Since its inception, the UEFA Champions League has introduced us to some of the most prominent goal scorers in history. As a competition featuring the strongest clubs in Europe and the world, it is only natural that each phase has witnessed fantastic players who represent the icons of football of their time. Raúl González and Andriy Shevchenko were the leading goal scorers during the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s. Currently, two stars have firmly established themselves in the football arena, becoming the most prolific scorers in the tournament: Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
In recent years, an Arab star has begun to infiltrate the list of the top goal scorers in Champions League history: Egyptian star Mohamed Salah, who has strongly positioned himself among the football elite.
### Messi and Ronaldo: Who Has Scored More in the Champions League?
In this report, we will look back and explore the goal scorers of the Champions League throughout history, starting from its first edition in 1955 until today.
### All-Time UEFA Champions League Goal Scorers Ranking
| Rank | Player | Goals | Matches | Goals per Match |
|------|-------------------------|-------|---------|-----------------|
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 140 | 183 | 0.772 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | 129 | 163 | 0.793 |
| 3 | Robert Lewandowski | 92 | 112 | 0.824 |
| 4 | Karim Benzema | 90 | 152 | 0.595 |
| 5 | Raúl González | 71 | 142 | 0.506 |
| 6 | Ruud van Nistelrooij | 56 | 73 | 0.777 |
| 7 | Thomas Müller | 53 | 143 | 0.378 |
| 8 | Thierry Henry | 50 | 112 | 0.459 |
| 9 | Alfredo Di Stéfano | 49 | 58 | 0.841 |
| 10 | Andriy Shevchenko | 48 | 100 | 0.480 |
| 11 | Zlatan Ibrahimović | 48 | 124 | 0.391 |
| 12 | Eusebio | 46 | 65 | 0.711 |
| 13 | Filippo Inzaghi | 46 | 81 | 0.571 |
| 14 | Mohamed Salah | 44 | 79 | 0.561 |
| 15 | Didier Drogba | 44 | 92 | 0.481 |
| 16 | Neymar | 43 | 81 | 0.531 |
| 17 | Alessandro Del Piero | 42 | 89 | 0.471 |
| 18 | Sergio Agüero | 41 | 79 | 0.521 |
| 19 | Kylian Mbappé | 41 | 62 | 0.662 |
| 20 | Ferenc Puskás | 36 | 41 | 0.88 |
### Who is the All-Time Top Scorer in the Champions League?
Looking at the table above, Cristiano Ronaldo is the all-time top scorer in the Champions League, although his throne is not secure, as Lionel Messi closely trails him. Robert Lewandowski has succeeded in surpassing Raúl González, the Real Madrid legend, and is now third in the historical goal scorers list, followed by Karim Benzema, another star from Real Madrid.
Mohamed Salah from Liverpool currently ranks 14th on the list, having scored 44 goals in the Champions League.
You may notice that most of the top scorers played in the tournament in its current format, which began in the 1992 season. This is due to the fact that the competition in its new system has allowed for a greater number of matches in a single season, which also resulted in several players from previous decades featuring in the above table.
Nonetheless, there is one player who has managed to maintain his place among the top 10 scorers in Champions League history, despite being part of the era prior to 1992 when the format and system of the tournament changed: former Real Madrid star Alfredo Di Stéfano.
Former Real Madrid legends Ferenc Puskás and Francisco Gento, who represented the club between 1950 and 1960, also make the top twenty, along with former Bayern Munich striker Gerd Müller, who has the highest goals-per-match ratio at 0.95. Puskás's goals-per-match rate is 0.85, while Di Stéfano's reaches 0.84, compared to Lionel Messi's rate of 0.81, who currently has the highest goals-per-match ratio in the new era starting in 1992.
