Top 15 Goal Poachers in World Football

The top goal poachers in World Football have a few common traits. Composure, positional awareness and excellent finishing are just a few of these.

While these players aren't generally involved in the buildup play, they normally do the most important job and put the ball in the net.

Poachers do their best work inside the penalty area, but that certainly doesn't mean they are useless elsewhere. The players on this list have been or are certainly prolific in front of the goal.

Here are the top 15 goal poachers in world football.

Gerd Muller

Gerd Muller was a definite for this list. Goals such as the one against Holland in the 1974 World Cup—the first goal in this video—epitomized his goal-poaching instincts.

Emilio Butragueno

Emilio Butragueno was normally one of the shortest men on the pitch at 5'7", but that didn't stop him from getting the ball in the net.

Hugo Sanchez

Hugo Sanchez's trademark diving headers and bicycle kicks are on full display in this video. He scored some good free-kicks as well as one or two long-range efforts, but Sanchez was definitely a poacher.

Robbie Fowler

Robbie Fowler was great finisher back in his Liverpool career. He is still playing in Thailand but will certainly be remembered for his scoring days in England.

Pauleta

Despite leading the list in terms of national team goals scored, Pauleta is Portugal's second-best striker behind Eusebio. He was a pretty good one as the video shows, and that's thanks to his goal-poaching attributes.

Filippo Inzaghi

Filippo Inzaghi is certainly no surprise on this list. He has made his career by sticking in goals from everywhere inside the 18-yard box.

Davor Suker

Croatia's all-time top scorer, Davor Suker, carried his talents to a number of top teams in Europe and this video shows why.

Paolo Rossi

Paolo Rossi is another Italian striker with some great goal-scoring instincts. His exploits in the 1982 World Cup are well worth remembering.

Romario

Romario, "the second best player ever," was prolific in front of the goal and hits all the attributes of a goal poacher.

Michael Owen

There are still a lot of "what ifs" with Michael Owen's career. Still, what we do already know is that he has been a great goal poacher in his career.

Raul Gonzalez

Raul was certainly one of, if not, the best forwards in the world in his prime. He is very clinical in front of the goal.

Ferenc Puskas

Ferenc Puskas is a legend of the game, and his prolific goal-scoring abilities were a major reason for this.

Gunnar Nordahl

Gunnar Nordahl's goal-poaching instincts are on full display in this video. He was extremely efficient in front of the goal during his time at AC Milan.

Klaan-Jas Huntelaar

Klaan-Jas Huntelaar certainly has a great nickname—"the Hunter"—to fit into this list.

Gabriel Batistuta

Gabriel Batistuta's nickname—"Batigol"— isn't quite as impressive as Huntelaar's, but it sheds light on what he does best.