The best goalscorers in soccer, past and present, have all delivered on Europe's biggest stage.
No matter how many goals players score across Europe's top five leagues, finding the back of the net in the Champions League just means more. From group stage—now known as the league phase—hat tricks to all-important finishes in the UCL final, each Champions League goal goes toward building a legacy for both player and club.
Originally called the European Cup when established in 1955, the tournament did not become the Champions League until the 1992–93 season. Both iterations of the competition have an impressive list of goalscorers, but the Champions League is home to the greatest players of all time.
Check out the 12 top goalscorers in UCL history.
Champions League All-Time Leading Scorers: Full List
This list excludes qualifying.
Unsurprisingly, Ronaldo is the competition's greatest ever goalscorer. The Portugal international bagged 140 Champions League goals throughout his illustrious career. He won the competition once with Manchester United and four more times with Real Madrid, and is still the only player in history to score in three UCL finals.
Although it seems impossible to catch up to Ronaldo's 140-goal haul, there are still three players on the list competing in the Champions League: Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Müller and Kylian Mbappé. Lewandowski is the closest to Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, but at age 36, the striker's time is running out.
Of the 12 top UCL goalscorers, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Thierry Henry, Mbappé and Zlatan Ibrahimović are the only players to never lift a Champions League trophy.
Who Has the Most Champions League Hat Tricks of All Time?
Both Ronaldo and Messi are tied for the most Champions league hat tricks of all time with eight each. Messi bagged all of his as a Barcelona player while Ronaldo scored seven with Real Madrid and then one with Juventus.
Behind the two greats is Lewandowski with six UCL hat tricks. The Poland international recorded one with Dortmund, four with Bayern Munich and one (so far) with Barcelona.
Karim Benzema rounds out the list with four hat tricks of his own during his time with Real Madrid.
European Cup All-Time Leading Scorers: Full List
This list includes qualifying rounds.
The European Cup features more elite goalscorers in the sport's history, including Alfredo Di Stéfano, who won the competition five times with Real Madrid.
READ THE LATEST UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE NEWS, PREVIEWS, PREDICTIONS AND MORE
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Champions League All-Time Leading Scorers: Full List.
