A total of 946 goals have been scored in games at the men's 17 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 545 footballers have scored goals at the Euro tournaments,[2] of whom 39 have scored four or more.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Cristiano_Ronaldo_20120609.jpg/225px-Cristiano_Ronaldo_20120609.jpg)
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 until Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 10th goal for Portugal at the UEFA Euro 2020.[5] He has later improved his tally and stands at 14 goals in 30 appearances at the European Championship tournaments — also record.[6] The top 39 goalscorers have represented 15 nations, with 7 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).
Goals | ≥10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nos. of players | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 16 | 50 | 101 | 355 | 545 |
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 Patrik Schick in 2020 (all with 5 goals). Across the 17 tournaments of the Euro, 37 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 37 players represented 16 nations, the most (six) Germany or West Germany. Four played for Yugoslavia, the 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
editPlayer | 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 title |
T | Denotes tournaments where the player was top scorer |
Rank | Player | Team | Goals scored |
Matches played |
Ratio | Tournaments | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Cristiano Ronaldo‡ | Portugal | 14 | 30 | 0.47 | 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020T, (2024) | 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 | 17 | 0.41 | 2016T, 2020, (2024) | list | ||
Álvaro Morata‡ | Spain | 17 | 0.41 | 2016, 2020, 2024 | list | ||
Harry Kane‡ | England | 18 | 0.39 | (2016), 2020, 2024T | list | ||
6 | Patrik Schick‡ | Czech Republic | 6 | 7 | 0.86 | 2020T, 2024 | list |
Ruud van Nistelrooy‡ | Netherlands | 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 | ||
Thierry Henry | France | 11 | 0.55 | 2000, 2004, 2008 | list | ||
Zlatan Ibrahimović‡ | Sweden | 13 | 0.46 | 2004, 2008, 2012, (2016) | list | ||
Robert Lewandowski‡ | Poland | 13 | 0.46 | 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024 | list | ||
Nuno Gomes | Portugal | 14 | 0.43 | 2000, 2004, 2008 | list | ||
Romelu Lukaku‡ | Belgium | 14 | 0.43 | 2016, 2020, (2024) | list | ||
15 | Savo Milošević‡ | Yugoslavia | 5 | 4 | 1.25 | 2000T | list |
Marco van Basten | Netherlands | 9 | 0.56 | 1988T, (1992) | list | ||
Milan Baroš | Czech Republic | 10 | 0.50 | 2004T, (2008), (2012) | list | ||
Xherdan Shaqiri‡ | Switzerland | 11 | 0.45 | 2016, 2020, 2024 | 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 | ||
24 | 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 | ||
Kai Havertz | Germany | 9 | 0.44 | 2020, 2024 | list | ||
Karim Benzema | France | 10 | 0.40 | (2008), (2012), 2020 | list | ||
Henrik Larsson | Sweden | 10 | 0.40 | 2000, 2004, (2008) | 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 | ||
Ivan Perišić‡ | Croatia | 13 | 0.31 | (2012), 2016, 2020, (2024) | list | ||
Luka Modrić‡ | Croatia | 16 | 0.25 | 2008, (2012), 2016, 2020, 2024 | list |
Timeline
editKey | |
---|---|
Goal set a new record | |
Goal equalled the existing record |
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 |
| ||||
Valentin Ivanov | Soviet Union | 2–0 | Czechoslovakia | 3–0 |
|
[10] | |||
10 July 1960 | Milan Galić | Yugoslavia | 1–0 | Soviet Union | 1–2 | 1960, France Final |
|
[11] | |
Viktor Ponedelnik | Soviet Union | 2–1 | Yugoslavia | 2–1 |
| ||||
3 | 17 June 1964 | 2–0 | Denmark | 3–0 | 1964, Spain Semi-finals |
|
[12] | ||
Valentin Ivanov | 3–0 |
| |||||||
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
editSince 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 2008, the Golden Boot award went to each of the top goalscorers of the UEFA European Championship torunaments. 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]
Goalscorers in final matches
edit- Bold indicates winning final
- Parentheses indicates no goals scored
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ At Euro 1988, Klinsmann made four appearances and scored one goal for West Germany.
- ^ At Euro 1992, Völler made one appearance for Germany.
- ^ a b c UEFA Euro 1968 final was decided over two matches.
References
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ a b "EURO - All-time Topscorers". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "EURO records: most appearances, top scorers, key stats". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 January 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ "EURO 2020: Ronaldo breaks goalscoring record as Portugal beat Hungary 3-0". euronews.com. Euronews. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ "Cristiano Ronaldo's EURO records". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ "When Michel Platini scored nine goals in five games as France won Euro 84". The Guardian. 28 June 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ "IFFHS EURO STATISTICS 3 - THE BEST GOAL SCORERS". IFFHS. 14 April 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
- ^ "History: France 4-5 Yugoslavia | UEFA EURO 1960 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ "History: Czechoslovakia 0-3 USSR | UEFA EURO 1960 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ "History: USSR 2-1 Yugoslavia | UEFA EURO 1960 Final | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ "History: Denmark 0-3 USSR | UEFA EURO 1964 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ "History: West Germany 3-0 USSR | UEFA EURO 1972 Final | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ "History: Netherlands 3-2 Yugoslavia | UEFA EURO 1976 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ "History: Czechoslovakia 2-2 West Germany | UEFA EURO 1976 Final | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ "History: France 5-0 Belgium | UEFA EURO 1984 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
- ^ "History: France 3-2 Yugoslavia | UEFA EURO 1984 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
- ^ "History: France 3-2 Portugal | UEFA EURO 1984 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
- ^ "History: France 2-0 Spain | UEFA EURO 1984 Final | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
- ^ "History: Portugal 2-0 Wales | UEFA EURO 2016 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
- ^ "History: Hungary 0-3 Portugal | UEFA EURO 2020 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
- ^ "History: Portugal 2-4 Germany | UEFA EURO 2020 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
- ^ "History: Portugal 2-2 France | UEFA EURO 2020 | UEFA.com". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "European Championships - UEFA Teams of Tournament". RSSSF. 14 August 2004. Retrieved 17 May 2024.