MLS's all-time leading scorer wasn't a marquee international signing, a high draft pick, or even a foreign import. Chris Wondolowski was picked 89th out of 96 players in the 2005 draft and still finished his career with more goals than anyone else in league history. Here's the full all-time list, and where Lionel Messi's rapid scoring pace since 2023 actually fits into it.

The all-time top 7

Rank	Player	Goals	Main club(s)
1	Chris Wondolowski	171	Houston Dynamo, San Jose Earthquakes
2	Kei Kamara	146	11 different clubs
3	Landon Donovan	145	San Jose Earthquakes, LA Galaxy
4	Jeff Cunningham	134	Multiple clubs
5	Jaime Moreno	133	D.C. United
6	Josef Martínez	118	Atlanta United
7	Dwayne De Rosario	104	Five different clubs

Chris Wondolowski's blue-collar record

Wondolowski's path to the top of this list started about as far from a highlight reel as it gets. He turned down a track scholarship to UCLA to play soccer at Division II Chico State, scored 39 goals there, and still fell all the way to the 41st pick of the 2005 MLS Supplemental Draft, the 89th player picked out of 96 that year. He spent his early career mostly on the bench at Houston Dynamo before a 2009 trade sent him to San Jose Earthquakes in exchange for forward Cam Weaver, a deal that barely registered at the time. Everything changed from there: he won the Golden Boot with 18 goals in 2010, went on to win it again, and by the time he retired from San Jose in 2021, he'd built the largest goal total in MLS history almost entirely with the one club that gave him his chance.

Kei Kamara's journey to 2nd

Kamara's story starts even further from MLS than Wondolowski's. Born in Kenema, Sierra Leone, he moved to the United States as a teenager through a refugee resettlement program, first to Maryland and later to the Los Angeles area, before playing college soccer at Cal State Dominguez Hills and getting drafted by Columbus Crew in 2006. What followed was one of the most well-traveled careers the league has ever seen: Kamara scored for 11 different MLS clubs, and in October 2020 he became the first player in league history to score for 8 different teams. He's also a longtime captain of Sierra Leone's national team. Reaching 146 career MLS goals while bouncing between that many rosters, rather than settling in for a long run at one club like Wondolowski, makes his climb to 2nd on this list arguably the more unusual achievement.

Landon Donovan's legacy beyond the number

Donovan's 145 goals, split mainly between the San Jose Earthquakes and LA Galaxy, held the all-time MLS scoring record for years before Wondolowski passed him, and he's still widely considered the most accomplished player in American soccer history regardless of where he sits on this specific list. He won six MLS Cups, was the face of the US men's national team through three World Cups, and famously chose to build his career in MLS during a period when most rising American stars were being pushed toward Europe, a decision that shaped how the league marketed its own homegrown talent for years afterward.

The rest of the top 7

Jeff Cunningham's 134 goals came in a well-traveled career of his own, spread across several clubs including Columbus Crew, Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas, and he remains one of the few players from MLS's earlier expansion era to hold up near the top of this list decades later. Jaime Moreno, by contrast, built almost his entire total at a single club, D.C. United, where he became the franchise's most iconic player during the team's dominant run in the league's first decade, winning four MLS Cups along the way. Josef Martínez's 118 goals came at a much faster pace than most names above him, largely concentrated into his prime seasons at Atlanta United, including the 31-goal single-season haul that briefly stood as the league record before Vela broke it. And Dwayne De Rosario rounds out the top 7 with 104 goals split across five different clubs, winning four MLS Cups along the way and becoming the first Canadian to win the league's MVP award, in 2011. He's also Canada's all-time leading international goal scorer, making him one of the most decorated players, on either side of the border, in this entire list.

Where Messi fits in

Lionel Messi joined Inter Miami midway through the 2023 season and immediately became one of the most efficient scorers the league has ever had, without coming close to threatening the all-time record yet. He scored 11 goals in just 14 games in his debut half-season, 20 in 19 games in 2024, and a league-leading 29 in 28 games in 2025 to win the MLS Golden Boot, before continuing to score at a high rate into the 2026 season. Add it up and Messi's MLS regular-season tally has already climbed past 70 goals in barely three and a half seasons, a pace that dwarfs anything Wondolowski, Kamara or Donovan managed at a similar career stage, even if the gap to Wondolowski's 171 is still wide enough that catching the record would take several more prolific seasons. What makes it more plausible than it looked even two years ago is simply that Messi shows no sign of slowing down, and Inter Miami have built their entire roster and playing style around keeping him on the field and in scoring positions as often as possible.

The single-season record: Vela's 34

The all-time career list is a different thing entirely from the single-season scoring record, which belongs to Carlos Vela, who scored 34 goals for LAFC in 2019, breaking the previous mark of 31 set by Josef Martínez at Atlanta United just a year earlier in 2018. Wondolowski and Bradley Wright-Phillips share the record for most Golden Boot wins with two apiece, but neither ever came close to a single season as prolific as Vela's or Martínez's. It's a reminder that the fastest scoring bursts in MLS history and the largest career totals have, so far, belonged to almost entirely different players.

Why MLS's scoring records look different from Europe's

Several structural features of MLS make its all-time scoring list harder to compare directly with a league like the Premier League or Serie A. The MLS regular season is shorter than most of Europe's top divisions, the league has expanded from 10 clubs in the mid-1990s to nearly 30 today, meaning the talent pool and the number of teams a scorer plays against has changed dramatically over the record's history, and the Designated Player rule, which lets clubs pay stars like Messi well above the normal salary cap, has only existed since 2007. Put together, that's why MLS's all-time list is dominated by players who built long careers through the league's earlier, smaller-club era, rather than by the marquee international names most casual fans would guess first. It's a genuinely different shape of record than Europe's biggest leagues, built more on loyalty and longevity at a handful of clubs than on the kind of single, dominant superstar career that tops the lists in England, Spain or Italy.

Follow Messi's climb up this list in our Messi at Inter Miami 2026 season stats guide, and see how MLS's biggest summer event works in our MLS Leagues Cup explained guide.

For MLS's official all-time records, see MLSsoccer.com.

FAQ

Who is MLS's all-time leading scorer?

Chris Wondolowski, with 171 goals for Houston Dynamo and San Jose Earthquakes between 2005 and 2021.

How many MLS goals has Lionel Messi scored?

His regular-season MLS total has climbed past 70 goals across the 2023 to 2026 seasons, including a league-leading 29 goals in 2025 that won him the MLS Golden Boot.

What is the MLS single-season scoring record?

34 goals, set by Carlos Vela for LAFC in 2019, one season after Josef Martínez set the previous record of 31 for Atlanta United.

How many different clubs did Kei Kamara score for?

8 different clubs, a league record, on his way to scoring 146 career goals across 11 MLS clubs in total.

Is Landon Donovan still MLS's all-time top scorer?

No, he's 3rd with 145 goals, behind Wondolowski and Kamara, though he's still widely regarded as the most accomplished player in American soccer history overall.

Could Messi catch Chris Wondolowski's MLS scoring record?

It's a realistic long-term possibility given his scoring rate since joining Inter Miami, though he'd need several more prolific seasons to close the gap.

Who has won the most MLS Golden Boots?

Chris Wondolowski and Bradley Wright-Phillips are tied for the most, with two each.

How many MLS Cups did Jaime Moreno win?

Four, all with D.C. United, in 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2004, on his way to becoming the club's most iconic player.

Is Dwayne De Rosario the first Canadian to win MLS MVP?

Yes, he won the award in 2011 with D.C. United, and he's also Canada's all-time leading international goal scorer.