The appearances of Americans in Europe’s most prestigious club competition has become a norm in the past few decades. With players like Weston McKennie who has played in five straight editions of the competition and Christian Pulisic who won the tournament in 2021 with Chelsea, the UEFA Champions League has gotten accustomed to seeing the United States’ best.
With appearances, though, comes the most important part of the game and an honor that many of today’s American Champions League stars have under their belt in the tournament — scoring goals.
The list of United States players scoring in the UCL has grown exponentially over the last few years with Americans playing for teams in countries like Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Italy and England, resulting in a completely different list of the country’s top scorers in the competition as opposed to before.
Americans are here to stay, Europe.
So, without further ado, here are the Americans with the most UEFA Champions League goals.
Americans with most Champions League goals
Active players*
4. Tyler Adams* (RB Leipzig), Sergiño Dest* (Barcelona, PSV), Ricardo Pepi* (PSV), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Jovan Kirovski (Dortmund), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht) - 1 goal
The fourth spot in the list is shared by an interesting combination of players, both past and present. Maurice Edu and Sacha Kjestan both managed to score one goal in the competition, with Jovan Kirovski — the first American to win the UEFA Champions League — also scoring one. Present day, Tyler Adams and Sergiño Dest, without being natural goal scorers, have made their mark on the scoresheet in their early UCL careers.
3. Fabian Johnson (Mönchengladbach), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Weston McKennie* (Schalke, Juventus), and Jordan Pefok* (Young Boys) - 2 goals
Like fourth place, third place is also shared by a handful of former USMNT players. Fabian Johnson and Jermaine Jones managed to get a pair of goals in their Champions League careers with clubs in the German Bundesliga. Weston McKennie and Jordan Pefok have also bagged two.
2. DaMarcus Beasley (PSV, Rangers) - 4 goals
The once leading all-time American goal scorer in the Champions League, the multifunctional DaMarcus Beasley. Beasly scored a total of four goals in 22 appearances, including a fantastic 2003-04 European run with PSV where he scored three goals in 10 matches and reached the semifinal of the tournament.
1. Christian Pulisic* (Dortmund, Chelsea, Milan) - 8 goals
Christian is ready to increase his lead. Pulisic has scored seven goals across 49 with Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea and most recently AC Milan. The American’s most successful season was when he lifted the trophy with Chelsea in 2021, helping the Blues to European glory with two goals and two assists in 10 matches.
