Short answer: Cristiano Ronaldo is the most searched football player on Google worldwide between 1 November 2025 and 31 October 2026, scoring 100 on Google Trends. Lionel Messi is a close second on 96.6, then Kylian Mbappé on 42.4. The index shows relative interest, not search counts.

Two names set the scale of this table and nobody else is near them. Ronaldo (100) and Messi (96.6) are 3.4 points apart, while Mbappé in third place has 42.4, less than half of either. Behind him Erling Haaland (37.0), Neymar (36.5) and Lamine Yamal (36.3) are squeezed into 0.7 points, and then the table drops again: Vinícius Júnior, seventh, has 17.1. Only ten of the 100 names reach double figures; everyone from 11th place down is between 9.3 and 1.5.
This list measures people, not squads, so it is not limited to active players. Google Trends counts a topic, and a topic for a retired player or a coach is just as real as one for a current star. Ronaldinho Gaúcho, David Beckham, Pelé, Zlatan Ibrahimović and Xabi Alonso are all in the top 30. One name needs a note: the Google topic called “Ronaldo” is the Brazilian Ronaldo Nazário, so he is written out in full here to keep him apart from Cristiano Ronaldo. Compare the numbers with the followers side in our ranking of the most followed football players.

What does the index mean?

Google does not publish how often a name is searched. Trends only compares names with one another, so the most-searched name in this list over 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026, Cristiano Ronaldo, is fixed at 100 and every other score is read against him: a player on 50 would have drawn half of Ronaldo’s interest, and a player on 5 one twentieth. All 100 players could be measured; the three at the bottom, Eden Hazard, Raheem Sterling and Ángel Di María, share 1.5.

ADVERTISEMENT

Top 10 most searched football players on Google

1. Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo plays for Al Nassr, and the Saudi Pro League reported on 26 June 2025 that he had extended his contract until 2027 (Saudi Pro League). At the 2026 World Cup he scored three goals in five matches for Portugal, who lost to Spain in the round of 16 (FIFA). UEFA’s count of international goals, correct as of 7 October 2026, gives him 146 in 234 matches (UEFA). More about him on our Cristiano Ronaldo page.

2. Lionel Messi

Messi finishes 3.4 points behind Ronaldo, so close that the two are effectively level. At the World Cup he scored eight goals in eight matches, second in FIFA’s scoring chart to Mbappé’s ten, and Argentina lost the final 1-0 to Spain after extra time (FIFA; see also our World Cup 2026 final page). Inter Miami announced a contract extension running through the 2028 MLS season (Inter Miami), and UEFA’s international count has him on 126 goals in 208 matches (UEFA). His own page is here.

3. Kylian Mbappé

Mbappé won the 2025/26 Pichichi with 25 LaLiga goals in 31 matches, his second in a row (Real Madrid), then scored ten goals with four assists in eight matches for France, first in FIFA’s scoring chart (FIFA). France lost their semi-final to Spain and the bronze-medal match to England, 6-4. His 42.4 sits 54.2 points under Messi, the largest gap between neighbours in the whole table.

4. Erling Haaland

27 goals made Haaland the 2025/26 Premier League Golden Boot winner (Premier League). For Norway he then scored seven goals in five World Cup appearances, as many as Bellingham managed in eight, before Norway went out to England in the quarter-final (FIFA). He is only 0.5 ahead of Neymar, so fourth to sixth place is a three-way cluster.

5. Neymar

Neymar’s 36.5 puts him between Haaland and Yamal inside a band of 0.7 points, which is too narrow to read as a real order. He draws roughly twice the interest of fellow Brazilian Vinícius Júnior (17.1), and the Neymar page on FootGoal has the background.

ADVERTISEMENT

6. Lamine Yamal

Yamal is the youngest name by a distance: FC Barcelona’s player page gives his birth date as 13 July 2007 (FC Barcelona), while Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappé and Haaland were all born between 1985 and 2000 on their official pages. Barcelona announced on 27 May 2025 that he had extended his contract to 2031 (FC Barcelona). His 36.3 is 0.2 behind Neymar and about twice the interest of Vinícius Júnior in seventh.

7. Vinícius Júnior

Real Madrid announced on 6 August 2026 that Vinícius had renewed until 2032 (Real Madrid). He scored four goals in five World Cup matches for Brazil, tenth in FIFA’s scoring chart (FIFA). At 17.1 he is the first name below the 36–42 group, and he is the second-highest of the 14 Real Madrid players in the table, behind Mbappé.

8. Mohamed Salah

Salah has no club in the table because Liverpool’s page says he completed a move to Trabzonspor (Liverpool). The club said he left as its third-highest scorer of all time, with 257 goals in 442 appearances (Liverpool). His 14.7 is 0.2 above Jude Bellingham in ninth.

9. Jude Bellingham

Bellingham scored seven goals with one assist in eight World Cup matches for England, third in FIFA’s scoring chart (FIFA). England finished third after the 6-4 win over France in the bronze-medal match. Real Madrid’s announcement of 14 June 2023 said he was contracted for “the next six seasons” (Real Madrid). His 14.5 is within 0.2 of Salah, so eighth and ninth form a pair.

10. Harry Kane

Kane scored six goals in seven World Cup matches for England (FIFA). Bundesliga.com reported on 23 September 2026 that he was in the final twelve months of the four-year contract he signed with Bayern Munich after joining from Tottenham (Bundesliga). With 12.2 he is the last name above 10 and the last one before a 2.9-point step down to Ronaldinho Gaúcho in 11th.

Who is behind the top 10?

Places 11 to 13 belong to Ronaldinho Gaúcho (9.3), David Beckham (8.3) and Pelé (7.8), three former stars who sit ahead of Julián Álvarez (7.6), Robert Lewandowski (7.2) and Raphinha (6.8). Zlatan Ibrahimović is 21st on 5.1, Ronaldo Nazário 23rd on 4.9 and Xabi Alonso 29th on 4.4, level with Marcus Rashford. Eden Hazard, Gareth Bale, Andrés Iniesta and Mesut Özil are also in the final stretch, so the table has as many memories as current form.
Real Madrid has 14 of the 100 players, more than any other club in the data. Arsenal has eight, Manchester City and Liverpool seven each, Chelsea four, Al Nassr and Manchester United three each, AC Milan two (Luka Modrić 22nd, Christian Pulisic 62nd), and Inter one: Lautaro Martínez, 58th. Two of Madrid’s names are summer 2026 signings. Marc Cucurella, 20th on 6.0, signed from Chelsea on 27 July 2026 and Yan Diomandé, 35th on 3.6, from RB Leipzig on 13 August 2026 (LaLiga). Cucurella is the highest-ranked of the five players the data tags as defenders; Virgil van Dijk (46th), Trent Alexander-Arnold (85th), William Saliba (90th) and Gabriel Magalhães (93rd) are the others.
Goalkeepers are rare in the list. The data tags four: Thibaut Courtois (40th) and Emiliano Martínez (41st) tie on 3.4, with Gianluigi Donnarumma 75th on 2.0 and Alisson Becker 82nd on 1.8. Among the Premier League clubs, Enzo Fernández is 26th on 4.7, level with Ferran Torres (25th); City announced his arrival from Chelsea on 1 September 2026 (Manchester City). Bukayo Saka (38th, 3.5) heads Arsenal’s eight names, which span only 3.5 to 1.6. Our Premier League list, Real Madrid list and Manchester City list go deeper into the club squads.
The bottom half of the table is very flat. Ranks 51 to 100 run from only 2.9 down to 1.5, a range of 1.4 points for fifty players, and 53 of the 100 names score under 3. A few places here make little difference; ranks 98 to 100 are tied.

Does the 2026 World Cup show in the order?

The period includes the tournament, played from 11 June to 19 July 2026, but weekly values are averaged over 52 weeks, so about six of those weeks come from the World Cup. FIFA’s official data gives Mbappé 10 goals, Messi 8, Bellingham 7, Haaland 7, Dembélé 6, Kane 6, Mikel Oyarzabal 5, and Ismaila Sarr, Julián Quiñones and Vinícius Júnior 4 each (FIFA). Seven of those ten are in this table’s top 18: Messi 2nd, Mbappé 3rd, Haaland 4th, Vinícius 7th, Bellingham 9th, Kane 10th and Ousmane Dembélé 18th. Oyarzabal, Sarr and Quiñones are not in the 100.
But goals do not set the order. Ronaldo scored three times and still leads, while Bukayo Saka (38th), Romelu Lukaku (39th), Lautaro Martínez (58th), Cody Gakpo (80th), Matheus Cunha (87th) and Kai Havertz (88th) also scored three goals each in FIFA’s chart and are spread across fifty places. These players were mostly well known before June, and a 12-month average cannot separate the tournament from the other months, so the data supports one conclusion: the leading scorers are the names already at the top.

Full ranking: 100 most searched football players on Google

100 most searched football players on Google: relative interest on Google Trends, worldwide web search, 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026, index 100 = Cristiano Ronaldo. Club as given in the data, a dash where it has none; the list includes retired players and coaches. Source: Google Trends.
Rank Player Club Index
1 Cristiano Ronaldo Al Nassr 100
2 Lionel Messi — 96.6
3 Kylian Mbappé Real Madrid 42.4
4 Erling Haaland Manchester City 37.0
5 Neymar — 36.5
6 Lamine Yamal — 36.3
7 Vinícius Júnior Real Madrid 17.1
8 Mohamed Salah — 14.7
9 Jude Bellingham Real Madrid 14.5
10 Harry Kane — 12.2
11 Ronaldinho Gaúcho — 9.3
12 David Beckham — 8.3
13 Pelé — 7.8
14 Julián Alvarez — 7.6
15 Robert Lewandowski — 7.2
16 Raphinha — 6.8
17 Endrick Real Madrid 6.5
18 Ousmane Dembélé — 6.4
19 Luis Suárez — 6.0
20 Marc Cucurella Real Madrid 6.0
21 Zlatan Ibrahimović — 5.1
22 Luka Modrić AC Milan 5.0
23 Ronaldo Nazário — 4.9
24 Son Heung-min — 4.8
25 Ferran Torres — 4.7
26 Enzo Fernández Manchester City 4.7
27 Arda Güler Real Madrid 4.6
28 Marcus Rashford Manchester United 4.4
29 Xabi Alonso — 4.4
30 Pedri — 4.3
31 Achraf Hakimi — 4.2
32 Victor Osimhen — 4.1
33 Kaká — 4.0
34 Bruno Fernandes Manchester United 3.8
35 Yan Diomandé Real Madrid 3.6
36 Manuel Neuer — 3.6
37 Sergio Ramos — 3.6
38 Bukayo Saka Arsenal 3.5
39 Romelu Lukaku — 3.5
40 Thibaut Courtois Real Madrid 3.4
41 Emiliano Martínez Chelsea 3.4
42 Federico Valverde Real Madrid 3.3
43 Kevin De Bruyne — 3.3
44 Karim Benzema — 3.2
45 Gerard Piqué — 3.2
46 Virgil van Dijk Liverpool 3.1
47 James Rodríguez — 3.0
48 Viktor Gyökeres Arsenal 2.9
49 Declan Rice Arsenal 2.9
50 Cole Palmer Chelsea 2.9
51 Antoine Griezmann — 2.9
52 Leandro Paredes — 2.6
53 Paul Pogba — 2.6
54 Casemiro — 2.6
55 Rayan Cherki Manchester City 2.5
56 Bernardo Silva Real Madrid 2.5
57 N'Golo Kanté — 2.4
58 Lautaro Martínez Inter 2.4
59 Paulo Dybala — 2.4
60 Memphis Depay — 2.4
61 Mauro Icardi — 2.4
62 Christian Pulisic AC Milan 2.4
63 Gavi — 2.4
64 Brahim Díaz Real Madrid 2.3
65 Sadio Mané Al Nassr 2.3
66 Phil Foden Manchester City 2.3
67 Florian Wirtz Liverpool 2.2
68 Alexander Isak Liverpool 2.2
69 Wayne Rooney — 2.2
70 Antoine Semenyo Manchester City 2.1
71 Rodrygo Real Madrid 2.1
72 Dominik Szoboszlai Liverpool 2.1
73 Guillermo Ochoa — 2.1
74 Mason Greenwood — 2.0
75 Gianluigi Donnarumma Manchester City 2.0
76 João Pedro Chelsea 2.0
77 Lucas Paquetá — 2.0
78 Martin Ødegaard Arsenal 2.0
79 Thomas Müller — 1.9
80 Cody Gakpo Liverpool 1.9
81 Jérémy Doku Manchester City 1.8
82 Alisson Becker Liverpool 1.8
83 Gabriel Jesus — 1.8
84 Alejandro Garnacho Aston Villa 1.8
85 Trent Alexander-Arnold Real Madrid 1.8
86 João Félix Al Nassr 1.8
87 Matheus Cunha Manchester United 1.8
88 Kai Havertz Arsenal 1.8
89 Hugo Ekitike Liverpool 1.6
90 William Saliba Arsenal 1.6
91 Eduardo Camavinga Real Madrid 1.6
92 Gareth Bale — 1.6
93 Gabriel Magalhães Arsenal 1.6
94 Eberechi Eze Arsenal 1.6
95 Andrés Iniesta — 1.6
96 Estêvão Willian Chelsea 1.6
97 Mesut Özil — 1.6
98 Eden Hazard — 1.5
99 Raheem Sterling — 1.5
100 Ángel Di María — 1.5

 
Reading the table: half of the 100 names carry a club in the data, and those 50 break down into 24 forwards, 17 midfielders, five defenders and four goalkeepers. The other 50 are players or coaches outside the squads used to build the candidate list, so they show a dash.

How was this ranking measured?

Each name was entered as a Google Trends topic, so “Messi” and “Lionel Messi” count as one person, and the data covers worldwide Google web search from 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026, all categories, with weekly values averaged. Trends compares only five names at a time, so groups were measured against fixed anchor topics and chained into one scale with Ronaldo as 100. 350 people were measured. They are every name in the old version of this post, the 100 players in FootGoal’s ranking of the most followed footballers, the official 2026/27 first-team squads of Real Madrid, Manchester City, Inter and AC Milan, and the best-known players of all 20 Premier League clubs from the official 2026/27 squad lists. A player who is in none of those sources was not measured, so this is the top 100 of the 350, not of every footballer. Small gaps between neighbouring ranks should not be over-read. Source: Google Trends.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the most searched football player on Google?

Cristiano Ronaldo, who scores 100 on Google Trends for worldwide web search between 1 November 2025 and 31 October 2026. Lionel Messi follows on 96.6 and Kylian Mbappé on 42.4.

How close are Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi?

Messi is 3.4 points behind Ronaldo. Each of them has more than twice the interest of Mbappé in third place, so the table has two leaders and then a long drop.

Does the list include retired players and coaches?

Yes. Google Trends measures the person, so Ronaldinho Gaúcho (11th), David Beckham (12th), Pelé (13th), Zlatan Ibrahimović (21st), Ronaldo Nazário (23rd) and Xabi Alonso (29th) are in the table.

Which goalkeepers are in the top 100?

The data tags four. Thibaut Courtois (40th) and Emiliano Martínez (41st) both score 3.4, ahead of Gianluigi Donnarumma (75th, 2.0) and Alisson Becker (82nd, 1.8).

Did the 2026 World Cup change the order?

The tournament is inside the 12-month period, and seven of FIFA’s ten top scorers are in this top 18. A yearly average cannot show what the tournament changed, and players on three goals sit anywhere from 1st to 88th.

Sources

 
Check out also:
100 Most Searched Football Clubs on Google
Top 10 Football Players with Most Fans in the World
Top 10 Football Clubs with Most Fans in the World
Most Searched EURO 2020 Winner Italy Players on Google in 2021
Top 10 Premier League Football Clubs with Most Fans in the World
100 Most Searched Footballers on Google in 2020