Who has scored the most World Cup knockout stage goals?
Big goals define players, and the occasion doesn't come much bigger than a World Cup knockout stage game.
While contemporary superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have each struggled to strike in World Cup crunch time, notching just one knockout stage goal between them, the legends of yesteryear crafted their reputations on performances under the brightest of lights.
Frenchman Kylian Mbappe is already a World Cup legend and is in sight of breaking a long-standing record. So, who is he chasing and how many more goals does Mbappe need to top the World Cup knockout stage scoring charts?
Who has scored the most World Cup knockout stage goals?
The man who popularised the bicycle kick which we in India always knew as the back volley. Star of the 1934 & 1938 World Cups
— Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) September 6, 2020
Leonidas was Brazil's first major football star, Pele become known as Black Pearl because Leonidas was the Black Diamond.
107th birth anniversary today! pic.twitter.com/U3WAc12AK4
Leonidas played a grand total of five World Cup games yet no player has score more World Cup knockout stage goals than the Brazilian forward.
Leonidas appeared just once at the 1934 World Cup, scoring in a round of 16 defeat to Spain before he was crowned the leading scorer of the tournament four years later. All seven of his goals in 1938 came in the knockout stages, taking his tally up to eight. The striker scored a hat-trick in a 6-5 victory over Poland in the round of 16 before scoring twice in the third-place play-off against Sweden.
Brazilian triumvirate Pele, Vava and Ronaldo each scored seven knockout goals, as did Frenchman Just Fontaine in 1958. Four of his seven knockout strikes arrived in the third-place play-off against West Germany.
The likes of Eusebio, Gary Lineker and Roberto Baggio each scored six.
Who has scored the most World Cup final goals?
Pele and Geoff Hurst are the only two players in World Cup history to score a hat-trick in the final. Their three-goal tallies, however, are matched by Vava and Zinedine Zidane, who achieved the rare feat of scoring in two World Cup finals.
- Geoff Hurst (England) - 3
- Vava (Brazil) - 3
- Pele (Brazil) - 3
- Zinedine Zidane (France) - 3
- Gino Colaussi (Italy) - 2
- Silvio Pioli (Italy) - 2
- Helmut Rahn (Germany) - 2
- Mario Kempes (Argentina) - 2
- Paul Breitner (Germany) - 2
- Romario (Brazil) - 2