The UEFA Champions League, known until 1992 as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or colloquially as the European Cup, is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1955. Originally a straight knockout competition open only to champion clubs, the tournament was expanded during the 1990s to incorporate a round-robin group phase and more teams. The expansion resulted in more games being played, increasing players' goalscoring chances; thus the rankings are weighted in favour of modern players: only seven out of the 52 players on the list never competed in the reformed Champions League.
With 140 goals, Cristiano Ronaldo is currently the all-time top scorer in the Champions League, while his career rival Lionel Messi is the only other player to have reached triple figures. Ronaldo has also finished as the top scorer for the most individual seasons in the competition's history, doing so seven times.
The title of highest goalscorer had previously been held by Raúl, who scored his 50th goal in 2005 while at Real Madrid to overtake Alfredo Di Stéfano. [1] He held the record until November 2014, [2] [3] when his eventual tally of 71 was first equalled and then surpassed by Messi. [4] [5] Ronaldo has remained the competition's outright top scorer since September 2015; after a back-and-forth exchange of the record between him and Messi, a hat-trick by the former against Shakhtar Donetsk put Ronaldo ahead with 80 goals, and he would not relinquish the top spot again after this. [6] Including qualifying rounds, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 141 Champions League goals. [7]
Rank | Player | Goals | Apps | Ratio | Years | Club(s) (Goals/Apps) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 140 | 183 | 0.77 | 2003–2022 | Manchester United (21/59), Real Madrid (105/101), Juventus (14/23) |
2 | Lionel Messi | 129 | 163 | 0.79 | 2005–2023 | Barcelona (120/149), Paris Saint-Germain (9/14) |
3 | Robert Lewandowski | 94 | 120 | 0.78 | 2011– | Borussia Dortmund (17/28), Bayern Munich (69/78), Barcelona (8/14) |
4 | Karim Benzema | 90 | 152 | 0.59 | 2005–2023 | Lyon (12/19), Real Madrid (78/133) |
5 | Raúl | 71 | 142 | 0.50 | 1995–2011 | Real Madrid (66/130), Schalke 04 (5/12) |
6 | Ruud van Nistelrooy | 56 | 73 | 0.77 | 1998–2009 | PSV Eindhoven (8/11), Manchester United (35/43), Real Madrid (13/19) |
7 | Thomas Müller | 54 | 151 | 0.36 | 2009– | Bayern Munich |
8 | Thierry Henry | 50 | 112 | 0.45 | 1997–2012 | Monaco (7/9), Arsenal (35/77), Barcelona (8/26) |
9 | Alfredo Di Stéfano ‡ | 49 | 58 | 0.84 | 1955–1964 | Real Madrid |
10 | Kylian Mbappé | 48 | 73 | 0.66 | 2016– | Monaco (6/9), Paris Saint-Germain (42/64) |
Andriy Shevchenko | 48 | 100 | 0.48 | 1994–2012 | Dynamo Kyiv (15/26), Milan (29/59), Chelsea (4/15) | |
Zlatan Ibrahimović | 48 | 124 | 0.39 | 2001–2021 | Ajax (6/19), Juventus (3/19), Inter Milan (6/22), Barcelona (4/10), Milan (9/20), Paris Saint-Germain (20/33), Manchester United (0/1) | |
13 | Eusébio ‡ | 46 | 65 | 0.71 | 1961–1974 | Benfica |
Filippo Inzaghi | 46 | 81 | 0.57 | 1997–2012 | Juventus (17/26), Milan (29/55) | |
15 | Mohamed Salah | 44 | 79 | 0.56 | 2013– | Basel (2/6), Chelsea (0/2), Roma (1/7), Liverpool (41/64) |
Didier Drogba | 44 | 92 | 0.48 | 2003–2015 | Marseille (5/6), Chelsea (36/74), Galatasaray (3/12) | |
17 | Neymar | 43 | 81 | 0.53 | 2013–2022 | Barcelona (21/40), Paris Saint-Germain (22/41) |
18 | Alessandro Del Piero | 42 | 89 | 0.47 | 1995–2009 | Juventus |
19 | Erling Haaland | 41 | 39 | 1.05 | 2019– | Red Bull Salzburg (8/6), Borussia Dortmund (15/13), Manchester City (18/20) |
Sergio Agüero | 41 | 79 | 0.52 | 2008–2021 | Atlético Madrid (5/14), Manchester City (36/64), Barcelona (0/1) | |
21 | Ferenc Puskás ‡ | 36 | 41 | 0.88 | 1956–1966 | Budapest Honvéd (1/2), Real Madrid (35/39) |
Antoine Griezmann | 36 | 95 | 0.38 | 2014– | Real Sociedad (0/6), Atlético Madrid (32/72), Barcelona (4/17) | |
23 | Edinson Cavani | 35 | 70 | 0.50 | 2011–2022 | Napoli (5/8), Paris Saint-Germain (30/54), Manchester United (0/8) |
24 | Gerd Müller ‡ | 34 | 35 | 0.97 | 1969–1977 | Bayern Munich |
25 | Fernando Morientes | 33 | 93 | 0.35 | 1997–2009 | Real Madrid (17/58), Monaco (9/12), Liverpool (1/5), Valencia (6/14), Marseille (0/4) |
26 | Arjen Robben | 31 | 110 | 0.28 | 2002–2018 | PSV Eindhoven (3/10), Chelsea (2/19), Real Madrid (1/11), Bayern Munich (25/70) |
27 | Samuel Eto'o | 30 | 78 | 0.38 | 1999–2014 | Real Madrid (0/3), Mallorca (1/5), Barcelona (16/38), Inter Milan (10/23), Chelsea (3/9) |
Wayne Rooney | 30 | 85 | 0.35 | 2004–2015 | Manchester United | |
Kaká | 30 | 86 | 0.35 | 2003–2014 | Milan (25/62), Real Madrid (5/24) | |
Francisco Gento ‡ | 30 | 89 | 0.34 | 1955–1969 | Real Madrid | |
31 | Harry Kane | 29 | 44 | 0.66 | 2016– | Tottenham Hotspur (21/32), Bayern Munich (8/12) |
David Trezeguet | 29 | 58 | 0.50 | 1997–2009 | Monaco (4/9), Juventus (25/49) | |
Roy Makaay | 29 | 61 | 0.48 | 2000–2007 | Deportivo La Coruña (12/29), Bayern Munich (17/32) | |
Patrick Kluivert | 29 | 71 | 0.41 | 1994–2006 | Ajax (9/22), Barcelona (20/46), PSV Eindhoven (0/3) | |
Edin Džeko | 29 | 74 | 0.39 | 2009– | VfL Wolfsburg (4/6), Manchester City (3/24), Roma (15/25), Inter Milan (7/19) | |
36 | Jean-Pierre Papin ‡ | 28 | 37 | 0.76 | 1989–1994 | Marseille (19/21), Milan (7/13), Bayern Munich (2/3) |
Álvaro Morata | 28 | 82 | 0.34 | 2012– | Real Madrid (4/15), Juventus (15/35), Chelsea (1/7), Atlético Madrid (8/25) | |
Ryan Giggs | 28 | 145 | 0.19 | 1993–2014 | Manchester United | |
39 | Sadio Mané | 27 | 63 | 0.43 | 2017–2023 | Liverpool (24/55), Bayern Munich (3/8) |
Luis Suárez | 27 | 73 | 0.37 | 2010–2022 | Ajax (1/5), Barcelona (25/55), Atlético Madrid (1/13) | |
Rivaldo | 27 | 73 | 0.37 | 1997–2007 | Barcelona (22/43), Milan (2/13), Olympiacos (3/17) | |
Raheem Sterling | 27 | 82 | 0.33 | 2014– | Liverpool (0/6), Manchester City (24/67), Chelsea (3/9) | |
43 | Mario Gómez | 26 | 44 | 0.59 | 2007–2013 | VfB Stuttgart (3/5), Bayern Munich (23/39) |
44 | Mário Jardel | 25 | 46 | 0.54 | 1996–2001 | Porto (19/32), Galatasaray (6/14) |
Robin van Persie | 25 | 59 | 0.42 | 2002–2014 | Feyenoord (0/2), Arsenal (18/45), Manchester United (7/12) | |
Hernán Crespo | 25 | 65 | 0.38 | 1997–2007 | Parma (2/6), Lazio (2/11), Inter Milan (11/23), Chelsea (4/15), Milan (6/10) | |
47 | José Altafini ‡ | 24 | 28 | 0.86 | 1959–1976 | Milan (20/17), Juventus (4/11) |
Gabriel Jesus | 24 | 46 | 0.52 | 2017– | Manchester City (20/38), Arsenal (4/8) | |
Marco Simone ‡ | 24 | 46 | 0.52 | 1989–2001 | Milan (15/36), Paris Saint-Germain (3/4), Monaco (6/6) | |
José Augusto ‡ | 24 | 56 | 0.43 | 1960–1969 | Benfica | |
Olivier Giroud | 24 | 64 | 0.38 | 2012–2023 | Arsenal (12/29), Chelsea (6/12), Milan (6/23) | |
Giovane Élber | 24 | 69 | 0.35 | 1997–2004 | Bayern Munich (21/60), Lyon (3/9) | |
Marco Reus | 24 | 72 | 0.33 | 2012–2024 | Borussia Dortmund | |
Gonzalo Higuaín | 24 | 83 | 0.29 | 2007–2020 | Real Madrid (8/48), Napoli (4/5), Juventus (12/30) | |
Luís Figo | 24 | 103 | 0.23 | 1997–2009 | Barcelona (7/24), Real Madrid (16/58), Inter Milan (1/21) | |
Paul Scholes | 24 | 124 | 0.19 | 1997–2009 | Manchester United |
The table below does not include goals scored in the qualification stage of the competition. [10]