The 2018 Goal 50 was announced on Tuesday and, as always, our list of the best players in the world over the previous 12 months has provoked plenty of debate and controversy.
Lionel Messi's fifth-placed finish – his lowest ranking in the award's 11-year history – made most headlines, given the Argentine inspired Barcelona to a domestic double last season and picked up the European Golden Shoe in the process.
His detractors, though, pointed to the fact that the No.10 was unable to prevent Barcelona from once again bowing out at the quarter-final stage of the Champions League, or help Argentina get past the last 16 of the World Cup.
Still, as 2018 underlined, when it comes to goalscoring, Messi remains among the game's elite, with the 31-year-old having hit 44 goals in all competitions for club and country this year.
His great rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, has scored one fewer, though CR7 fans will be quick to point out that the Portuguese superstar has the slightly superior strike rate, as he is averaging just under a goal a game (0.98).
Surprisingly, though, Algeria international Baghdad Bounedjah scored more goals than Messi in 2018 and boasted an even better goals-to-games ratio than Ronaldo!
The 26-year-old forward netted a staggering 42 goals in just 27 appearances for Al Sadd in Qatar's Stars League and the Asian Champions League, while he also struck five times in seven outings for his country this year.
| No. | Player | Total Games | Total Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baghdad Bounedjah | 34 | 47 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | 47 | 44 |
| 3 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 44 | 43 |
| 4 | Diogo | 51 | 43 |
| 5 | Robert Lewandowski | 48 | 39 |
| 6 | Dave Turpel | 44 | 37 |
| 7 | Luis Suarez | 55 | 36 |
| 8 | Mohamed Salah | 45 | 35 |
| 9 | Antoine Griezmann | 62 | 35 |
| 10 | Jhon Cifuente | 37 | 34 |
| 11 | Harry Kane | 51 | 34 |
| 12 | Josef Martinez | 37 | 33 |
| 13 | Lei Wu | 49 | 33 |
| 14 | Patrick Hoban | 43 | 32 |
| 15 | Roman Debelko | 48 | 32 |
| 16 | Liliu | 31 | 31 |
| 17 | Zakaria Beglarishvili | 39 | 31 |
| 18 | Kylian Mbappe | 52 | 31 |
| 19 | Joe Gormley | 35 | 31 |
| 20 | Neymar | 37 | 30 |
Elsewhere, little-known Brazilian Diogo, who plies his trade in Thailand, netted as many times as Ronaldo. However, the Buriram United striker's 43 goals came in more matches, which is why he sits just below the Portugal skipper, in fourth.
Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski finished as the Bundesliga's top goalscorer last season, so it will come as no surprise to see the prolific Pole in fourth, with 39 goals from 48 appearances, while Luxembourg international Dave Turpel played a pivotal role in Dudelange qualifying for the group stage of the Europa League.
Luis Suarez remains as lethal as ever, as he proved during Messi's recent injury lay-off, and the Uruguayan ranks seventh, with 36 goals, just one ahead of Liverpool and Egypt sensation Mohamed Salah and Atletico Madrid's World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann.
Meanwhile, Ecuador's Jhon Cifuente pips Russia 2018 Golden Boot winner Harry Kane to a place in the top 10.
