As one of the world’s most prominent football competitions, the UEFA Champions League can be a breeding ground for superstars of today and tomorrow.
The best players in the world look not only to vault their clubs to the coveted title, but also put themselves on a pathway to global renown.
While players all over the pitch are scrutinized and praised, goals get the headlines more often than not. Harry Kane, who finished joint-top of last season’s standings alongside Kylian Mbappe, got off to a flying start in the new format as he scored an incredible four goals in Bayern Munich’s resounding 9-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb, including a hat-trick of penalties. Kane was also on target in Barcelona, only for Raphinha to storm up the charts with a hat-trick for the hosts.
Mbappe was off the mark with Real Madrid in a win over Stuttgart, and his hat-trick against Man City in the knockout stage matched teammate Vinicius Junior ‘s triple from a stunning 5-2 win over Borussia Dortmund in the league phase. Viktor Gyokeres was the star of November 5, scoring a treble of his own against Man City.
Robert Lewandowski is in the hunt, having joined a very exclusive club of players with 100 Champions League goals on matchday five. He struck from the penalty spot twice in Barcelona’s bonkers 5-4 win over Benfica on Matchweek 7, while teammate Raphinha scored two of his own. Vinicius then closed the gap with a double in Madrid’s 5-1 win over Salzburg.
The Sporting News brings you the updated top goal scorers for the current season’s UEFA tournament as players across Europe hope to put themselves in rare company.
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UEFA Champions League goal scorers 2024/25
Updated after matches on Wednesday, March 12.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals (PKs) | Assists | Matches | Minutes Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Raphinha | Barcelona | 11 (0) | 5 | 10 | 835 |
| 2. | Serhou Guirassy | B. Dortmund | 10 (4) | 3 | 12 | 903 |
| = | Harry Kane | Bayern Munich | 10 (4) | 1 | 10 | 939 |
| 4. | Robert Lewandowski | Barcelona | 9 (3) | 0 | 10 | 786 |
| 5. | Erling Haaland | Man City | 8 (2) | 0 | 9 | 771 |
| 6. | Jonathan David | Lille | 7 (2) | 2 | 10 | 746 |
| = | Vangelis Pavlidis | Benfica | 7 (2) | 2 | 12 | 905 |
| = | Vinicius Junior | Real Madrid | 7 (1) | 2 | 10 | 924 |
| = | Julian Alvarez | Atletico Madrid | 7 (0) | 1 | 10 | 790 |
| = | Ousmane Dembele | PSG | 7 (0) | 1 | 10 | 802 |
| = | Kylian Mbappe | Real Madrid | 7 (0) | 1 | 12 | 967 |
| 11. | Antoine Griezmann | Atletico Madrid | 6 (0) | 2 | 10 | 732 |
| = | Santi Gimenez | AC Milan/PSV | 6 (1) | 1 | 7 | 449 |
| = | Viktor Gyokeres | Sporting CP | 6 (2) | 1 | 8 | 606 |
| = | Florian Wirtz | Bayer Leverkusen | 6 (1) | 1 | 9 | 764 |
First tiebreaker is assists, followed by a lower minutes-per-goal total.
MORE: Premier League top goal scorers | La Liga top goal scorers
UEFA Champions League Golden Boot winners
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have dominated the majority of Golden Boot races with Ronaldo’s 17-goal haul in 2013/14 still the single-season Champions League record.
| Year | Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023/24 | Harry Kane | Bayern Munich | 8 |
| Kylian Mbappe | Paris Saint-Germain | 8 | |
| 2022/23 | Erling Haaland | Manchester City | 12 |
| 2021/22 | Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | 15 |
| 2020/21 | Erling Haaland | Borussia Dortmund | 10 |
| 2019/20 | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | 15 |
| 2018/19 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 12 |
| 2017/18 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 15 |
| 2016/17 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 12 |
| 2015/16 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 16 |
| 2014/15 | Neymar | Barcelona | 10 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 10 | |
| Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 10 | |
| 2013/14 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 17 |
| 2012/13 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 12 |
| 2011/12 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 14 |
| 2010/11 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 12 |
| 2009/10 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 8 |
| 2008/09 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 9 |
| 2007/08 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Manchester United | 8 |
| 2006/07 | Kaka | AC Milan | 10 |
| 2005/06 | Andriy Shevchenko | AC Milan | 9 |
| 2004/05 | Ruud van Nistelrooy | Manchester United | 8 |
| 2003/04 | Fernando Morientes | AS Monaco | 9 |
| 2002/03 | Ruud van Nistelrooy | Manchester United | 12 |
| 2001/02 | Ruud van Nistelrooy | Manchester United | 10 |
| 2000/01 | Raul | Real Madrid | 7 |
| 1999/00 | Raul | Real Madrid | 10 |
| Mario Jardel | Porto | 10 | |
| Rivaldo | Barcelona | 10 | |
| 1998/99 | Andriy Shevchenko | Dynamo Kyiv | 8 |
| Dwight Yorke | Manchester United | 8 | |
| 1997/98 | Alessandro Del Piero | Juventus | 10 |
| 1996/97 | Milinko Pantić | Atletico Madrid | 5 |
| 1995/96 | Jari Litmanen | Ajax | 9 |
| 1994/95 | George Weah | PSG | 7 |
| 1993/94 | Ronald Koeman | Barcelona | 8 |
| Wynton Rufer | Werder Bremen | 8 | |
| 1992/93 | Romario | PSV Eindhoven | 7 |
Champions League all-time top scorers
Erling Haaland still has a long way to go to break into the top 10 all-time Champions League goalscorer list based on some incredible performances since 1992.
Cristiano Ronaldo is still the frontrunner, ahead of Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski.
(Data correct as of November 6, 2024 and excludes qualifying rounds)
| Player | Team(s) | UCL goals | UCL games | |
| 1. | Cristiano Ronaldo | Man United, Real Madrid, Juventus | 140 | 183 |
| 2. | Lionel Messi | Barcelona, PSG | 129 | 163 |
| 3. | Robert Lewandowski | Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Barcelona | 99 | 124 |
| 4. | Karim Benzema | Lyon, Real Madrid | 90 | 152 |
| 5. | Raul | Real Madrid, Schalke | 71 | 142 |
| 6. | Ruud van Nistelrooy | PSV, Man United, Real Madrid | 56 | 73 |
| 7. | Thomas Muller | Bayern Munich | 54 | 152 |
| 8. | Thierry Henry | AS Monaco, Arsenal, Barcelona | 50 | 112 |
| 9. | Andriy Shevchenko | Dynamo Kyiv, AC Milan, Chelsea | 48 | 100 |
| = | Zlatan Ibrahimovic | Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, AC Milan, PSG, Man United | 48 | 124 |
| = | Kylian Mbappe | Monaco, PSG | 49 | 77 |
How to watch Champions League around the world
