The highest scoring Englishmen in Champions League history | OneFootball

Undoubtedly the pinnacle of club football, the Champions League brings together the continent’s finest talents in an annual tournament to crown Europe’s best.

English players and clubs have thrived on Europe’s biggest stage in recent seasons, with Manchester City the reigning European champions.

It remains the benchmark for world-class players, and we’ve decided to look back at some English players who have made their mark on Champions League football.

The highest scoring Englishmen in Champions League history

Andy Cole – 18 goals

A prolific goalscorer in the Manchester United side that dominated English football, Cole formed a telepathic understanding with strike partner Dwight Yorke that would help propel Sir Alex Ferguson’s side to European success.

In seven seasons at Old Trafford, Cole scored 18 Champions League goals, including four on route to the club’s 1999 success as a historic treble was secured.

Few can forget his late goal in the semi-final win over Juventus, and he is one of just three English players alongside Michael Owen and Harry Kane to have scored more than one Champions League hat-trick (2).

Steven Gerrard – 21 goals

The former Liverpool captain was synonymous with his club’s biggest moments throughout his career, notably in Europe when he often delivered on the biggest of occasions.

Gerrard brought an end to his illustrious 17-year Anfield career as the club’s all-time top goalscorer in Europe, which included 21 goals in the Champions League.

Notable spectacular strikes include goals against Olympiakos and Real Madrid, though none were more important than a towering header in Istanbul.

That goal sparked Liverpool’s comeback from three goals down in the 2005 final, with Gerrard inspiring his side to European Cup success for the first time in 21 years.

Frank Lampard – 23 goals

Frank Lampard proved to be a phenomenal goalscorer from midfield, enjoying a decorated career at Chelsea that saw him win every major honour and leave as the club’s all-time record goalscorer.

A symbol of a new era at Stamford Bridge under the ownership of Roman Abramovich, Lampard was the heartbeat of a side which established themselves among Europe’s elite.

He transferred his goalscoring exploits onto the European stage, notably scoring in Chelsea’s 2008 final defeat against Manchester United, before finally landing the game’s biggest prize four years later – acting as captain in the absence of John Terry.

He is one of just six Englishmen to have scored in a Champions League final.

Paul Scholes – 24 goals

The only two-time winner of the tournament on our list, Scholes twice lifted the famous trophy during a glittering one-club career at Manchester United.

Having come through the club’s famed youth academy as part of the ‘Class of 92’, Scholes formed part of a side that dominated domestically and achieved success further from home.

No English player has ever featured more times in the competition than Scholes, who scored 24 goals in 124 Champions League appearances during his Old Trafford career.

He scored one of the great goals in the club’s history on Europe’s biggest stage, a stunning semi-final winner against Barcelona during the Red Devils’ triumphant 2008 campaign.

Raheem Sterling – 27 goals

Raheem Sterling ranks second flourishing under the guidance of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, evolving from inconsistent winger into one of the most dangerous wide forwards in Europe.

Sterling has scored 27 goals in 82 Champions League appearances, including a hat-trick against Atalanta during in the 2019/20 season as he hit 31 goals in all competitions for the Citizens.

Sterling signed for Chelsea in a £45m deal in 2022, before moving on loan to Arsenal for the 2024/25 campaign.

Wayne Rooney – 30 goals

The greatest English goalscorer in Champions League history made an immediate impact in the tournament, scoring a superb hat-trick on his Manchester United debut against Fenerbahce as a fresh faced 18-year-old talent.

That treble would be the first three of 30 Champions League goals scored by United’s all-time record goalscorer, who was part of the side which won the competition against Chelsea in Moscow in 2008, before reaching further finals in 2009 and 2011.

Rooney’s record of 30 goals in the Champions League puts him level with iconic names in Kaka and Samuel Eto’o in the all-time rankings and ahead of Barcelona great Rivaldo.

It is quite some company to keep.

Harry Kane – 33 goals

Harry Kane broke Wayne Rooney’s record with a four-goal haul against Dinamo Zagreb in September 2024.

The Bayern Munich forward continues to score goals at an extraordinary rate, with his record in Champions League football making for impressive reading.

It’s now 33 goals in 45 Champions League appearances for the England captain, who returned better than a goal-per-game in all competitions since signing for Bayern Munich from Tottenham.

The 31-year-old is arguably at the peak of his career and won the European Golden Shoe in 2023/24, before starting the current campaign with nine goals in just five games.

Read: Five iconic individual Champions League performances

Read Also: Ranking the oldest goalscorers in Champions League history

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