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*
6. Tyler Adams* (RB Leipzig), Sergiño Dest* (FC Barcelona, PSV), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Jovan Kirovski (Borussia Dortmund), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht) - 1 goal
The sixth 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.
5. Fabian Johnson (Mönchengladbach), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), and Jordan Pefok* (Young Boys) - 2 goals
Like sixth place, fifth 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, with Jordan Pefok have also bagging two.
4. Ricardo Pepi* (PSV Eindhoven) and Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven) - 3 goals
El Tren and Tillman have had incredible starts to their short careers in Europe's biggest club competition, with Pepi scoring three goals in 344 minutes — hitting the back of the net every 115 minutes for PSV in the UEFA Champions League and Tillman scoring his first-ever brace against Shaktar Donetsk this season.
3. DaMarcus Beasley (PSV Eindhoven, 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.
2. Weston McKennie* (Schalke, Juventus) - 7 goals
The USMNT midfielder is also an avid UEFA Champions League performer, becoming one of Juventus' best goal contributors at the international tournament stage since arriving to the club in 2020. The American is currently having his best-scoring European season, scoring three goals in eight matches thus far.
1. Christian Pulisic* (Dortmund, Chelsea, Milan) - 12 goals
Pulisic has scored 12 goals across 62 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. The USMNT captain, however, is having his best goalscoring season with AC Milan, bagging four goals in just eight games.
