The

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, known until 1992 as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or colloquially as the European Cup, is an annual

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

cup competition organised by

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

since 1955. Originally a straight knockout competition open only to champion clubs, the tournament was expanded during the 1990s to incorporate a round-robin group phase and more teams. The expansion resulted in more games being played, increasing players' goalscoring chances, thus the rankings are weighted in favour of modern players; only seven out of the 51 players on the list never competed in the reformed Champions League. With 140 goals,

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

is currently the all-time top goalscorer, while his career rival

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

is the only other player to surpass 100 goals. Ronaldo and Messi have also won the Golden Boot on the most occasions in the competition's history, with seven and six respectively.

All-time top scorers

:A indicates the player was from the European Cup era. :Players that are taking part in the

2022–23 UEFA Champions League The 2022–23 UEFA Champions League is the 68th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 31st season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final will b ...

are highlighted in boldface.
:The table below does not include goals scored in the qualification stage of the competition.

Top scorers by season

The table below does not include goals scored in the qualification stage of the competition.For players active prior to the introduction of the Champions League in 1992, see: For all other players, see:

By player

By country

;Notes

References

{{UEFA Champions League seasons

Top scorers A spinning top, or simply a top, is a toy with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom, designed to be spun on its vertical axis, balancing on the tip due to the gyroscopic effect. Once set in motion, a top will usually wobble for a few se ...

UEFA Champions UEFA Champions Career achievements of association football players

All-time top scorers

Top scorers by season

By player

By country

See also

References