Top Goalscorers in 2026: Kane, Haaland, Mbappe, Dembele…

Big names from Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal and Bayern Munich feature alongside some surprise names in the most prolific goalscorers of the calendar year so far.

Some big names are surprisingly absent from the most prolific goalscorers of 2026 to date.

Drawn from Europe’s five major leagues, here are the top 10 goalscorers in 2026 across club and international competitions.

10. Donyell Malen – 15 goals

After a so-so stint with Aston Villa, the Dutch forward was in inspired form at Roma in his half-season loan.

He’s scored 15 goals in just 20 appearances for the Giallorossi and has since completed a permanent move to the Stadio Olimpico.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t quite carried that form onto the international stage. He’s failed to score in his last seven appearances for the Netherlands and wasn’t even brought off the bench for their last game of the World Cup before their early exit.

9. Lamine Yamal – 16 goals

Yamal has long been talked up as a Ballon d’Or contender, and slowly but surely he’s getting the numbers to back it up.

The teenager’s goalscoring output has grown season on season, and 2025-26 was no exception. February’s hat-trick against Villarreal was evidence of a player about to go truly stratospheric.

Unfortunately the final furlong of the campaign was hit by a hamstring injury, or else we suspect he’d be a few places higher up in this list. He needed just 10 minutes in his first World Cup start to find the back of the net. Special player.

READ: 7 leading stars who can use the 2026 World Cup to win this year’s Ballon d’Or

8. Erling Haaland – 18 goals

Welcome Erling. We were expecting you.

Haaland’s four goals against Iraq and Senegal finally saw him climb up into the top 10, before he added to his World Cup tally against the Ivory Coast.

We expect to see him climb further towards the top five in the coming weeks and months, but a relatively quiet – by his standards – second half to the season with Manchester City meant his name was absent until now.

7. Mikel Oyarzabal – 19 goals

Quietly one of the most in-form goalscorers around.

The striker infamously failed to have a touch of the ball in his first 30 minutes of World Cup action this summer, but he’s put that slow start behind him.

The man who delivered La Roja’s match-winner against England in the Euro 2024 final, he’s in the form of his career. He scored in Real Sociedad’s Copa del Rey final victory over Atletico Madrid and his year could get even better.

He’s up to four goals in the World Cup now and is very much a dark horse, against some of these superstars, in the Golden Boot race.

6. Ousmane Dembele – 20 goals

Dembele has scored 16 goals in 26 PSG appearances this year, a goal every 100 minutes. This has included several crucial strikes in Europe – none bigger than the equalising spot kick he coolly dispatched against Arsenal in the Champions League final.

His goal in France’s win over Iraq was, incredibly, his first in major tournament football. That was swiftly followed up with a rapid hat-trick against Norway.

5. Viktor Gyokeres – 20 goals

The jury is still out on Gyokeres, who remains a perplexing forward.

This calendar year has seen him look borderline anonymous as he’s drawn blanks against Wolves, Brighton, Bayer Leverkusen and Brentford.

He was particularly ineffective in the League Cup final defeat to Man City, while Mikel Arteta benched him for the crunch rematch, only bringing him on as the third substitute for the final eight minutes when they were in desperate need of a goal at the Etihad.

And yet Gyokeres also fired Sweden to the World Cup with a hat-trick against Ukraine and a late winner against Poland. He also scored important goals against Leeds, Sunderland, Tottenham, Everton and Fulham in Arsenal’s title triumph, as well as away at Atletico Madrid. Swings and roundabouts.

The striker notched his latest goal in Sweden’s statement-making 5-1 victory over Tunisia in their World Cup opener, but he drew a blank as they were tonked by the same scoreline by the Netherlands. His journey at the World Cup ended this week.

4. Kylian Mbappe – 21 goals

Like his rival Haaland, it somehow took Mbappe until mid-June to enter the top 10.

Mbappe kicked off the year in superb style, scoring in six successive starts for Real Madrid (nine goals in total) before dipping considerably with just one goal in his next seven appearances.

By the nature of his seven goals at the World Cup, we don’t expect to see the Real Madrid superstar dropping back out.

3. Deniz Undav – 21 goals

Another one-time Brighton striker who did a whole lot of nothing down on the south coast, Undav has reinvented himself as one of the Bundesliga’s most consistent goalscorers since moving to Stuttgart.

He’s scored 57 goals in 116 appearances for the Swabians and was in particularly good form in the latter half of last season.

He took that form into the World Cup before Germany’s early exit. Julian Nagelsmann still preferred Kai Havertz to start games, but Undav got three goals and two assists from two substitute appearances totalling just 56 minutes.

An outrageous goalscoring rate, and his vital brace against the Ivory Coast catapulted him up this list.

2. Vinicius Junior – 22 goals

The Real Madrid forward was distinctly underwhelming for over a year after vowing “I’ll do it 10x if I have to. They’re not ready” following his Ballon d’Or snub back in 2024.

He’s taken his sweet time, but he’s finally starting to make good on that promise – five of his 22 goals this calendar year were clutch goals in the Champions League, with another two in a big comeback victory over Atletico Madrid.

Up until now, his overall record for Brazil has left a lot to be desired. Neymar, he ain’t. But his goals against Haiti, Morocco and Scotland hint that he might just be about to become That Guy for his country. Watch this space.

1. Harry Kane – 39 goals

Arguably the finest player in world football right now. How often have you been able to say that about an Englishman?

Kane didn’t play for the Three Lions over the March international break, having suffered a minor issue in training. His absence was certainly felt in the Wembley defeat to Japan.

The only player in Europe’s five major leagues to average a better-than-goal-a-game output so far this calendar year, the England captain has 31 goals in 26 appearances for Bayern Munich in all competitions in 2026 – including home and away against Real Madrid and PSG.

He capped off his superb season with a hat-trick in the DFB Pokal final. Two goals against Croatia showed Kane has carried his form into the World Cup, where he most recently got a game-changing brace in the round of 32 against DR Congo.

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TRY A QUIZ: Can you name the top 30 goalscorers across Europe’s five major leagues in 2025?