Players with the most Champions League goals: All-time top scorers

The UEFA Champions League has long been considered the pinnacle of club football. With the best teams competing to be crowned Europe's elite, players get the perfect stage to showcase their abilities. The competition is where legends are born, and those legends don’t get bigger than the players with the most Champions League goals in history.

As of the start of the 2023-24 Champions League tournament, these are the players who are the competition's top scorers. From the legends of old to modern-day heroes, these players have demonstrated consistency, skill, and the uncanny ability to find the back of the net on Europe's biggest stage. And since the Champions League didn't begin in its current format until 1992 when it replaced the European Cup, we have included players from that era with an asterisk.

Also featured on this list is one young player climbing rapidly and already breaking scoring records in Premier League: Erling Haaland. We have our money on Haaland gaining more than a few spots on the list of players with most Champions League goals in 2023-2024, and doing it in style.

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Players with the Most Champions League Goals (Career Stats)

The list format is ranking, player name, Champions League goals, appearances, goals per appearance, and then clubs with goals/appearances for each.

• #1, Cristiano Ronaldo: 140 goals, 183 appearances, 0.77 goals per appearance, 2003–2022, Manchester United (21/59), Real Madrid (105/101), Juventus (14/23)
• #2, Lionel Messi: 129 goals, 163 appearances, 0.79 goals per appearance, 2005–2023, Barcelona (120/149), Paris Saint-Germain (9/14)
• #3, Robert Lewandowski: 92 goals, 112 appearances, 0.82 goals per appearance, 2011–, Borussia Dortmund (17/28), Bayern Munich (69/78), Barcelona (6/6)
• #4, Karim Benzema: 90 goals, 152 appearances, 0.59 goals per appearance, 2005–2023, Lyon (12/19), Real Madrid (78/133)
• #5, Raúl: 71 goals, 142 appearances, 0.5 goals per appearance, 1995–2011, Real Madrid (66/130), Schalke 04 (5/12)
• #6, Ruud van Nistelrooy: 56 goals, 73 appearances, 0.77 goals per appearance, 1998–2009, PSV Eindhoven (8/11), Manchester United (35/43), Real Madrid (13/19)
• #7, Thomas Müller: 53 goals, 143 appearances, 0.37 goals per appearance, 2009–, Bayern Munich
• #8, Thierry Henry: 50 goals, 112 appearances, 0.45 goals per appearance, 1997–2012, Monaco (7/9), Arsenal (35/77), Barcelona (8/26)
• #9, Alfredo Di Stéfano*: 49 goals, 58 appearances, 0.84 goals per appearance, 1955–1964, Real Madrid
• #10, Andriy Shevchenko: 48 goals, 100 appearances, 0.48 goals per appearance, 1994–2012, Dynamo Kyiv (15/26), Milan (29/59), Chelsea (4/15)
• #10, Zlatan Ibrahimović: 48 goals, 124 appearances, 0.39 goals per appearance, 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)
• #12, Eusébio*: 46 goals, 65 appearances, 0.71 goals per appearance, 1961–1974, Benfica
• #12, Filippo Inzaghi: 46 goals, 81 appearances, 0.57 goals per appearance, 1997–2012, Juventus (17/26), Milan (29/55)
• #14, Mohamed Salah: 44 goals, 79 appearances, 0.56 goals per appearance, 2013–, Basel (2/6), Chelsea (0/2), Roma (1/7), Liverpool (41/64)
• #14, Didier Drogba: 44 goals, 92 appearances, 0.48 goals per appearance, 2003–2015, Marseille (5/6), Chelsea (36/74), Galatasaray (3/12)
• #16, Neymar: 43 goals, 81 appearances, 0.53 goals per appearance, 2013–2022, Barcelona (21/40), Paris Saint-Germain (22/41)
• #17, Alessandro Del Piero: 42 goals, 89 appearances, 0.47 goals per appearance, 1995–2009, Juventus
• #18, Sergio Agüero: 41 goals, 79 appearances, 0.52 goals per appearance, 2008–2021, Atlético Madrid (5/14), Manchester City (36/64), Barcelona (0/1)
• #19, Kylian Mbappé: 41 goals, 62 appearances, 0.66 goals per appearance, 2016–, Monaco (6/9), Paris Saint-Germain (35/53)
• #20, Ferenc Puskás*: 36 goals, 41 appearances, 0.88 goals per appearance, 1956–1966, Budapest Honvéd (1/2), Real Madrid (35/39)
• #21, Erling Haaland: 35 goals, 31 appearances, 1.12 goals per appearance, 2019–, Red Bull Salzburg (8/6), Borussia Dortmund (15/13), Manchester City (12/12)
• #21, Edinson Cavani: 35 goals, 70 appearances, 0.5 goals per appearance, 2011–2022, Napoli (5/8), Paris Saint-Germain (30/54), Manchester United (0/8)
• #23, Gerd Müller*: 34 goals, 35 appearances, 0.97 goals per appearance, 1969–1977, Bayern Munich
• #24, Fernando Morientes: 33 goals, 93 appearances, 0.35 goals per appearance, 1997–2009, Real Madrid (17/58), Monaco (9/12), Liverpool (1/5), Valencia (6/14), Marseille (0/4)
• #25, Arjen Robben: 31 goals, 110 appearances, 0.28 goals per appearance, 2002–2018, PSV Eindhoven (3/10), Chelsea (2/19), Real Madrid (1/11), Bayern Munich (25/70)
• #26, Samuel Eto'o: 30 goals, 78 appearances, 0.38 goals per appearance, 1999–2014, Real Madrid (0/3), Mallorca (1/5), Barcelona (16/38), Inter Milan (10/23), Chelsea (3/9)
• #26, Antoine Griezmann: 30 goals, 85 appearances, 0.35 goals per appearance, 2014–, Real Sociedad (0/6), Atlético Madrid (26/63), Barcelona (4/16)
• #26, Wayne Rooney: 30 goals, 85 appearances, 0.35 goals per appearance, 2004–2015, Manchester United
• #26, Kaká: 30 goals, 86 appearances, 0.35 goals per appearance, 2003–2014, Milan (25/62), Real Madrid (5/24)
• #26, Francisco Gento*: 30 goals, 89 appearances, 0.34 goals per appearance, 1955–1969, Real Madrid
• #31, David Trezeguet: 29 goals, 58 appearances, 0.5 goals per appearance, 1997–2009, Monaco (4/9), Juventus (25/49)
• #31, Roy Makaay: 29 goals, 61 appearances, 0.48 goals per appearance, 2000–2007, Deportivo La Coruña (12/29), Bayern Munich (17/32)
• #31, Patrick Kluivert: 29 goals, 71 appearances, 0.41 goals per appearance, 1994–2006, Ajax (9/22), Barcelona (20/46), PSV Eindhoven (0/3)
• #31, Edin Džeko: 29 goals, 74 appearances, 0.39 goals per appearance, 2009–, VfL Wolfsburg (4/6), Manchester City (3/24), Roma (15/25), Inter Milan (7/19)
• #35, Jean-Pierre Papin*: 28 goals, 37 appearances, 0.76 goals per appearance, 1989–1994, Marseille (19/21), Milan (7/13), Bayern Munich (2/3)
• #35, Ryan Giggs: 28 goals, 145 appearances, 0.19 goals per appearance, 1993–2014, Manchester United
• #37, Sadio Mané: 27 goals, 63 appearances, 0.43 goals per appearance, 2017–2023, Liverpool (24/55), Bayern Munich (3/8)
• #37, Luis Suárez: 27 goals, 73 appearances, 0.37 goals per appearance, 2010–2022, Ajax (1/13), Barcelona (25/55), Atlético Madrid (1/13)
• #37, Rivaldo: 27 goals, 73 appearances, 0.37 goals per appearance, 1997–2007, Barcelona (22/43), Milan (2/13), Olympiacos (3/17)
• #37, Raheem Sterling: 27 goals, 82 appearances, 0.33 goals per appearance, 2014–, Liverpool (0/6), Manchester City (24/67), Chelsea (3/9)
• #41, Mario Gómez: 26 goals, 44 appearances, 0.59 goals per appearance, 2007–2013, VfB Stuttgart (3/5), Bayern Munich (23/39)
• #42, Mário Jardel: 25 goals, 46 appearances, 0.54 goals per appearance, 1996–2001, Porto (19/32), Galatasaray (6/14)
• #42, Robin van Persie: 25 goals, 59 appearances, 0.42 goals per appearance, 2002–2014, Feyenoord (0/2), Arsenal (18/45), Manchester United (7/12)
• #42, Hernán Crespo: 25 goals, 65 appearances, 0.38 goals per appearance, 1997–2007, Parma (2/6), Lazio (2/11), Inter Milan (11/23), Chelsea (4/15), Milan (6/10)
• #45, José Altafini*: 24 goals, 28 appearances, 0.86 goals per appearance, 1959–1976, Milan (20/17), Juventus (4/11)
• #45, Marco Simone*: 24 goals, 46 appearances, 0.52 goals per appearance, 1989–2001, Milan (15/36), Paris Saint-Germain (3/4), Monaco (6/6)
• #45, José Augusto*: 24 goals, 56 appearances, 0.43 goals per appearance, 1960–1969, Benfica
• #45, Giovane Élber: 24 goals, 69 appearances, 0.35 goals per appearance, 1997–2004, Bayern Munich (21/60), Lyon (3/9)
• #45, Gonzalo Higuaín: 24 goals, 83 appearances, 0.29 goals per appearance, 2007–2020, Real Madrid (8/48), Napoli (4/5), Juventus (12/30)
• #45, Luís Figo: 24 goals, 103 appearances, 0.23 goals per appearance, 1997–2009, Barcelona (7/24), Real Madrid (16/58), Inter Milan (1/21)
• #45, Paul Scholes: 24 goals, 124 appearances, 0.19 goals per appearance, 1994–2013, Manchester United

This list captures the essence of what the Champions League represents – the best of the best. These players have not only consistently performed but have also set benchmarks for future generations. With the competition growing every year, it remains to be seen who will join this  list of players with the most Champions League goals in the future.