10 Best Goalscoring Midfielders in World Football Right Now [Ranked]

From Kevin De Bruyne to Jamal Musiala, we’re arguably living through a golden generation of midfield players, and with several exciting prospects emerging, the quality on display in the middle of the park is only likely to improve further in the coming years.

The pool of elite midfielders has potentially never been so great, with the attacking midfielders, or players who would typically have been described as number 10s in the past, continuing to become more multi-faceted and adding different strings to their bows. One aspect that sets these elite calibre midfielders apart from the rest is their ability to score goals on a consistent basis.

With the best teams in the game generally making a marked move away from relying on one prominent goalscoring number nine, aside from Manchester City with Erling Haaland, a greater burden has been placed on midfielders to provide goals, and some have developed a reputation for doing so, with a few even developing trademark finishes.

Jude Bellingham’s prolific season for Real Madrid last year is the perfect demonstration of this and has prompted us to rank the 10 best goalscoring midfielders in world football right now.

10 Teun Koopmeiners

Clubs: AZ Alkmaar, Atalanta, Juventus

Earning a blockbuster move to Juventus this summer, for a fee in the region of €57 million, Teun Koopmeiners has perhaps gone under the radar in recent years. Establishing himself as one of Europe’s most consistent creative midfielders, the Dutchman has also always had an eye for goal, showcasing this in his final two seasons in his native land, where he managed 16 and 17-goal campaigns.

This production in front of goal prompted Atalanta to move for him in the first place, and the Bergamo club saw this prowess in his final year with Gian Piero Gasperini’s side, netting 12 Serie A goals, making him the second most prolific midfielder in the Italian top flight. Generally an instinctive finisher, Koopmeiners regularly finds himself arriving late at the end of moves to finish accurately off both feet.

9 Bruno Fernandes

Clubs: Novara, Udinese, Sampdoria, Sporting, Manchester United

While Bruno Fernandes has endured a difficult start to the new season, the Portuguese playmaker has developed a reputation as an effective goalscorer for Manchester United. Netting 79 times for the Red Devils across his first four and a half years at Old Trafford, including a staggering 28-goal campaign in 2020/21, the former Sporting CP man hasn’t failed to register double figures in a season since 2016/17, when he was at Sampdoria.

An expert at converting spot-kicks, Fernandes’ tendency to let fly from range sees him regularly score spectacular goals from outside the box, with his composure and technique in these areas a notch above most midfield players on the planet. While his historic productivity means he has to make this list, the 30-year-old has begun to see a drop-off in his numbers, managing just six non-penalty league goals last season.

8 Hakan Calhanoglu

Clubs: Karlsruher, Hamburg, Bayer Leverkusen, AC Milan, Inter Milan

Like Koopmeiners, another player whose goal-scoring record perhaps goes under the radar due to the league he plays in is Hakan Calhanoglu. Despite experiencing the odd off-year in front of goal, the Turkish midfielder has regularly contributed to this aspect of the game throughout his career. The Inter Milan ace enjoyed a prolific 15-goal season last campaign and was subsequently the top-scoring midfielder in Serie A.

His supreme ball-striking skills and technical quality when presented with a slightly menacing shooting opportunity are outstanding, and he has developed a reputation for converting from dead-ball scenarios. The Inter man was named as the second-best free-kick taker in world football behind Lionel Messi, scoring 26 direct free-kicks throughout his club career.

7 Eberechi Eze

Clubs: Queens Park Rangers, Wycombe Wanderers, Crystal Palace

While Eberechi Eze perhaps doesn’t boast the longevity of some of his predecessors on this list regarding scoring goals at the highest level, the Crystal Palace talisman has developed into a consistent bagsman in the last two seasons. If acquired by a side that had more of the ball and dominated games to a greater extent, his output could go through the roof.

Netting 10 and 11 in the last two seasons respectively, the way Eze strides onto the ball and unleashes accurate pile drivers and finessed finishes from the edge of the box is out of the ordinary. The 26-year-old’s unique ability to place the ball perfectly into the top corners when in these positions makes him a mouth-watering watch, and if he starts scoring more from inside the box, he’ll be right in the upper echelons for goal-scoring midfielders.

6 Martin Odegaard

Clubs: Real Madrid, Heerenveen, Vitesse Arnhem, Real Sociedad, Arsenal

The 2022/23 season may have been something of an anomaly concerning the extent of Martin Odegaard’s goal-getting prowess. The Norwegian, more renowned for his creative endeavours, scored more non-penalty goals in that campaign than any other midfielder has managed in a Premier League season previously, with 15.

Netting a more modest, but still impressive, 11 goals last year, it remains to be seen whether he can replicate the prior year’s record-breaking feat. Even if he can’t, his ability to precisely place a ball into either bottom corner from distance is unrivalled, and he trademarked the finish from around the penalty box from cut-backs during that bountiful season.

5 Florian Wirtz

Clubs: Bayer Leverkusen

Similarly to Eze, Florian Wirtz is new to this scene. The German youngster has burst into this goal-scoring midfielder sphere in the last 12 months, netting 18 times during Bayer Leverkusen’s double-winning and invincible season, and has started the new campaign on fire.

Producing an array of different types of finishes, Wirtz may be the first on this list who has a significant box presence, popping up in dangerous areas at the end of moves regularly, whilst also flaunting the ability to stretch teams with elusive and dynamic movement in behind, like an archetypal winger would.

4 Kevin De Bruyne

Clubs: Genk, Chelsea, Werder Bremen, Wolfsburg, Manchester City

A man whose exploits in front of goal need no introducing, Kevin De Bruyne continues to be one of the sharpest shooters from midfield, despite turning 33 in June. While only scoring six times throughout the 2023/24 season, the Belgian missed significant portions of the campaign, and his effectiveness at putting the ball in the back of the net is evidenced by the fact he has now surpassed 100 goals in Manchester City colours.

Boasting an audacious catalogue of strikes from distance, De Bruyne’s emphatic finishing is representative of a generational talent, whose sublime technical quality in his shooting may be overlooked due to his quality in other areas, and won’t be truly appreciated until after his retirement.

3 Jamal Musiala

Clubs: Bayern Munich

When Jamal Musiala first emerged onto the scene at Bayern Munich, he was an energetic, dribble-heavy, attacking midfielder, who perhaps lacked maturity in his final action. This deficiency in his end product has completely vanished now, with his goal output exploding over the last two years.

Netting 16 and 12 across all competitions in these seasons, Musiala’s ability to find separation to get a shot off in a crowded box makes him a potent goal threat, and his trademark roof-of-the-net finish has seen him score countless goals in these scenarios. The German is in a rich vein of form in front of goal, and a supernova campaign for the technical magician is anticipated by those at the Allianz.

2 Phil Foden

Clubs: Manchester City

The joint-most prolific midfielder in Europe’s top five leagues last season, Phil Foden’s mastery of finding the top corner from outside the box is a sight to behold. The Englishman netted 27 goals in all competitions, a staggering return for a player often deployed as an eight.

Scoring 19 from 10.3 expected goals in the Premier League, Foden’s ability to make the most out of small sightings of the opposition’s goal is unparalleled. This level of xG over-performance is rare, and points to the City poster-boy being one of the best finishers in world football, not just compared to midfield players.

It’s not all long-shots, however. Foden’s combination play with teammates regularly sees him break into the box through intricate patterns of play, to slide beyond goalkeepers immaculately.

1 Jude Bellingham

Clubs: Birmingham City, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid

Jude Bellingham may have managed 14 goals in his final season at Borussia Dortmund, but he came into his own in this department under the bright lights of the Bernabeu last year. Netting 23 times in his debut campaign for Los Blancos, Carlo Ancelotti afforded Bellingham the freedom he needed to reach this number, operating at the point of a midfield diamond.

This allowed him to stray into the box unmarked on numerous occasions, developing an exceptional ability to find space in the opposition penalty area and arrive late into optimum goal-scoring positions. He also developed into a scorer of important goals, netting several last-minute winners, including decisive strikes in El Clasico.

With an xG over-performance not as substantial as Foden’s, Bellingham’s rate of finding the back of the net is potentially more sustainable and sees him take the crown on this list.

Statistics are courtesy of Transfermarkt. Correct as of 05-10-24.