Who is the top scorer in the history of soccer?

The question is simple, who is the top scorer in the history of soccer? But the answer seems to be much more complex than it really should be. Cristiano Ronaldo comes out on top according to the official bodies, but the names of Josef Bican and Pele also come into the discussion.

The 37-year-old Portuguese has brought down the goalscoring records throughout his trophy-laden career, and is also the all-time leading scorer for both Real Madrid and the Portugal national team.

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FIFA has not published an official list of goal scorers but other media outlets, such as TalkSport and Sports Illustrated, show the following as "goals recognized by FIFA":

Lionel Messi is the only other active player on this list, but he is currently 46 goals behind Ronaldo.

Depending on the length of each player's career, Messi could make the difference, as he is 34 years old compared to Ronaldo's 37.

Ronaldo broke the FIFA record

However, the record itself is open to interpretation, with some soccer historians claiming that it is impossible to know for certain due to the lack of accurate records in pre-20th century soccer.

The record Ronaldo has broken relates to the number of games and goals recorded by FIFA during its existence as an organization, the previous record holder, Austrian Josef Bican, scored an incredible 805 goals between 1931 and 1955.

However, Bican's figures remain controversial, with Brazilian idol Pelé claiming to have scored more than 1,000 goals in his career, although this remains unconfirmed.

No consensus on the world goal-scoring record

In terms of accepted recognition, Ronaldo has established himself as the "top scorer in FIFA-recognized games," but the discussion will continue.

The Czech Football Federation has regularly disputed Bican's 805 figure, claiming that he actually scored 821 when the final tallies were recorded.

However, Ronaldo has the record on his side in this case, with his own undisputed figures and unrelated to amateur soccer, like some of Pele's goals.

Bican's figures illustrate the information gap between national federations and FIFA, with his national supporters claiming the higher figure is the correct one, while FIFA bizarrely claims both could be wrong with a possible total of 823, ESPN reports.

Pele has scored the most goals including unofficial matches

Pele's individual crusade to stay at the top of the rankings has taken on a personal edge for the Brazilian legend, as his "official number" stands at 757, but the player himself claims to have scored 1283, despite the obvious lack of evidence.

FIFA and CONMEBOL have previously recorded Pele with 1281 goals in 1363 games, but these include youth, friendly and unofficial matches, which in Ronaldo's case are not counted.

The situation is further complicated by the Guinness Book of Records, which adds its confirmation of Pelé as the record holder, but with 1279 goals, as goals from exhibition matches are prohibited by their tally.

It could be concluded then that Ronaldo became the top scorer of "goals in official matches", while Pelé's disputed numbers will give him the advantage in "total matches".