La Liga's all-time top scorer is Lionel Messi with 474 goals, all for Barcelona. He also holds the record for most goals scored in a single season with 50 in the 2011–12 campaign,[1][2] and is the only player ever to win the league's top scorer award in eight different seasons.[3] Athletic Bilbao's Telmo Zarra, who was the competition's all-time top scorer for sixty years until 2014, won the top scorer award six times.[4] Three other players — Real Madrid's Alfredo Di Stéfano, Quini of Sporting Gijón and Barcelona, and Hugo Sánchez of Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid — each finished as top scorer in five individual seasons.
Alfredo Di Stéfano was the first non-European player to score a hundred La Liga goals, though he was a naturalised Spanish citizen by the time he reached the milestone in 1957. Hugo Sánchez became the first North American in 1986 and Samuel Eto'o was the first African to score 100 La Liga goals in 2006.
The most recent player to score 100 goals in the league is Cristhian Stuani, who scored his centennial goal on 24 May 2024. Of active players, Willian José is closest to making this list, having scored 81 La Liga goals.[5]
- ^ "Barcelona 4-0 Espanyol | La Liga match report". The Guardian. Associated Press. 5 May 2012. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 23 August 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
- ^ michaeljblack. "La Liga Top Scorers of All-Time – La Liga News". Archived from the original on 22 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
- ^ "Messi holds off Benzema to land record seventh Pichichi award". beIN Sports. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
- ^ Nemer, Roy (20 July 2020). "Lionel Messi wins Pichichi award with Barcelona, beats previous record | Mundo Albiceleste". Archived from the original on 29 August 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
- ^ List of La Liga top scorers at Soccerway. Retrieved 30 July 2015.