Long considered one of the best, if not the best, league(s) in all of Europe, the Italian Serie A has played host to a procession of legendary figures; homegrown, or otherwise, for nearly one hundred years since its inception in 1929. During that period, the likes of Francesco Totti, Alessandro Del Piero, and a host of star names have been at the forefront of football in all corners of the peninsula. Find the list of the top 10 All-time goalscorers in Serie A below.
=10. Alberto Gilardino – 188 goals
Gilardino, a cult icon in Italy after his outstanding performance at all international youth levels put enormous pressure on him, may not have had the stalwart career that many anticipated, but his total goal return over the course of a career that spanned eighteen seasons is hardly something to belittle. His greatest years were spent with Parma between 2003 and 2005, scoring 46 Serie A goals in only two seasons after settling in after moving from Verona. Later, he would become quite productive for Milan and even more so for Fiorentina, where he is still highly regarded.
=10. Alessandro Del Piero – 188 goals
Alessandro Del Piero, one of just two one-club individuals on our list—you undoubtedly already know who the other one is—helped define a golden age of Italian football while serving as the public face of one of the country’s most renowned footballing organizations. The adaptable forward provided a fantastic combination of technical finesse, originality, set-piece mastery, and goalscoring prowess that propelled Juventus to the pinnacle of success, which included fourteen major awards, including six of the club’s Serie A titles, and also resulted in the forward becoming the club’s all-time leading scorer.
=10. Giuseppe Signori – 188 goals
“Beppe” Signori was a phenomenally gifted goalscorer in his own right and his fantastic strike rate for I Biancocelesti (107 goals in 152 Serie A matches) saw him win the Capocannoniere on three occasions. He became an icon in the Italian capital during a brilliant five-year stint with Lazio in one of the pinnacles of Italian football. Signori was a fantastic ambassador for what is now a bygone period on the peninsula, despite the fact that he never won the league throughout his fourteen years in Italian football’s top division. However, what a time that was.
9: Kurt Hamrin – 190 goals
One of just two Swedes on the list of Top 10 All-Time Goalscorers In Serie A, the Stockholm native initially gained notoriety with regional powerhouse AIK before finally making his way to Italian football’s top division with Juventus in 1956. His tenure at Turin was not remarkable and only lasted one season, but after a comeback with Padova the following year, when he scored 20 goals in 30 games, Fiorentina eventually came knocking, and there is where Hamrin established himself. Hamrin scored 150 goals in 289 games for Firenze, guiding the team to two Coppa Italia victories and a Cup Winners Cup victory.
8. Ciro Immobile* – 191 goals
Immobile, the only player still playing football, is a living legend in Serie A for Lazio after joining the club in 2016 following two unsuccessful overseas experiences with Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla, where he only managed to score 14 goals in 49 games across all competitions. The Naples-born player, however, just need comfortable settings to thrive once more, and his stints at Pescara and Torino provide proof of the gifted goal scorer who lay beneath the surface.
7. Roberto Baggio – 205 goals
“Roberto Baggio was the finest Italian fantasista; he outperformed Meazza and Boniperti, and he was one of the greatest players of all time, ranking directly after Maradona, Pelé, and perhaps Cruyff. He would have been the greatest player in history if it weren’t for his knee issues and injury issues. The remarks of former Brescia manager Carlo Mazzone about the great Italian said it all.
6. Antonio Di Natale – 209 goals
Antonio Di Natale, a two-time Capocannoniere winner and former Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year (2010), played for Udinese for twelve seasons in Friuli. His career will go down as one of the finest examples of a “fan favourite” to date. The attacker, who was born in Naples, scored 103 Serie A goals for Le Zebrette over a four-year span from 2009–10 to 2012–13.
=4. José Altafini – 216 goals
The striker, who was born in Brazil, has a special claim to fame because he participated in back-to-back World Cups (1958 & 1962) for Brazil and Italy and was a member of the all-conquering 1958 Brazil team. However, Altafini is recognised as one of AC Milan’s all-time finest players when it comes to his Serie A career. He is also widely regarded as one of the most talented players to have ever played in Lombardy.
=4. Giuseppe Meazza – 216 goals
“Peppino” Meazza is regarded as one of the best players in football history as well as being primarily regarded as the finest player to ever emerge from the Italian peninsula. He was so outstanding that one of the most famous stadiums in international football carries his name. Despite having played for AC Milan and Juventus,
3. Gunnar Nordahl – 225 goals
Nordahl, the second Swede to appear, was considerably more than merely a Scandinavian immigrant. The Hörnefors-born striker went on to become the most prolific goalscorer in Serie A history between his stints with Milan and in the capital with AS Roma, scoring 225 goals in 291 appearances for a goals/game ratio of 0.77 while spending just over nine seasons in Italy. It’s possible that few people outside of Italy and Sweden are aware of his exploits in Milan.
2. Francesco Totti – 250 goals
Francesco Totti, an Italian icon who was born and raised in Rome, is the quintessential “one club man” because he spent his whole professional career with AS Roma after graduating from their academy in 1993. Totti established a genuine laundry list of club records with I Giallorossi throughout his illustrious career, which lasted until 2017. These records included All-Time Leading Goalscorer, All-Time Leading Goalscorer in Serie A, and All-Time Leading Goalscorer in the Champions League.
1. Silvio Piola – 274 goals
Not every player in Italian football history has contributed to the creation of a legendary character at organizations that, by today’s standards, are barely giants. Silvio Piola, a legend in Italy and the all-time greatest scorer in Serie A, spent many years building his reputation at Pro Vercelli and Novara, two previous early-league powerhouses, before and after his incredible run in the capital. Along with the aforementioned Meazza, who some could argue had the more successful overall career, Piola was one of the first Italian players to fully transcend time, despite the fact that he never won a Serie A championship, helping him top the list of Top 10 All-Time Goalscorers In Serie A.
For more football news, click here
