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Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres has been confirmed as the top scorer in world football in 2024.
The 26-year-old has enjoyed a breakout year for club and country, netting an astonishing 62 times in games for the Portuguese giants and his Swedish national team.
Gyokeres, who has five goals in six Champions League games this campaign, scored 13 more goals in the calendar year than Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, while his tally was 16 better than Harry Kane.
Among the most notable of the former Coventry striker’s efforts came in Sporting’s 4-1 demolition of Man City last month when he completed a stunning hat-trick in one of Ruben Amorim’s final games at the club.
Since the departure of his former bosses at Manchester United, the Swede has been linked with a move to Old Trafford but his stunning form has also seen a number of European clubs register their interest.
‘Of course (moving to Sporting) was different, because I had the aim of playing in the Premier League,’ Gyokeres told Swedish Daily earlier this month. ‘That was my focus and the adjustment was difficult… but I thought about it, I talked to those around me and it helped me a lot.
‘It started to look more and more like it was the right thing to do: to play in a first class team and have more opportunities during games. In the end, it seems to be the best choice for me.’
The striker is the first player to hit more than 60 goals in a year since Robert Lewandowski in 2021. The Barcelona star is one of only seven players to top the calendar year rankings in the last 13 years.
Lionel Messi’s tally of 91 in 2012 remains the all-time record and is likely to remain so for some time. Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record for winning the top scorer award on the most occasions (5).
The Portuguese’s most recent victory came in 2023 when he found the net 54 times. Ronaldo’s total of 43 in 2024 for Al-Nassr and Portugal was just enough for him to come fourth.
Elsewhere, Kylian Mbappe snuck into the top ten with 39 goals, while Lille striker Jonathan David was France’s most prolific forward with 40.
The lesser-known pair Ayoub El Kaabi and Rafaelson, who operate in Greece and Vietnam respectively, hit the same mark, while Wu Lei went two better for Shanghai Port and the Chinese national team.
