The Top Goalscorers in Women's World Cup History - Ranked
There may have only been eight tournaments so far, but the Women's World Cup remains one of the biggest events in the sporting calendar each year it rolls around.
The USA have enjoyed dominance on the international stage with four victories in the competition, though that hasn't stopped some of the world's other stars shining on the biggest stage.
Let's get into it. Here are the top scorers at the Women's World Cup. But just before we get started, yes, you're going to see a lot of USWNT players here. They tend to score a lot of goals.
34. Lena Videkull (Sweden, 6 Goals)
Videkull's best scoring return came at the 1991 World Cup with five, though she was slightly outshone by the USA's Michelle Akers-Stahl who ended up getting ten.
Nevertheless, her efforts still helped Sweden secure third place at the tournament. She'd score another at the 1995 competition, taking her total tally up to six.
33. Victoria Svensson (Sweden, 6 Goals)
Svensson featured at three World Cups, with her best run with Sweden coming as runners up in 2003.
She scored three times during that run, with another two coming four years prior in the United States.
32. Aya Miyama (Japan, 6 Goals)
Miyama's first two World Cup goals salvaged Japan a group stage draw against England in 2007.
She'd get another two four years later by netting against New Zealand and the United States, with two more coming at the expense of Switzerland and the Netherlands in 2015.
Japan won the tournament in 2011 and were runners up at the next edition.
31. Maren Meinert (Germany, 6 Goals)
A World Cup winner with Germany in 2003, Meinert's six goals came in 16 appearances.
Four of those came at the 2003 tournament, with one in the final against Sweden. She had previously scored twice at the 1995 edition.
30. Katia (Brazil, 6 Goals)
Katia helped Brazil finish second and third in the 2007 and 1999 World Cups respectively.
However, four of her six strikes came at the 2003 event, though the Selecao would bow out of that tournament in the quarter finals to Sweden.
29. Isabell Herlovsen (Norway, 6 Goals)
Herlovsen scored her first World Cup goals in 2007, netting against Ghana and China.
She would score twice each at the 2015 and 2019 events, with Norway exiting at the last 16 and quarter final stages respectively.
28. Ragnhild Gulbrandsen (Norway, 6 Goals)
World Cup glory never came knocking for Gulbrandsen, though she was the part of the Norway side that won gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Her six goals all came at the 2007 competition, winning the Bronze Shoe behind Brazil's Marta and the USA's Abby Wambach.
27. Carin Jennings-Gabarra (USA, 6 Goals)
Jennings-Gabarra was part of the USA sides that won the 1991 World Cup and finished third in Sweden four years later.
She was integral to that first success, scoring six including a hat trick against Germany in the semi final.
26. Ellen White (England, 7 Goals)
Styling your celebration on Koln hero Anthony Modeste will get you nods of approval from any dingy, football hipster bar in Shoreditch. But the reality is White has outshone one of her favourite player on the world stage.
The striker has featured at three World Cups and led England's charge to the semi finals in 2019, scoring six goals including the equaliser against the USA in the semi finals.
25. Sissi (Brazil, 7 Goals)
After not being released by her club team for the 1991 World Cup, Sissi seemed determined to make up for lost time eight years later.
The attacking midfielder scored seven goals at the 1999 event, sharing the Golden Boot with China's Sun Wen. Brazil finished third that year.
24. Tiffeny Milbrett (USA, 7 Goals)
Milbrett ended her international career in 2006, competing in 206 games and scoring 100 goals for the USA.
That proficiency in front of goal probably makes it a bit of a shock that only seven of those strikes came at World Cups, but that still averages out at just over two goals per tournament, which ain't half bad.
She won the 1999 edition, during which she scored three times.
23. Lisa De Vanna (Australia, 7 Goals)
Lisa De Vanna still plays for Australia, having recently made her 150th appearance for the Matildas.
Four of her seven World Cup goals came in 2007, when Australia made the quarter finals. They were knocked out by Brazil, with De Vanna scoring in the defeat.
She also netted in the 2011 and 2015 tournaments.
22. Homare Sawa (Japan, 8 Goals)
Sawa captained Japan to glory in 2011, scoring five goals including a 117th minute equaliser in the final against the USA during extra time. Japan would win the resulting shootout.
A midfielder by trade, her other three goals came at the 2003 competition, with efforts against Argentina and Canada.
21. Celia Sasic (Germany, 8 Goals)
Sasic ended the 2015 World Cup as the tournament's top scorer, pipping Carli Lloyd to the award by virtue of playing fewer minutes than the American. The pair were tied on six goals and an assist.
The German scored a hat trick in the opening game against the Ivory Coast and bagged a brace in the last 16 victory against Sweden.
She also netted twice at the 2011 event, having been ruled out of the 2007 World Cup due to a tibia fracture.
20. Marianne Pettersen (Norway, 8 Goals)
Pettersen helped fire Norway to World Cup glory in 1995, scoring three goals at the tournament.
The Scandinavian nation also had Ann-Kristin Aarones, Hege Risse and Kristin Sandberg, who contributed another 14 goals combined, showing how deadly they were at the tournament.
Pettersen ended her international career with 66 goals in 98 games.
19. Liu Ailing (China, 8 Goals)
Liu represented China for 15 years, helping her nation come second at the 1999 event.
Finishing her career with eight goals in the competition, Liu also won six AFC Women's Championships.
18. Kristine Lilly (USA, 8 Goals)
Lilly played at international level for 23 years, featuring in 354 games for the United States. That's quite a lot of matches, isn't it?
Her goals at World Cups were spread pretty evenly over five events, with her best return of three coming in 1995.
17. Mia Hamm (USA, 8 Goals)
A two time Olympic gold medalist with two more World Cups in the bank, Hamm is widely regarded as one of football's greatest ever players.
She netted 158 goals for USNWT in 276 appearances, with eight of those strikes coming at the World Cup. She competed in four tournaments and scored twice at each one.
16. Kerstin Garefrekes (Germany, 8 Goals)
Garefrekes managed 43 goals in 130 appearances for Germany, winning the World Cup twice.
She scored four times at the 2003 edition, including an important strike in the semi final victory over the USA.
15. Hege Riise (Norway, 9 Goals)
Making her debut for Norway in 1990, Riise won the Women's Championship in 1993 before their triumph at the World Cup two years later.
She claimed the Golden Ball for her performances in the competition, scoring in the final against Germany.
14. Megan Rapinoe (USA, 9 Goals)
When she's not busy sending for Donald Trump, Rapinoe loves a goal at a World Cup. She's got nine so far, with the first coming in 2011.
She got six of her nine in the 2019 edition, including a penalty in the final against the Netherlands.
13. Alex Morgan (USA, 9 Goals)
England fans are still ragin' about Morgan's tea drinking celebration when she scored against the Lionesses in the 2019 semi final.
People in England do drink tea, so that part is fair. We're not still crying over it though. We're definitely not crying. Definitely not.
The striker has nine goals in World Cups, five of which came against Thailand in a slight mismatch that ended 13-0 to USWNT. They celebrated every single goal too, for what that's worth.
12. Linda Medalen (Norway, 10 Goals)
Medalen ended her international career with 152 caps and 64 goals, being part of the Norway side that won the World Cup in 1995.
She scored twice in that edition, though her best personal showing came four years earlier when she found the back of the net six times in five outings.
11. Christine Sinclair (Canada, 10 Goals)
Canada's greatest ever footballer, Sinclair is the leading goalscorer in women's history with 186 and has featured at five World Cups, scoring in each one.
Ten of her goals have come on the world stage, with Canada's best showing coming at the 2003 event when they finished fourth, Sinclair scoring three times.
10. Heidi Mohr (Germany, 10 Goals)
Mohr was a forward renowned for her pace and ambidextrous shooting ability, and was voted Europe's Footballer of the Century in 1999.
She never won a World Cup with Germany, despite shining brightly at the 1991 edition by scoring seven of her total ten goals in China, but was part of two successful Women's Championship campaigns.
She passed away in 2019.
9. Carli Lloyd (USA, 10 Goals)
Any midfielder would be overjoyed with a record of 123 international goals in 294 games. It's a record that reflects Lloyd's standing as one of football's greatest ever.
The USWNT legend has collected too many accolades and awards to mention, but one that stands out is becoming the first ever player to score three goals in a Women's World Cup final and just the second in any senior World Cup after Geoff Hurst.
8. Ann-Kristin Aarones (Norway, 10 Goals)
Aarones was the top scorer at the 1995 World Cup, won by Norway following a 2-0 victory over Germany in the final.
She was that tournament's top scorer with six goals, adding another four in 1999 to take her tally to ten in just 11 games.
7. Bettina Wiegmann (Germany, 11 Goals)
Wiegmann wracked up over 150 appearances for Germany, scoring 51 goals, and was always clinical at World Cups.
Her goals were evenly spread over four tournaments, being the side's primary penalty taker, and her career culminated with victory in 2003.
6. Wen Sun (China, 11 Goals)
Sun won both the Golden Ball and Golden Boot at the 1999 World Cup, though her China side ultimately fell to the USA on penalties in the final.
She netted seven goals at the 1999 World Cup, with her last in the competition coming in 2003.
5. Cristiane (Brazil, 11 Goals)
Cristiane was part of two Olympic gold winning Brazil teams, scoring 14 goals.
She wasn't quite as successful with Brazil at World Cups, though 11 goals - including the Goal of the Tournament at the 2019 edition - show the forward could more than cut it on the grandest stage.
4. Michelle Akers (USA, 12 Goals)
If you're named the FIFA Female Player of the Century, then of course you've scored a fair few goals in your time. That's precisely the case for Akers, who totted up 105 for USWNT.
12 of those came at World Cups, and it was in the 1991 and 1999 editions where she starred.
She was the leading scorer in the inaugural competition with ten goals - including five in one game against Taiwan - and won the Bronze Ball in 1999.
3. Abby Wambach (USA, 14 Goals)
It's just the 184 goals at international level for Wambach, making her the second top scorer in history. 14 of those came at World Cups.
The USWNT legend won the competition at the final time of asking, scoring her final World Cup goal in a 1-0 win over Nigeria. She also won four gold medals at the Olympics.
2. Birgit Prinz (Germany, 14 Goals)
Part of the Germany team that won consecutive World Cups in 2003 and 2007, Prinz is her nation's greatest ever goalscorer with 128 at international level.
She netted crucial strikes in the finals of those aforementioned competitions against Sweden and Brazil, with the former being a Golden Goal winner in extra time.
1. Marta (Brazil, 17 Goals)
Out in front comfortably with 17 goals, Marta is the greatest goalscorer in World Cup history. That includes the men's version, with Germany's Miroslav Klose lagging behind on 16.
However, she's never been able to fire Brazil to World Cup glory, with second place in 2007 the closest the Selecao have ever come.
Marta has also won six World Player of the Year awards.