Kylian Mbappé: Hat-Trick Hero
Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland have emerged as two of the world’s premier football talents, following in the footsteps of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. As the legends near the twilight of their illustrious careers, Mbappé and Haaland continue to establish themselves among the most valuable players globally.
Over their remarkable careers, Messi and Ronaldo amassed a total of 13 Ballon d’Or awards, fiercely competing for individual and team accolades for nearly 20 years. Both players are currently exploring lucrative ventures—Messi at Inter Miami and Ronaldo at Al-Nassr—but they have stepped away from the Champions League, football’s most prestigious club competition. While Messi and Ronaldo hold the record as the top two all-time goalscorers in the Champions League, the question remains: can Mbappé or Haaland surpass their impressive records?
All-Time Champions League Top Scorers (Excluding Qualifiers)
Cristiano Ronaldo is the all-time leading scorer in Champions League history with 140 goals. He netted 106 times while representing Real Madrid, 21 with Manchester United, and 14 with Juventus. Remarkably, he finished as the tournament’s top scorer for seven seasons and has an impressive career average of 0.79 goals per 90 minutes. Lionel Messi follows closely in second place with 129 goals, boasting a higher average of 0.86 goals per 90 minutes. Of Messi’s total, 120 were scored during his time at Barcelona, and he maintained a streak of scoring in 18 consecutive tournaments starting from the 2005/06 season.
While it seems unlikely that Ronaldo and Messi will add to their goal totals, Robert Lewandowski has the potential to increase his tally from 105 goals. Barcelona are viewed as strong contenders in this season’s competition, and the Polish striker aims to enhance his record following his recent milestone. Lewandowski is also Bayern Munich’s all-time European goalscorer with 69 goals. Karim Benzema, who ranks fourth on the all-time list, has concluded his Champions League journey with 90 goals after moving to Saudi Arabia in 2023. He is known for having scored 15 goals in one tournament, leading Real Madrid to victory against Liverpool in the 2022 final. Raúl, another former Real Madrid player, rounds out the top five with 71 goals and was the first player to reach the 50-goal milestone in the competition.
Can Mbappé or Haaland Top the Champions League Scoring Charts?
Currently, Mbappé has scored 60 goals in the Champions League, surpassing Haaland’s 50. However, Haaland boasts a remarkable scoring rate, averaging more than a goal per game in the competition. Previously, Mbappé held the record for the fastest player to reach 40 goals with 59 appearances, before Haaland broke this record by achieving the milestone in just 35 matches. Haaland also holds the highest goals-per-90-minutes ratio in the tournament’s history and netted his 50th goal on matchday one. Meanwhile, Mbappé secured his fourth hat-trick in the Champions League against Kairat Almaty, elevating him to the position of sixth all-time leading scorer in this prestigious tournament.
