World Football's Top 25 Strikers of 2011

With the 2011 calendar year coming to a close, it is time to look back on the past year in world football and for the obligatory best of lists as well.

2011 saw many strikers hit their best form of their careers, and with their form, some strikers carried their clubs to a very successful year.

With a long list of players to choose from, it was very hard to even narrow it down to 25 of the best strikers this year, but here they are the 25 that made the cut.

Robin Van Persie

Robin van Persie has seen a ton of success come his way in 2011.

44 goals is the tally that the Dutchman has posted this calendar year with Arsenal.

His rampant tear through the Premier League began to take notice when he started the new Premier League season with 16 goals in 17 games as the only real provider for the Gunners for a certain amount of time.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo had by far one the best seasons ever in La Liga as he netted 53 total goals last season and his success has continued on into the start of the 2011-12 season.

Ronaldo already has 25 goals in all competitions this season for Real Madrid as his club have participated in the UEFA Champions League, Spanish Cup and La Liga.

The Portuguese international has also netted seven goals for his country this year ahead of the Euro 2012 tournament.

Mario Gomez

Mario Gomez has been the best scorer in the Bundesliga over the past year.

The Bayern Munich man has found success at the Allianz Arena with the German international averaging a little over a goal per game over the past year.

After scoring 28 goals in 27 games in the Bundesliga in the 2010-11 season, Gomez has scored 16 goals in 16 games in the German top flight in the 2011-12 season so far.

Neymar

Neymar has been the name associated with the most amount of transfer rumors this year and his 43 goals for Santos last season plus his 24 goals in the 2011-12 season would be good enough reason for Europe's top clubs to bring him overseas.

The Santos forward has burst into the spotlight and now the whole world knows about the 19 year-old Brazilian superstar.

Neymar's goals helped lead Santos to their second straight Paulista title and to the club's third Copa Libertadores title.

Sergio Aguero

Sergio Aguero graced two of Europe's top leagues with his presence this year as he moved from La Liga to the Premier League over the summer.

El Kun transferred from Atletico Madrid to Manchester City in the summer and has taken the English game by storm with his goal scoring form.

Since his move to Manchester, the Argentine has played in 23 games in all competitions with 15 goals to show from those games in 2011.

Moussa Sow

Moussa Sow helped power Lille to their third Ligue 1 title and first since the 1953-54 season.

The Senegal international had a breakout season after moving to the Stade Metropole from Rennes in the summer of 2010.

Sow netted 25 goals in the Ligue 1 season to end up the scoring leader at the end of the season in Ligue 1. So far, in the 2011-12 season, Sow has scored nine overall goals for the French champions in both Ligue 1 and the UEFA Champions League.

Kevin Gameiro

Another young star that lit up the scoreboards in Ligue 1 this past year was Kevin Gameiro.

Gameiro's goal scoring form with Lorient in the 2010-11 season led to his transfer to big spending Paris St. Germain in the summer, where he has found the net nine times since his move to the Parc des Princes.

In 2011, Gameiro also scored his first international goal with France in June and he will look to gain a spot on the bench for Euro 2012.

Edinson Cavani

Edinson Cavani has played a huge part for both club and country this year.

Cavani has helped Napoli into the round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League, by scoring four goals in the competition, after they survived the group of death that contained Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

In international play, Cavani and Uruguay won the 2011 Copa America.

Cavani ended the 2010-11 season with 33 total goals in all competitions for Napoli and has 13 in all competitions so far in the 2011-12 season.

Papiss Demba Cisse

The second Senegal international on this list, Papiss Demba Cisse had a breakout year with Freiburg in the Bundesliga.

Cisse scored 24 total goals in the 2010-11 season and has nine already for Freiburg in his third season with the club in the 2011-12 season.

Cisse will accompany fellow Senegal star, Moussa Sow, up front for the Lions of Teranga in the 2012 African Cup of Nations in January.

Radamel Falcao

Radamel Falcao produced one of most exciting performances in European competition in 2011 as he led Porto to the Europa League title.

Falcao scored 18 goals in 16 games in the Europa League, breaking a record previously held by Jurgen Klinsmann.

His spectacular performances at Porto earned the Colombian a transfer to La Liga's Atletico Madrid as a replacement for Sergio Aguero and has done well with 12 goals so far at the Madrid club.

Oscar Cardozo

Another South American applying his trade in Portugal, Cardozo was Benfica's leading scorer this year.

After reaching a total of 23 goals to end the 2010-11 season, the Paraguay international already has more than half of that in the 2011-12 season as he has scored 12 goals in all competitions.

Cardozo also doubled his international goal total this year as he scored four goals for Paraguay, making his total in his career eight for the South American nation.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has recovered from a few rough years where bounced around from club to club and has finally found a home at Schalke.

The 2010-11 season was used by Huntelaar to used to the Bundesliga and finding his role in the club but from the start of the 2011-12 season, the Dutchman has been in fire.

Huntelaar has 15 Bundesliga goals, five goals in the DFB-Pokal cup competition and six goals in Europe. That brings his total goal count to 26 in 26 games.

With Huntelaar and fellow Dutchman Robin van Persie both in great form, the Dutch side at Euro 2012 could feature two very potent strikers.

Roberto Soldado

Roberto Soldado has helped Valencia fans get over the loss of David Villa and David Silva in the summer of 2010.

Soldado was signed as a replacement for Villa up front for Los Che and has been a goal scoring threat ever since joining from Getafe in 2010.

After totaling 25 goals in all competitions during the 2010-11 season, the Valencia native has already netted 17 goals in the 2011-12 season, including 11 scores in La Liga.

Bjorn Vleminckx

Bjorn Vleminckx did not gain a ton of attention in the past year, mostly because he played for NEC Nijmegen in the Eredivisie and now with Club Brugge in the Belgian League.

Vleminckx earned his transfer back to his home nation of Belgium by leading the Eredivisie in goals during the 2010-11 season with 23 goals.

The 26-year old's production has been halted a bit with his new club as he only has four goals in nine games in all competitions in the 2011-12 season so far.

Ricky Van Wolfswinkel

Ricky van Wolfswinkel is another player who scored for a smaller Dutch Eredivisie club, FC Utrecht, and then made the move to another club this summer.

Van Wolfswinkel moved to Sporting Lisbon after scoring 23 total goals in all competitions in 2010-11.

After his move to Portugal, the Dutchman has set the Primeira Liga on fire with seven goals in the league and another seven in cup competitions.

Giuseppe Rossi

Guiseppe Rossi had yet another impressive year at Villarreal as he scored a career high in goals for the yellow submarine.

32 goals is the total that the Italian racked up in the 2010-11 season with 11 coming in the Europa League as Villarreal made a semifinal run before losing to eventual champions Porto.

The beginning of the 2011-12 season has not been so bright for Rossi as he only has five goals so far as his club sit one spot above the bottom three.

Raul

He may be 34 years of age and is seen by some to be in the twilight of his career, Raul is still scoring goals and is doing so while playing with Schalke in the Bundesliga.

Raul left Real Madrid in the summer of 2010 for the Veltins Arena and helped Schalke earn a semifinal berth in the UEFA Champions League before losing to Manchester United.

Alongside new strike partner Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, the Spaniard has already scored 13 times in 26 games this season and has led Schalke to third place in the Bundesliga at the winter break.

Javier Hernandez

Javier Hernandez had to be one of the best signings of the past year as he impressed Manchester United and Mexico fans with his attacking skills.

Chicharito not only scored 20 total goals for United in the 2010-11 season, he helped Mexico take home the CONCACAF Gold Cup title this summer as well.

Hernandez scored seven goals and won most valuable player award, including his first hat trick for his country against El Salvador.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Zlatan Ibrahimovic made an instant impact at AC Milan after joining the Italian club from Barcelona in August 2010.

The Swede had no problem scoring in the 2010-11 season with 21 total goals and he has already put home 16 goals in all competitions this season.

Ahead of the Euro 2012 tournament, Ibrahimovic is just one of many strikers in form going into Poland and Ukraine.

Antonio Di Natale

Antonio Di Natale was the recipient of the Capocannoniere for being the leading goal scorer in Serie A during the 2010-11 season.

All of Di Natale's goals came in the league with the Italian scoring 28 in Serie A as Udinese was not involved in any European competitions and Di Natale did not score in the Coppa Italia either.

Not only is Di Natale expected to contend for a spot on the Italy Euro 2012 roster, he could be on his way to another Capocannoniere as he has 10 goals in Serie A so far this season.

Lukas Podolski

After a few years of struggling with Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, Podolski has found his goal scoring form again with FC Koln.

The German international scored 14 goals in the 2010-11 season and he has already matched that total this season with 14 goals in 18 Bundesliga games.

Hulk

2011 was a breakout year for Hulk.

The Brazilian forward won player of the year in the Portuguese League and led Porto to a league title and the UEFA Europa League crown as well.

36 goals in 53 games in all competitions was the final tally for the 2010-11 season and after manager Andre Villas-Boas and in form scorer Radamel Falcao left Porto in the summer, Hulk stayed and is now the top player on the club and has 12 goals before the winter break for the Portuguese club.

Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney enjoyed another successful year at Manchester United as he helped the Red Devils win their 19th Premier League title and reach the UEFA Champions League final.

Rooney scored 16 times in 40 appearances for United in the 2010-11 season, but what was more impressive was his 11 assists during the season.

The England forward has impressed so far in the 2011-12 season as well with 15 total goals, 11 of which have come in the Premier League.

Gonzalo Higuain

We all know that Cristiano Ronaldo scores most of the goals for Real Madrid, but Gonzalo Higuain scores his fare share of goals as well.

The Argentine has produced many goals for Los Blancos during his career and continued in 2011 with 13 goals in only 25 appearances in the 2010-11 season followed by 14 goals in the same amount of games so far in the 2011-12 season.

Higuain has also scored five times for the Argentina national team in 2011.

Lionel Messi

It would not be a list of the top forwards of 2011 without mentioning the top forward of them all, Lionel Messi.

Messi is averaging at least a goal per game at this point in his career, and he keeps winning trophies with Barcelona as well.

The Argentine won the titles in La Liga, the UEFA Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup with Barca.

Individually, he won the 2010 Ballon d'Or, 2011 La Liga Player of the Year and 2011 World Soccer Player of the Year, with another Ballon d'Or possibly on his way.