Top 10 UEFA Champions League top scorers of all time

Since its inception in 1955 as the European Champions Cup and then rebranding to the UEFA Champions League in 1991, Europe’s premier club competition has featured some of the best goalscorers in football history.

The top 10 scorers in the history of the UEFA Champions League actually feature 11 players as it stands, 6 of whom are still playing active football.

Legendary Swedish striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored 48 goals in 124 UEFA Champions League appearances so far and the 40-year-old may yet increase that tally as he’s set to play for AC Milan in the 2022/23 instalment of the competition.

Ibrahimovic’s goals were scored for six different teams most of which were for Paris Saint Germain with 20 goals, nine goals for AC Milan, six each for Ajax and Inter Milan, four goals for Barcelona and three for Juventus.

Legendary Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko also scored 48 goals in the Champions League but he did so in 100 games, giving him a better goal ratio than Ibrahimovic.

Shevchenko has been retired since 2012 and last played Champions League football in 2009 but still left a lasting legacy with his 48 goals for AC Milan (29), Dynamo Kyiv (15) and Chelsea (4).

Alfredo Di Stefano scored 49 goals in 58 games for Real Madrid in the old European Cup and was a key part of the early success Los Blancos enjoyed on the continent.

The Argentine-Spaniard has been retired since 1966 and last played in this competition all the way back in 1994 but still boasts the best goal ratio in the top 10 at 0.84 goals per game.

French striker Thierry Henry scored 50 goals in 112 UEFA Champions League games for three different teams until he hung his boots in 2014.

The vast majority of those goals were scored for Arsenal where he made his name with 35 goals, eight for Barcelona and seven for Monaco.

German forward Thomas Muller is often underrated but his presence amongst the elite scorers at the highest level emphasises just how good he really is.

Muller has scored 52 goals so far in 134 Champions League games, all for Bayern Munich and the 32-year-old looks prime to add to the tally with many more years still to play for him.

Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s prowess in the UEFA Champions League was incredible with 36 goals in 73 games at a 0.77 goal ratio.

The Dutch centre-forward in his days scored 35 goals for Manchester United, 13 goals for Real Madrid and eight more for PSV Eindhoven.

Before the advent of modern football, Spanish striker Raul Gonzalez was considered the peak of Champions League excellence and rightly so with 71 goals in 142 games.

For a while, this was the highest number of goals anyone had scored in this tournament and many believed the record would not be broken but indeed it was after Raul hung up his boots in 2015 even though he last played UCL football in 2012 for Schalke.

French striker Karim Benzema seemed to find a new level of the game in the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League campaign in which he scored a career-best 15 goals to help Real Madrid lift the trophy.

That took his total tally to 86 goals and counting in 142 games so far, with 12 goals for Lyon and 76 goals for Real Madrid with no signs of stopping.

A true great and icon of the modern game, Polish centre forward Robert Lewandowski has become synonymous with goals in his career, his 0.81 goal ratio in the competition is only better by Alfredo Di Stefano in the top 10.

Lewandowski has so far scored 86 goals in 106 games, 17 goals for Borussia Dortmund and 69 for Bayern Munich, a total which can only increase as the 33-year-old only recently just joined Barcelona.

Lionel Messi has the third best goal ratio among the elite scorers of the UEFA Champions League with 125 goals in 156 games so far, resulting in 0.80 goals per game only bettered by Alfredo Di Stefano and Robert Lewandowski.

The Argentine wizard scored an astonishing 120 UCL goals for Barcelona and added five more in his first season with PSG and is most likely not done scoring in this competition just yet.

There are multiple reasons Cristiano Ronaldo is called “Mr Champions League”, chief of which is his incredible goal record in the competition with 140 goals in 183 games for three different teams.

The Portuguese goal machine has played more games and scored more goals than anyone else in Champions League history so far with 105 of those scored in the white of Real Madrid, 20 for Manchester United and 15 for Juventus.

It remains to be seen if he can add to his tally though as the 37-year-old currently plays for Manchester United who failed to qualify for the 2022/23 edition of the competition.