UEFA Champions League records

Ronaldo leads appearances, while Messi tops scoring chart

UEFA’s records page covers group-stage matches from 1992/93 to 2023/24 and league-phase matches from 2024/25 onwards.

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Soccer Soccer · Champions League Numbers desk

UEFA’s Champions League records list Cristiano Ronaldo with the most group-stage and league-phase appearances, at 98, and Lionel Messi with the most goals, at 80.

The records, published by UEFA on 19 October 2026, cover group-stage games from 1992/93 to 2023/24 and league-phase games from 2024/25 onwards. UEFA says the statistics exclude the second group stage played from 1999/2000 to 2002/03.

Ronaldo and Messi head the player records

Ronaldo’s 98 appearances came with Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus. Iker Casillas is next on 95, followed by Manuel Neuer on 90. Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Müller are tied on 87.

Messi leads the scoring list with 80 goals for Barcelona and Paris. Lewandowski and Ronaldo are level on 73, while Karim Benzema is fourth with 56. UEFA also lists Kylian Mbappé as the record-holder for goals in a single group-stage or league-phase campaign, with 13 for Real Madrid in 2025/26.

Real Madrid leads several club totals

Real Madrid and Barcelona have each featured in 31 group-stage or league-phase campaigns, according to UEFA’s figures, which include 2026/27. Bayern is next with 30. Real Madrid has the most points in those phases, with 397, ahead of Bayern on 386 and Barcelona on 383.

Real Madrid also leads the goals tally with 446 and has qualified from the most group stages or league phases, with 30. UEFA credits the club with 29 consecutive qualifications, dating back to 1997/98. Barcelona, meanwhile, has the most first-place finishes, with 19, including a record run of 13 in a row from 2007/08 to 2019/20.

Arsenal’s perfect league phase and individual milestones

UEFA’s records identify Arsenal as the only team to have won all eight matches in a Champions League league phase, in 2025/26. The supplied records also name Cristiano Ronaldo in 2017/18 and Sébastien Haller in 2021/22 as players who scored on every matchday of a group-stage or league-phase campaign.

Other listed marks include Jonas’s goal for Valencia against Leverkusen after 10.96 seconds in 2011, and Mohamed Salah’s seven-minute hat-trick for Liverpool against Rangers in 2022. Max Dowman is listed as the youngest player to appear, aged 15 years and 308 days, while Ansu Fati is the youngest scorer, aged 17 years and 40 days.

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UEFA’s figures combine two formats: six-matchday groups through 2023/24 and the eight-matchday league phase introduced from 2024/25. The records page attributes the listed club appearances for players only to teams with which they appeared or scored in those phases.

Byline

Luc Martin

Numbers desk

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