Rodrigo Antunes / Lusa
Striker Viktor Gyökeres, aged 26, was the world’s top scorer in 2024, ending the year with 62 goals, in 63 games, averaging almost one per match, playing for Sporting and Sweden.
Despite having remained three goals in Decemberin six games, the player that the ‘lions’ picked up from Coventry, from the English second tier, in the 2023/24 closed season, had no rivals, clearly beating all the competition.
Root somou 52 goals for Sportingin 56 meetings, and 10 for Swedenin just seven games, with its production has grown a lot from last season to the present in 2024: 26 goals in 2023/24, in 30 games, and 36 in 2024/25, in 33.
The ‘Lions’ striker managed overcome the 60 goal barriersomething that top scorers from the previous two years did not reach: the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, from Al Nassr, scored 54 in 2023 and Frenchman Kylian Mbappé scored 56 in 2022, when he was still playing for Paris Saint-Germain.
To find a higher register than Swedish we need to go back to 2021the year in which the Polish Robert Lewandowskistill at Bayern Munich, scored 69 goals, equaling the records of Fernando Peyroteo (1938) and Cristiano Ronaldo (2013).
In the 21st century, and in history, the best brands are the ‘unparalleled’ 91 goals that the Argentine Lionel Messi, then at FC Barcelonascored in 2012, surpassing the record set by German Gerd Müller, who had achieved 85 in 1972.
Rooted he was very far from that record, but he was the ‘king’ of 2024which scored the majority of goals in the Portuguese I League, totaling 36in 35 games. He was the competition’s top scorer in 2023/24 and is poised to become so again in 2024/25.
In other national competitions, the Swede added seven goals in the Portuguese Cup (eight games) and two in the League Cup (two), failing only in the Super Cup, when he was ‘blank’ in Sporting’s 4-3 defeat against FC Porto, opening the current season.
The 26-year-old striker also left his mark in European cupswhen pointing five goals in the ‘Champions’in six games, including a hat-trick against Manchester City (4-1), and two in the Europa League, last season, in four meetings.
For the Swedish national team, Gyökeres was also a standout, scoring nine goals in the Nations League, in just six matches, albeit in League C, the third European division, and one more in the only friendly match he played, against Portugal (2 to 5).
Adding up the goals in European club competitions and in official games for the national teams, the Swede was also the top scorer of 2024with 16 tries, against 15 from El Kaabi and Harry Kane, 13 from Haaland, 12 from Wirtz and 11 from Lewandowski.
The month Gyökeres’ most productive was Novemberin which he scored 13 goals, in eight games, including the ‘hat-trick’ against City and two ‘pokers’, one against Estrela da Amadora (5-1), in the I League, and another against Azerbaijan (6 to 0), by the League of Nations.
The Norse, who spent 24 blank games and scored in 39including 23 matches with one goal and 11 ‘bi’s’, also scored two more ‘hat-tricks’, both in the Portuguese championship, one in March, against Boavista (6-1), and another in August, at Farense. (5-0).
To mark Gyökeres’ feat, Sporting published a video on social media with all the nordic striker’s goalswhich we leave you below:
With so many goals scored in 2024, Gyökeres’ share price rose by ‘arrow’ and, with the reopening of the market in January, could be a target for some European ‘sharks’, although he is protected by a release clause of 100 million euros.
Top scorers in a calendar year over the last 10 years:
- 2024 Viktor GyökeresSue (Sports) 62 goals
- 2023 Cristiano RonaldoBy (Al Nassr) 54
- 2022 Kylian Mbappé, Fra (Paris Saint-Germain) 56
- 2021 Robert Lewandowski, Pol (Bayern Munich) 69
- 2020 Robert Lewandowski, Pol (Bayern Munich) 47
- 2019 Abderrazak Hamdallah, Mar (Al Nassr) 57
- 2018 Baghdad Bounedejah, Alg (Al Sadd) 58
- 2017 Harry Kane, Ing (Tottenham) 56
- 2016 Lionel Messi, Arg (FC Barcelona) 59
- 2015 Cristiano RonaldoBy (Real Madrid) 57
