Top 10 Greatest Goal Scorers: Lionel Messi Overtakes Pele To Move Behind Cristiano Ronaldo

• Lionel Messi has now moved to second place in the list of the greatest goal scorers after scoring five goals against Estonia in an international friendly
• The Argentinian star surpassed Pele, who managed to find the back of the net 762 times during his impressive career, to go behind his arch-nemesis Cristiano Ronaldo
• Robert Lewandowski, Luis Suarez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are the only other active players in the top 20 list of the greatest goal scorers

Lionel Messi officially overtook Pele as the second-greatest goal scorer in football history. Messi added to his impressive numbers with a five-goal show against a hapless Estonia in an international friendly on Sunday night.

Messi definitely didn’t have the best of seasons with his new club Paris Saint-Germain. He has, however, continued to show glimpses of his immense talent that has seen him win the Ballon d’Or a record seven times.

IFFHS statistics now indicate that Messi moved above Pele with his latest returns. Pele scored 762 goals during his impressive career. Messi now has 764 goals collectively for Barcelona, PSG and the international team.

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The two South Americans have scored more goals than anyone save for Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese forward was equally on good form in the UEFA Nations League as he bagged a brace to move to 813 goals.

Ronaldo’s exploits have come during his stays at Sporting Lisbon, the two spells at Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus. He is the all-time top scorer for Real Madrid with 450 goals as well as the international top scorer with 117 goals.

Apart from Messi, Ronaldo and Pele, we take a look at the rest of the great names that make it into the top 10.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) -813 goals

2. Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 764 goals

3. Pele (Brazil) – 762 goals

4. Romario (Brazil) – 755 goals

5. Ferenc Puskas (Hungary) - 729 goals

6. Josef Bican (Austria) – 720 goals

7. Jimmy Jones (Northern Ireland) – 647 goals

8. Gerd Muller (Germany) – 634 goals

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9. Eusebio (Portugal) – 619 goals

10. Joe Bambrick (Northern Ireland) – 616 goals

The only active players who make it to the top 23 alongside Messi and Ronaldo are Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, the widely-travelled Zlatan Ibrahimovic who is currently with Serie A champions AC Milan and Luis Suarez who is a free agent after being released by Atletico Madrid.

Cristiano Ronaldo's mother in tears as she watches her son

Sports Brief earlier reported that Cristiano Ronaldo's mother, Maria Delores, broke down in tears after her son dedicated one of his goals against Switzerland to her as she watched him from the stands in the game against Switzerland.

The 37-year-old scored twice as Portugal cruised to a comfortable victory against Switzerland in the Nations League on Sunday night.

In a video posted on social media, spotted by Sports Brief, the Manchester United star pointed at his mum in the stands as he celebrated on of his goals.