Sports

Champions League leading scorers of all time: Salah and Kane reach milestone

Joel Masibo 19th March, 2026 07:22 AM

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah celebrates his goal against Galatasaray on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, at Anfield. PHOTO/https://web.facebook.com/LiverpoolFC

First contested in 1992/93, the UEFA Champions League has become synonymous with the very best strikers in world football history, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema able to rack up stellar goal tallies.

Ronaldo (140) and Messi (129) were the first two players to score over 100 goals in the competition, with Lewandowski (109) bringing up his own century.

Having been on the score sheet against Atalanta and Galatasaray, respectively, on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah reached 50 goals each in the history of the competition.

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah celebrates his goal against Galatasaray on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, at Anfield. PHOTO/https://web.facebook.com/LiverpoolFC

All-time UEFA Champions League top scorers (excluding qualifying)

140: Cristiano Ronaldo (POR, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus)

129: Lionel Messi (ARG, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain)

109: Robert Lewandowski (POL, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern München, Barcelona)

90: Karim Benzema (FRA, Lyon, Real Madrid)

71: Raúl González (ESP, Real Madrid, Schalke)

68: Kylian Mbappé (FRA, Monaco, Paris, Real Madrid)

57: Erling Haaland (NOR, Salzburg, Dortmund, Manchester City)

57: Thomas Müller (GER, Bayern München)

56: Ruud van Nistelrooy (NED, PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Real Madrid)

50: Thierry Henry (FRA, Monaco, Arsenal, Barcelona)

50: Harry Kane (ENG, Tottenham, Bayern München)

50: Mohamed Salah (EGY, Basel, Roma, Liverpool)

48: Zlatan Ibrahimović (SWE, Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United)

48: Andriy Shevchenko (UKR, Dynamo Kyiv, AC Milan, Chelsea)

46: Filippo Inzaghi (ITA, Juventus, AC Milan)

Bayern Munich’s forward Harry Kane celebrates his goal against Atalanta on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. PHOTO/https://web.facebook.com/fcbayern.en

Messi’s goal at Maccabi Haifa on Matchday 2 in 2022/23 made him the first player to score in 18 successive editions of the competition, and he is the only player to have scored in 16 successive campaigns in Europe’s top club competition for the same team.

The Argentinian joined Barcelona in early 2001 when he was just 13, and stuck with the team for the next 20 years, winning the Champions League four times in addition to ten La Liga titles, seven editions of the Copa del Rey and three UEFA Super Cups.

He was the second player to reach 100 Champions League goals (after Ronaldo) and has been top scorer (or joint-top scorer) in six Champions League seasons, one fewer than Ronaldo has managed.