Ever since the advent of Catenaccio, Italian Football has been renowned for the exceptional defensive standards in the league.
The likes of Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Nesta, Franco Baresi, Gaetano Scirea, and Giacinto Facchetti all have had legendary careers at the backline.
But to beat these greats and score goals, you had to pull off something extraordinary.
And that is precisely what the maestros in Italy did. In every single era, Italy has been blessed with exceptional attacking talent.
So let us explore the 10 Greatest Serie A Top Scorers of All Time.
10. Alessandro Del Piero
188 goals in 478 appearances
Clubs Played for: Juventus
After starting with Padova in Serie B, Del Piero made history with Juventus.
Operating as the second striker or number 10, Del Piero was a consistent wizard for the Bianconeri.
He appeared in more than 700 games for Juventus and scored a club-record 290 goals over a period of nineteen years.
In the process, clubs like Manchester United wanted Del Piero as Sir Alex Ferguson thought highly of the Italian.
When you look at his career, he won every major team honor there is. This includes six Serie A titles, one Champions League in 95/96, and the World Cup in 2006 with Italy.
Alongside Totti, he is perhaps the best example of a one-club man who remained loyal throughout their peaks with clubs they called home.
9. Kurt Hamrin
188 goals in 399 appearances
Teams Played for: Juventus, Fiorentina, AC Milan, Napoli
The best-ever player in the history of Fiorentina, Kurt Hamrin, is also their all-time top scorer and a Serie A great.
The dual-footed winger was a menacing presence on the right and could get past defenders with ease.
He won two Coppa Italia titles and a European Cup Winners Cup with Fiorentina but could not win a Serie A crown with the Viola, a prize he later won with Milan.
He was also part of the Swedish team that reached the World Cup final in the famous edition where Pele lit the world of football.
8. Giuseppe Signori
188 goals in 344 appearances
Teams Played for: Foggia, Lazio, Sampdoria, Bologna
A great ambassador for Serie A in the 90s, Signori never won a Serie A title in his career.
But as far as individual accolades go, he can feel proud of his work. Standing at just 5 foot 7 inches, Signori was rejected by Inter for being too short.
But Signori made sure that he did not let that derail his career and made his name at Lazio.
He was the highest scorer in Serie A on three different occasions and always proved to be a quality free-kick and penalty taker.
In total, he scored 188 goals in Serie A, mostly for Lazio and then Bologna.
7. Roberto Baggio
205 goals in 452 appearances
Teams Played for: Fiorentina, Juventus, AC Milan, Bologna, Inter Milan, Bologna
Many would not have touted Roberto Baggio to have the career he had after his horrific ACL injury aged 18.
But he did, and what a career it was. Scoring 205 goals in 452 appearances in the Serie A, he goes down as one of the greatest strikers to grace the Italian top flight.
While international fans may remember him for the penalty he skied over in the 1994 World Cup final, Serie A fans would remember Divin Conido, “The Divine Ponytail,” who lit up Serie A for well over a decade.
6. Antonio Di Natale
210 goals in 445 appearances
Team’s Played for: Empoli, Udinese
Antonio Di Natale is a modern Serie A great. There is no question about it.
And he did not always have it easy. After starting out with Empoli, he had to toil hard first to get to Serie A and then keep them in the division.
When they got relegated, Di Natale made the move to Udinese. And what a decision it was.
For over a decade, Di Natale was the talisman of the side and became a leader like no one else.
The best thing about Di Natale was that he aged like fine wine. So much so that his best seasons came after he turned 30.
He was the Serie A top scorer in 09/10 and 10/11, scoring 29 goals in the 09/10 campaign.
Even as the twilight of his career approached, he was still an automatic starter at Udinese and did not feel like a burden to the club at all.
Had he made a move to a big club, he may have found a trophy or two but not the love he got from the Bianconeri fans, becoming their all-time top scorer with 191 goals.
5. Jose Altafini
216 goals in 455 appearances
Clubs Played For: AC Milan, Napoli, Juventus
Jose Altafini is an interesting one. After starting out in Brazil and winning the World Cup with them in 1958, he moved to Italy.
And he liked playing in the Serie A so much that he started calling it home. He played for both Brazil and Italy at the national level but AC Milan was where he truly shined.
120 goals in 205 games proved to be instrumental in Milan winning two Serie A titles and the European Cup in 62/63.
In that European campaign, he scored 14 goals and helped Milan beat a Eusebio inspired Benfica in the final by scoring two goals.
After that, he played for Napoli and Juve before becoming a football pundit for Sky Italia and remains a prominent figure in Italian football.
4. Giuseppe Meazza
216 goals in 367 appearances
Clubs Played For: Inter, AC Milan, Juventus, Varese, Atalanta
When you have the most iconic stadium in your country named after you, you have to be special.
That’s exactly what Guiseppe Meazza was. The legendary striker is a hero for Inter Milan and Italian Football as well as winning two World Cups with the latter.
His time with Inter started with a brace in his first-ever professional game. And as the season ended, Meazza had scored a total of 31 goals.
He was also the youngest player in Serie A history to get to triple figures in goals doing so at the age of 23.
In Milan, he was known as the dancer, known for his vibrant nightlife, and he brought all that finesse on the football pitch as well, becoming one of the greatest Italian players of all time.
3. Gunnar Nordahl
224 goals in 291 appearances
Teams Played For: AC Milan, AS Roma
Before Zlatan Ibrahimovic was lighting the San Siro crowd, there was another Swedish striker who had left quite an impression.
Gunner Nordahl joined Milan in 1949, and in the 1949-50 season, scored 35 league goals, a record that stood for well over sixty years before Pipita Higuain broke it with Napoli.
He also was the top scorer for five seasons out of six in total, a feat that earned him the title of “pluricapocannoniere” signifying how he won several top scorer awards.
He also became the top scorer of AC Milan, a record that stands to this day.
2. Francesco Totti
250 goals in 618 appearances
Clubs Played For: AS Roma
The exceptional thing about the career of Totti has to be how he has managed as many goals playing from deep.
The Eighth King of Rome has scored 250 goals in the Serie A, all for his boyhood club, AS Roma.
And while he may have won just one Scudetto title in his career, the love, and admiration he will always get from Roma fans is his real trophy.
The 2006 World Cup winner played in 618 Serie A games and was the European Golden Shoe winner in 2006-07, all while playing in the no 10 position.
He would have perhaps had a more successful career at, say, AC Milan, but his legacy would not have been as special as it is right now.
If you ask him, he would not change a thing.
1. Silvio Piola
274 Goals in 537 Appearances
Clubs Played for: Pro Vercelli, Lazio, Juventus, Novara
You have to be one hell of a legend if you have not one but two stadiums named after you!
Silvio Piola was a truly sensational striker. He was a poacher like Pippo Inzaghi but also had the physical attributes to keep the ball glued to his feet.
After starting at Pro Vercelli, Piola-gol moved to Lazio, Juve, and Novara and, in a career spanning 26 years, scored 274 Goals.
What he missed in his career was a Serie A title, but he would not have complained after winning the World Cup to compensate for it.
He holds the record for the first person ever in Italy to score six goals in a single Serie A game! Two hat tricks in one game!
Final Word
Serie A has enjoyed some exceptional forwards over the years, and some of the records they have set look like mountains now.
But records are meant to be broken, and if someone can remain consistent for 10 years in Serie A, someone may talk about them many years from now.
