Best Centre-Forwards in the World 2027: If you wanted proof that the old-fashioned number nine is alive and well, the 2025/26 season gave you plenty. Harry Kane scored 61 club goals and won the Ballon d’Or. Erling Haaland won his third Premier League Golden Boot. Kylian Mbappé finished top scorer in LaLiga, the Champions League and then the World Cup, and still went home without a trophy.
The summer added another layer. Spain won the 2026 World Cup by beating Argentina 1-0 in the final, and while their success came from a team without a star striker, the tournament’s scoring charts were full of the names on this list.
Some strikers are on here because they won everything. Others are here because they scored in teams that won very little. This ranking covers the full 2025/26 club season, the World Cup and what has happened since.
How We Ranked These Players
We use the same four factors as last year and weigh them together into one overall view:
| Factor |
|---|
| Individual performance |
| Team performance |
| Market value |
| Google search popularity |
What Changed Since Last Year
Harry Kane moves from tenth to first after the best season of his career. Alexander Isak drops out after a broken leg limited him to four goals in his first year at Liverpool. Arsenal’s Viktor Gyökeres comes in after leading the Premier League champions in scoring.
The 2027 Top 10
| Rank | Player | Club | Market Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harry Kane | Bayern Munich | €65 million |
| 2 | Kylian Mbappé | Real Madrid | €200 million |
| 3 | Erling Haaland | Manchester City | €200 million |
| 4 | Lautaro Martínez | Inter Milan | €85 million |
| 5 | Ousmane Dembélé | Paris Saint-Germain | €100 million |
| 6 | Julián Álvarez | Atlético Madrid | €90 million |
| 7 | Viktor Gyökeres | Arsenal | €65 million |
| 8 | Victor Osimhen | Galatasaray | €75 million |
| 9 | João Pedro | Chelsea | €75 million |
| 10 | Hugo Ekitiké | Liverpool | €90 million |
10. Hugo Ekitiké
- Club: Liverpool FC
- Nationality: France
- Market Value: €90 million
Hugo Ekitiké was the one Liverpool signing of summer 2025 that clearly worked. While the club’s attack struggled around him, he finished his first season at Anfield with 17 goals and 6 assists in 45 games, 11 of those goals in the Premier League.
Then came the cruellest night of his career. In the Champions League quarter-final against his former club PSG in April, he ruptured his Achilles tendon. It ended his season, cost him a place in France’s World Cup squad and will keep him out for a large part of 2026/27. He stays on this list because, at 24, few strikers in Europe combine his pace, size and touch.
Hugo Ekitiké 2025/26 Season Stats:
| Competition | Apps | Goals | Assists | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League | 28 | 11 | 4 | 1,811′ |
| Champions League | 12 | 3 | 1 | 838′ |
| Community Shield | 1 | 1 | – | 71′ |
| FA Cup | 3 | 1 | 1 | 111′ |
| EFL Cup | 1 | 1 | – | 41′ |
| TOTAL | 45 | 17 | 6 | 2,872′ |
9. João Pedro
- Club: Chelsea FC
- Nationality: Brazil
- Market Value: €75 million
When Chelsea signed João Pedro from Brighton, few people expected a 20-goal striker. That is exactly what they got. He reached the mark with a bicycle kick against Nottingham Forest in May, scored 15 Premier League goals and was voted Chelsea’s Player of the Season by the supporters.
His best run came after Liam Rosenior took over, when he played as the clear number nine instead of drifting wide. Chelsea reached the FA Cup final, where they lost to Manchester City. At 25, he has given the club its most reliable centre-forward since Diego Costa.
João Pedro 2025/26 Season Stats:
| Competition | Apps | Goals | Assists | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League | 35 | 15 | 8 | 2,674′ |
| Champions League | 8 | 3 | – | 532′ |
| FA Cup | 4 | 2 | – | 272′ |
| EFL Cup | 3 | – | 1 | 216′ |
| TOTAL | 50 | 20 | 9 | 3,694′ |
8. Victor Osimhen
- Club: Galatasaray
- Nationality: Nigeria
- Market Value: €75 million
Victor Osimhen’s second season in Istanbul was tougher than his first. He broke his forearm mid-season and missed several weeks, but still finished with 22 goals and 8 assists in all competitions. Fifteen of those came in the Süper Lig, including the brace against Antalyaspor that sealed Galatasaray’s fourth league title in a row.
Europe’s biggest clubs came calling again in the summer, with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Arsenal all linked. Galatasaray refused to sell, and he is still leading their line this season.
Victor Osimhen 2025/26 Season Stats:
| Competition | Apps | Goals | Assists | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Süper Lig | 22 | 15 | 5 | 1,713′ |
| Champions League | 10 | 7 | 3 | 841′ |
| Türkiye Kupası | 1 | – | – | 12′ |
| TOTAL | 33 | 22 | 8 | 2,566′ |
7. Viktor Gyökeres
- Club: Arsenal FC
- Nationality: Sweden
- Market Value: €65 million
Viktor Gyökeres was the new name on Arsenal’s team sheet and the missing piece of their title puzzle. He was never as prolific as he had been in Portugal, but his 21 goals in all competitions made him the club’s top scorer, and 14 of them came in a Premier League season that ended Arsenal’s 22-year wait for the title.
He also started the Champions League final in Budapest, where Arsenal lost to PSG on penalties. Critics still point to his touch in tight spaces, but very few strikers work harder for their team.
Viktor Gyökeres 2025/26 Season Stats:
| Competition | Apps | Goals | Assists | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League | 36 | 14 | 1 | 2,230′ |
| Champions League | 13 | 5 | – | – |
| EFL Cup | 4 | 1 | – | – |
| FA Cup | 3 | 1 | – | – |
| TOTAL | 56 | 21 | – | – |
6. Julián Álvarez
- Club: Atlético de Madrid
- Nationality: Argentina
- Market Value: €90 million
Julián Álvarez had a big season that ended without a trophy. He scored 20 goals and made 9 assists in all competitions, and he was at his best in the Champions League, where Atlético reached the semi-finals before losing to Arsenal. They also lost the Copa del Rey final to Real Sociedad on penalties.
His summer was dominated by a long saga with Barcelona. Álvarez said publicly that he wanted to leave, but Atlético refused to sell to their rivals and he stayed in Madrid. He also reached the World Cup final with Argentina, which ended in a 1-0 defeat to Spain.
Julián Álvarez 2025/26 Season Stats:
| Competition | Apps | Goals | Assists | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LaLiga | 29 | 8 | 4 | 1,903′ |
| Champions League | 15 | 10 | 4 | 1,241′ |
| Copa del Rey | 4 | 2 | 1 | 315′ |
| Supercopa | 1 | – | – | 90′ |
| TOTAL | 49 | 20 | 9 | 3,549′ |
5. Ousmane Dembélé
- Club: Paris Saint-Germain
- Nationality: France
- Market Value: €100 million
Last year’s Ballon d’Or winner started only nine Ligue 1 games because of injuries, yet he was still voted the league’s Player of the Year for the second season running. He scored 10 league goals and made 7 assists in Ligue 1, and 20 goals with 11 assists in all competitions.
His biggest moment came in Budapest. With PSG a goal down against Arsenal in the Champions League final, Dembélé scored the 65th-minute penalty that took the game to extra time, and PSG won the shootout to become back-to-back European champions. He then scored six goals at the World Cup, where France finished fourth.
Ousmane Dembélé 2025/26 Season Stats:
| Competition | Apps | Goals | Assists | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ligue 1 | 22 | 10 | 7 | 1,063′ |
| Champions League | 13 | 8 | 2 | 828′ |
| Coupe de France | 2 | 1 | 1 | 87′ |
| Trophée des Champions | 1 | 1 | – | 90′ |
| UEFA Super Cup | 1 | – | 1 | 90′ |
| FIFA Intercontinental Cup | 1 | – | – | 42′ |
| TOTAL | 40 | 20 | 11 | 2,200′ |
4. Lautaro Martínez
- Club: Inter Milan
- Nationality: Argentina
- Market Value: €85 million
Inter lost the 2025 Champions League final 5-0 and their coach Simone Inzaghi left soon after. Many expected a difficult year. Instead, Lautaro Martínez captained them to the Serie A title and the Coppa Italia under Cristian Chivu.
He finished as Serie A’s top scorer with 17 goals in 30 games, won the league’s Best Striker award and lifted the Coppa Italia in Rome after a 2-0 win over Lazio. His summer ended in disappointment, as Argentina lost the World Cup final to Spain.
Lautaro Martínez 2025/26 Season Stats:
| Competition | Apps | Goals | Assists | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serie A | 30 | 17 | 6 | 2,178′ |
| Champions League | 8 | 4 | – | 459′ |
| Italy Cup | 2 | 1 | – | 111′ |
| Supercoppa Italiana | 1 | – | – | 19′ |
| TOTAL | 41 | 22 | 6 | 2,767′ |
3. Erling Haaland
- Club: Manchester City
- Nationality: Norway
- Market Value: €200 million
Erling Haaland won the Premier League Golden Boot for the third time in four seasons, scoring 27 goals in 35 league games. Only Thierry Henry and Mohamed Salah have won it more often. Across all competitions he scored 38 goals in 52 games.
Manchester City finished second behind Arsenal, but Pep Guardiola’s final season ended with a domestic cup double, the FA Cup and the League Cup. Haaland then scored seven goals for Norway at their first World Cup since 1998. He drops one place only because the two names above him had even bigger years.
Erling Haaland 2025/26 Season Stats:
| Competition | Apps | Goals | Assists | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League | 35 | 27 | 8 | 2,959′ |
| Champions League | 10 | 8 | – | 755′ |
| FA Cup | 4 | 3 | 1 | 231′ |
| EFL Cup | 3 | – | – | 199′ |
| TOTAL | 52 | 38 | 9 | 4,144′ |
2. Kylian Mbappé
- Club: Real Madrid
- Nationality: France
- Market Value: €200 million
No striker scored in more places than Kylian Mbappé. He scored 42 goals in 44 games for Real Madrid, won the Pichichi with 25 LaLiga goals and finished top scorer in the Champions League with 15. At the World Cup he scored 10 more and became the first player to win the Golden Boot at two tournaments, as ESPN reported.
The problem is what happened around him. Real Madrid finished second in LaLiga, went out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals and won nothing. France lost their World Cup semi-final to Spain. Individually, there is no better finisher in the game right now.
Kylian Mbappé 2025/26 Season Stats:
| Competition | Apps | Goals | Assists | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LaLiga | 31 | 25 | 5 | 2,606′ |
| Champions League | 11 | 15 | 1 | 911′ |
| Copa del Rey | 1 | 2 | 1 | 90′ |
| Supercopa | 1 | – | – | 14′ |
| TOTAL | 44 | 42 | 7 | 3,621′ |
1. Harry Kane
- Club: Bayern Munich
- Nationality: England
- Market Value: €65 million
Last year we had Harry Kane in tenth place. That now looks like a mistake. At 32 he produced the best season of his career: 61 goals in 51 games for Bayern, more than Robert Lewandowski’s club record of 55 from 2019/20.
He scored 36 Bundesliga goals to win the European Golden Shoe for the second time, added 14 in the Champions League and 10 in the DFB-Pokal, including a hat-trick in the final against Stuttgart. Bayern won the league and cup double. He then scored six goals at the World Cup as England finished third, their best result in 60 years. In October he capped it all by winning the Ballon d’Or in London, becoming the first Englishman to lift it since Michael Owen in 2001. He also took home the Gerd Müller Trophy as the year’s best striker.
Harry Kane 2025/26 Season Stats:
| Competition | Apps | Goals | Assists | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bundesliga | 31 | 36 | 5 | 2,382′ |
| Champions League | 13 | 14 | 2 | 1,041′ |
| DFB-Pokal | 6 | 10 | – | 537′ |
| DFL-Supercup | 1 | 1 | – | 90′ |
| TOTAL | 51 | 61 | 7 | 4,050′ |
Final Thoughts
The top three this year are separated by very little. Kane gets the edge because he combined the most goals with the most trophies, and the Ballon d’Or confirmed it, while Mbappé and Haaland were just as deadly but won less. Below them, Lautaro, Dembélé and Gyökeres all won their league titles, and that counted.
The bottom of the list is about what comes next. Ekitiké is still recovering, João Pedro is improving every month and Osimhen and Álvarez are still being chased by Europe’s richest clubs. Next year’s list could look very different.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the best centre-forward in the world in 2027?
Harry Kane of Bayern Munich. He scored 61 goals in 51 club games in 2025/26, won the European Golden Shoe, helped Bayern win the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal, and then won the 2026 Ballon d’Or.
Who won the Golden Boot at the 2026 World Cup?
Kylian Mbappé, with 10 goals for France. He is the first player to win it at two World Cups.
Who won the Premier League Golden Boot in 2025/26?
Erling Haaland, with 27 goals for Manchester City.
Why is Alexander Isak not on the list?
He broke his leg in December 2025 and scored only four goals in his first season at Liverpool.
