as one of just three players in history to have outscored both Messi and Ronaldo over their careers - an extraordinary achievement by any measure.

Bican’s most prolific campaign came in 1943-44, when he officially scored 76 goals from only 32 appearances across all competitions, numbers that seem almost unimaginable when viewed through a modern lens. Playing for Slavia Prague in the late 1930s and 1940s, he regularly averaged more than two goals per game and finished as his domestic league’s top scorer on 12 occasions. Uniquely, Bican also represented three different national or representative teams during his career: Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Bohemia & Moravia.

Football icon Pelé ranks among the top four with 66 goals scored in the 1958 season. At just 17 years old, he inspired Brazil to their first-ever World Cup triumph in Sweden, a feat he would later repeat in Chile in 1962 and Mexico in 1970. That remarkable year also saw Pelé score 66 goals for Santos across all competitions, underlining his extraordinary influence both at club and international level.

Interestingly, the same total of 66 goals was matched by another legendary Brazil striker, Romário, during the 2000 season. Romário returned to Brazil three years after winning the Golden Boot and lifting the World Cup at USA ’94. Following a brief spell with Flamengo, he rejoined his boyhood club Vasco da Gama, where he formed a devastating partnership with fellow international Edmundo. After hanging up his boots, Romário made a successful transition into politics, serving as a Federal Deputy from 2010 before later being elected Senator for Rio de Janeiro.

Lionel Messi ranks second with 73 goals in the 2011-12 season, a campaign widely regarded as the peak of his extraordinary career and one that cemented his legendary status for both club and country. That year, Messi went on to score an unprecedented 91 goals in the 2012 calendar year, setting a new world record. Remarkably, his 50 La Liga goals during the 2011-12 season were still not enough to secure the league title for Barcelona. Alongside his domestic exploits, he added another 23 goals in other competitions, lifting the Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup and Copa del Rey, before Barcelona exited the Champions League at the semi-final stage. Reflecting on Messi’s historic achievement, German icon Gerd Müller said: “My record stood for 40 years - 85 goals in 60 games. Now the best player in the world has broken it. I’m delighted for him. He is an incredible, gigantic player.”

Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, appears in the top eight with 61 goals during the 2014-15 season. Across nine seasons at Real Madrid, he maintained a remarkable better-than-a-goal-per-game average, and this campaign arguably represented his most prolific year statistically. However, it proved a frustrating season for Madrid, as fierce rivals Barcelona went on to claim the treble. Ronaldo remains the all-time leading scorer in both the Champions League and the UEFA European Championships and, now playing for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, continues to chase history, with the extraordinary milestone of 1,000 career goals firmly within sight - a feat yet to be matched in football history.

Top players with most goals in a single season football

Josef Bican - 76 goals (1943-44)

Lionel Messi - 73 goals (2011-12)

Gerd Muller - 67 goals (1972-73)

Romario - 66 goals (2000)

Pele - 66 goals (1958)

Zico - 65 goals (1979)

Dixie Dean - 63 goals (1927-28)

Cristiano Ronaldo - 61 goals (2014-15)

Luis Suarez - 59 goals (2015-16)

Fernando Peyroteo - 56 goals (1945-46)

Spbolivescore has named the top players with most goals in a single season football.

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