UEFA European Championship top goalscorers

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Cristiano Ronaldo is UEFA European Championship top scorer with 14 goals.

A total of 829 goals have been scored in games at the men's 16 final tournaments of the UEFA European Championship, not counting penalties scored during shoot-outs.[1] Since the first goal scored by Yugoslav player Milan Galić at the 1960 European Nations' Cup, exactly 479 footballers have scored goals at the Euro tournaments,[2] of whom 37 have scored four or more.

Since in the beginning tournaments were contested between four teams and only two games were played, top goalscorers of the first three editions have scored only two goals.[3] This was bettered in 1972, when West Germany's Gerd Müller scored four goals. Four years later this was matched by his compatriot Dieter Müller and finally in 1984 France's Michel Platini have scored record 9 goals in just 5 games.[4] His record stood for more than three decades unitil Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 10th goal for Portugal at the UEFA Euro 2020.[5] He has later improved his tally and as of May 2024 stands at 14 goals in 25 appearances at the European Championship tournaments — also record.[6] The top 37 goalscorers have represented 15 nations, with 6 players scoring for Germany or West Germany, 5 for France, and 4 for Netherlands. In total, only 6 of them have scored at tournaments with maximum of 8 teams (prior to UEFA Euro 1996).

Numbers of goalscorers[2]
Goals ≥10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Total
Nos. of players 1 1 0 2 8 9 16 42 89 311 479

Platini holds the record for the most goals scored in a single tournament, with 9 goals in 1984.[7] The players that came closest were Antoine Griezmann in 2016 (with 6 goals) and Marco van Basten in 1988, Alan Shearer in 1996, Savo Milošević and Patrick Kluivert in 2000, Milan Baroš in 2004, and Ronaldo and Patrick Schick in 2020 (all with 5 goals). Across the 16 tournaments of the Euro, 31 players have been credited with the most tournament goals, with Ronaldo the only one to achieve this feat twice (in 2012 and 2020). Twelve of them scored at least four goals in a tournament, while Portugal's Nuno Gomes (2000), England's Wayne Rooney, Netherland's Ruud van Nistelrooy (both in 2004), Belgium's Romelu Lukaku, England's Harry Kane, France's Karim Benzema and Sweden's Emil Forsberg (all in 2020) are the only footballers to score at least 4 goals without being the top goalscorer. These 31 players represented 15 nations, the most (five) Germany or West Germany. Four played for Yugoslavia, while three represented France, Netherlands and Spain.

Of all the players who have played in the UEFA European Championship tournaments, only three have achieved an average of two goals per game played: Hungary's Dezső Novák and West Germany's: Gerd Müller and Dieter Müller — although Novák have appeared in only one Euro game.

Overall top goalscorers[edit]

Table key
Player Denotes player still active at international level
‡ Denotes national top scorer (or joint top scorer) at the Euro
[ ] Denotes tournaments where the player was part of the squad, but did not play in a match
( ) Denotes tournaments where the player played in a match, but did not score a goal
Year Denotes tournaments where the player's team won the World Cup
T Denotes tournaments where the player was top scorer
Players with at least 4 goals at the UEFA Euro tournaments[1][8]
Rank Player Team Goals
scored 		Matches
played 		Ratio Tournaments Notes
1 Cristiano Ronaldo‡  Portugal 14 25 0.56 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020T list
2 Michel Platini‡  France 9 5 1.80 1984T list
3 Alan Shearer‡  England 7 9 0.78 (1992), 1996T, 2000 list
Antoine Griezmann  France 11 0.64 2016T, 2020 list
5 Ruud van Nistelrooy‡  Netherlands 6 8 0.75 2004, 2008 list
Patrick Kluivert‡  Netherlands 9 0.67 1996, 2000T, [2004] list
Wayne Rooney  England 10 0.60 2004, 2012, 2016 list
Romelu Lukaku‡  Belgium 10 0.60 2016, 2020 list
Álvaro Morata‡  Spain 10 0.60 2016, 2020 list
Thierry Henry  France 11 0.55 2000, 2004, 2008 list
Zlatan Ibrahimović‡  Sweden 13 0.46 2004, 2008, 2012, (2016) list
Nuno Gomes  Portugal 14 0.43 2000, 2004, 2008 list
13 Savo Milošević‡  Yugoslavia 5 4 1.25 2000T list
Patrick Schick‡  Czech Republic 5 1.00 2020T list
Marco van Basten  Netherlands 9 0.56 1988T, (1992) list
Milan Baroš‡  Czech Republic 10 0.50 2004T, (2008), (2012) list
Robert Lewandowski‡  Poland 11 0.45 2012, 2016, 2020 list
Mario Gómez‡  Germany 13 0.38 (2008), 2012T, 2016 list
Jürgen Klinsmann‡  Germany[a] 13 0.38 1988, 1992, 1996 list
Fernando Torres  Spain 13 0.38 (2004), 2008, 2012T list
Zinedine Zidane  France 14 0.36 (1996), 2000, 2004 list
22 Dieter Müller  West Germany 4 2 2.00 1976T list
Gerd Müller  West Germany 2 2.00 1972T list
David Villa  Spain 4 1.00 2008T list
Dragan Džajić  Yugoslavia 5 0.80 1968T, 1976 list
Emil Forsberg  Sweden 7 0.57 (2016), 2020 list
Roman Pavlyuchenko‡  Russia 8 0.50 2008, 2012 list
Rudi Völler  West Germany[b] 8 0.50 1984, 1988, (1992) list
Angelos Charisteas‡  Greece 9 0.44 2004, 2008 list
Xherdan Shaqiri‡   Switzerland 9 0.44 2016, 2020 list
Karim Benzema  France 10 0.40 (2008), (2012), 2020 list
Henrik Larsson  Sweden 10 0.40 2000, 2004, (2008) list
Ivan Perišić‡  Croatia 10 0.40 (2012), 2016, 2020 list
Harry Kane  England 11 0.36 (2016), 2020 list
Vladimír Šmicer  Czech Republic 11 0.36 1996, 2000, 2004 list
Lukas Podolski  Germany 12 0.33 (2004), 2008, 2012, (2016) list
Dennis Bergkamp  Netherlands 13 0.31 1992, 1996, (2000) list

Timeline[edit]

Key
Goal set a new record
Goal equalled the existing record
Progressive list of footballers that have held the record for most goals scored at the UEFA European Championship final tournaments
Goals Date Player Team Goal Opponent Score Tournament & Stage Previous goals Ref
1 6 July 1960 Milan Galić  Yugoslavia 1–0 France 5–4 1960, France
Semi-finals 		N/A [9]
Jean Vincent  France 1–1 Yugoslavia 4–5
François Heutte 2–1
Maryan Wisniewski 3–1
Ante Žanetić  Yugoslavia 2–3 France 5–4
2 François Heutte  France 4–2 Yugoslavia 4–5
Dražan Jerković  Yugoslavia 5–4 France 5–4
  • 1960 vs France
Valentin Ivanov  Soviet Union 2–0 Czechoslovakia 3–0
  • 1960 vs Czechoslovakia
 [10]
10 July 1960 Milan Galić  Yugoslavia 1–0 Soviet Union 1–2 1960, France
Final
  • 1960 vs France
 [11]
Viktor Ponedelnik  Soviet Union 2–1 Yugoslavia 2–1
  • 1960 vs Czechoslovakia
3 17 June 1964 2–0 Denmark 3–0 1964, Spain
Semi-finals
  • 1960 vs Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia
 [12]
Valentin Ivanov 3–0
  • 1960 vs Czechoslovakia (2)
18 June 1972 Gerd Müller  West Germany 1–0 Soviet Union 3–0 1972, Belgium
Final 		[13]
4 3–0
19 June 1976 Dragan Džajić  Yugoslavia 2–2 Netherlands 2–3 1976, Yugoslavia
3rd place play-off 		[14]
20 June 1976 Dieter Müller  West Germany 1–2 Czechoslovakia 2–2aet 1976, Yugoslavia
Final 		[15]
16 June 1984 Michel Platini  France 5–0 Belgium 5–0 1984, France
Group stage 		[16]
5 19 June 1984 1–1 Yugoslavia 3–2 [17]
6 2–1
7 3–1
8 23 June 1984 3–2 Portugal 3–2 1984, France
Semi-finals 		[18]
9 27 June 1984 1–0 Spain 2–0 1984, France
Final 		[19]
6 July 2016 Cristiano Ronaldo  Portugal 1–0 Wales 2–0 2016, France
Semi-finals 		[20]
10 15 June 2021 2–0 Hungary 3–0 2020, Europe
Group stage 		[21]
11 3–0
12 19 June 2021 1–0 Germany 2–4 [22]
13 23 June 2021 1–0 France 2–2 [23]
14 2–2

Top goalscorers for each tournament[edit]

Since 2008, if there is more than one player with the same number of goals, the tie-breaker goes to the player who has contributed the most assists. If there is still more than one player, the tie-breaker goes to the player who has played the least amount of time.[3]Between the years 1960 and 2016, the Golden Boot award went to the top goalscorer of each edition of the UEFA European Championship. At Euro 2020, there was a new physical and digital trophy presented to the tournament's top scorer. It was commissioned by Alipay, the Chinese company sponsoring the award. "Sculpted in the shape of the Chinese character '支' (pronounced zhi, and meaning 'payment' as well as 'support'), the barefooted player on the trophy reflects the egalitarian footballing ideal that success on the pitch comes regardless of background or status," according to UEFA.[24]

Top goalscorers at each FIFA World Cup final tournament[3][25]
Edition Player Team Goals
scored 		Matches
played 		Golden
Boot 		Other UEFA
Awards
1960 France François Heutte  France 2 2 Yes
Valentin Ivanov  Soviet Union Yes Team of the Tournament
Viktor Ponedelnik  Soviet Union Yes Team of the Tournament
Dražan Jerković  Yugoslavia Yes
Milan Galić  Yugoslavia Yes Team of the Tournament
1964 Spain Ferenc Bene  Hungary 2 2 Yes Team of the Tournament
Dezső Novák  Hungary 1 Yes
Chus Pereda  Spain 2 Yes Team of the Tournament
1968 Italy Dragan Džajić  Yugoslavia 2 3 Yes Team of the Tournament
1972 Belgium Gerd Müller  West Germany 4 2 Yes Team of the Tournament
1976 Yugoslavia Dieter Müller  West Germany 4 2 Yes Team of the Tournament
1980 Italy Klaus Allofs  West Germany 3 3 Yes
1984 France Michel Platini  France 9 5 Yes Player of the Tournament
Team of the Tournament
1988 West Germany Marco van Basten  Netherlands 5 5 Yes Player of the Tournament
Team of the Tournament
1992 Sweden Henrik Larsen  Denmark 3 4 Yes
Karl-Heinz Riedle  Germany 5 Yes
Dennis Bergkamp  Netherlands 4 Yes Team of the Tournament
Tomas Brolin  Sweden 4 Yes
1996 England Alan Shearer  England 5 5 Yes Team of the Tournament
2000 Belgium/Netherlands Patrick Kluivert  Netherlands 5 5 Yes Team of the Tournament
Savo Milošević  Yugoslavia 4 Yes Team of the Tournament
2004 Portugal Milan Baroš  Czech Republic 5 5 Yes Team of the Tournament
2008 Austria/Switzerland David Villa  Spain 4 4 Yes Team of the Tournament
2012 Poland/Ukraine Mario Mandžukić  Croatia 3 3 No
Mario Gómez  Germany 5 No Silver Boot
Mario Balotelli  Italy 5 No Team of the Tournament
Cristiano Ronaldo  Portugal 5 No Team of the Tournament
Alan Dzagoev  Russia 3 No Bronze Boot
Fernando Torres  Spain 5 Yes
2016 France Antoine Griezmann  France 6 7 Yes Player of the Tournament
Team of the Tournament
2020 Europe Patrick Schick  Czech Republic 5 5 No
Cristiano Ronaldo  Portugal 4 Yes

Goalscorers in final matches[edit]

Main article: List of UEFA European Championship finals
  • Bold indicates winning final
  • Parentheses indicates no goals scored
Player Team Goals scored Finals played Final(s)
Gerd Müller  West Germany 2 1 1972
Horst Hrubesch  West Germany 1 1980
Oliver Bierhoff  Germany 1 1996
Fernando Torres  Spain 2 2008, 2012
Slava Metreveli  Soviet Union 1 1 1960
Milan Galić  Yugoslavia 1 1960
Chus Pereda  Spain 1 1964
Marcelino  Spain 1 1964
Galimzyan Khusainov  Soviet Union 1 1964
Gigi Riva  Italy 1 1968
Ján Švehlík  Czechoslovakia 1 1976
Karol Dobiaš  Czechoslovakia 1 1976
Dieter Müller  West Germany 1 1976
Bernd Hölzenbein  West Germany 1 1976
René Vandereycken  Belgium 1 1980
Michel Platini  France 1 1984
Bruno Bellone  France 1 1984
Ruud Gullit  Netherlands 1 1988
Marco van Basten  Netherlands 1 1988
John Jensen  Denmark 1 1992
Kim Vilfort  Denmark 1 1992
Patrik Berger  Czech Republic 1 1996
Sylvain Wiltord  France 1 2000
David Trezeguet  France 1 2000
Marco Delvecchio  Italy 1 2000
Angelos Charisteas  Greece 1 2004
Jordi Alba  Spain 1 2012
Juan Mata  Spain 1 2012
Eder  Portugal 1 2016
Luke Shaw  England 1 2020
Viktor Ponedelnik  Soviet Union 2 1960, (1964)
Angelo Domenghini  Italy 2[c] 1968
Dragan Džajić  Yugoslavia 2[c] 1968
Pietro Anastasi  Italy 2[c] 1968
Herbert Wimmer  West Germany 2 1972, (1976)
David Silva  Spain 2 (2008), 2012
Leonardo Bonucci  Italy 2 (2012), 2020

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ In UEFA Euro 1988 Klinsmann made 4 appearances and scored one goal for West Germany.
  2. ^ In UEFA Euro 1992 Völler made 1 appearance for Germany.
  3. ^ a b c UEFA Euro 1968 final was decided over two matches.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "EURO final tournament goals: All you need to know". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 January 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b "EURO - All-time Topscorers". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "EURO top scorers: all time and for every tournament". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 January 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  4. ^ "EURO records: most appearances, top scorers, key stats". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 January 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  5. ^ "EURO 2020: Ronaldo breaks goalscoring record as Portugal beat Hungary 3-0". euronews.com. Euronews. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Cristiano Ronaldo's EURO records". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  7. ^ "When Michel Platini scored nine goals in five games as France won Euro 84". The Guardian. 28 June 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  8. ^ "IFFHS EURO STATISTICS 3 - THE BEST GOAL SCORERS". IFFHS.com. 14 April 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  9. ^ "History: France 4-5 Yugoslavia | UEFA EURO 1960 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  10. ^ "History: Czechoslovakia 0-3 USSR | UEFA EURO 1960 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  11. ^ "History: USSR 2-1 Yugoslavia | UEFA EURO 1960 Final | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  12. ^ "History: Denmark 0-3 USSR | UEFA EURO 1964 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  13. ^ "History: West Germany 3-0 USSR | UEFA EURO 1972 Final | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  14. ^ "History: Netherlands 3-2 Yugoslavia | UEFA EURO 1976 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  15. ^ "History: Czechoslovakia 2-2 West Germany | UEFA EURO 1976 Final | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  16. ^ "History: France 5-0 Belgium | UEFA EURO 1984 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  17. ^ "History: France 3-2 Yugoslavia | UEFA EURO 1984 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  18. ^ "History: France 3-2 Portugal | UEFA EURO 1984 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  19. ^ "History: France 2-0 Spain | UEFA EURO 1984 Final | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  20. ^ "History: Portugal 2-0 Wales | UEFA EURO 2016 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  21. ^ "History: Hungary 0-3 Portugal | UEFA EURO 2020 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  22. ^ "History: Portugal 2-4 Germany | UEFA EURO 2020 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  23. ^ "History: Portugal 2-2 France | UEFA EURO 2020 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  24. ^ Peck, Brooks (26 June 2021). "Spain's Sergio Ramos tribute, Adidas kit symbols and NFT awards: Things you may have missed at Euro 2020". The Athletic. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  25. ^ "European Championships - UEFA Teams of Tournament". RSSSF. 14 August 2004. Retrieved 17 May 2024.

External links[edit]

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