Kylian Mbappé has once again etched his name in Champions League history, finishing the 2025/26 campaign as the competition's top scorer with an impressive 15 goals. This marks the second time the French sensation has clinched this individual honour. It solidifies his status as one of football's most lethal marksmen.
UEFA, the governing body for European football, shared the season-by-season list of top scorers since 2000/01 on its social media platforms. This is a roll call of footballing royalty. Mbappé’s latest achievement places him firmly among these goalscoring titans.
UEFA reports that Mbappé's 15 goals came in just 11 appearances for Real Madrid. This was a remarkable feat. What's even more astonishing is that 13 of those goals were scored during the league phase alone. This sets a new record for goals scored at that stage of the competition. He added two more in the knockout rounds to round off his tally.
Mbappé's consistent brilliance continues to define a new era in the Champions League. It's one that's moving beyond the long-standing dominance of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. These two legends accounted for the top-scorer award in 12 of the 13 seasons between 2007/08 and 2019/20. Robert Lewandowski was the only other player to break their streak in the 2019/20 season.
Last season, Mbappé finished ahead of England captain Harry Kane, who also had a strong campaign. The draw for the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League league phase is scheduled for Thursday, August 27, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. Europe’s elite clubs and their star strikers will be gearing up for another history-making season.
Looking back at the recent past, the 2024/25 season saw a rare tie at the top. Raphinha of Barcelona and Serhou Guirassy of Borussia Dortmund both finished with 13 goals. The 2023/24 season also had a shared crown. Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé (then at Paris Saint-Germain) both bagged 8 goals.
Erling Haaland had a standout 2022/23 season, scoring 12 goals. He powered Manchester City's historic run to their first Champions League title. Before that, in 2020/21, a teenage Haaland announced himself to the world by scoring 10 goals for Borussia Dortmund.
Robert Lewandowski's 15 goals in 2019/20 were crucial in Bayern Munich's triumphant campaign. This marked the end of the Messi-Ronaldo scoring monopoly. Lionel Messi himself had multiple seasons at the top. This included a 12-goal haul in 2018/19 and a remarkable 14 goals in the 2011/12 season. That haul included a five-goal blitz in one match against Bayer Leverkusen.
Cristiano Ronaldo's name is sprinkled throughout this list. He was the top scorer in the 2017/18 and 2016/17 seasons as Real Madrid dominated the competition. His 16-goal haul in 2015/16 is considered one of the greatest individual scoring seasons in the tournament's history. He also shared the award in 2014/15 with Messi and Neymar, all scoring 10 goals. Ronaldo's 17 goals in 2013/14 set a benchmark for goals in a single campaign at the time. He also secured the honour in 2012/13 with 12 goals.
Before the Messi-Ronaldo era, players like Ruud van Nistelrooy (2002/03, 2004/05) and Kaká (2006/07) also finished as top scorers. This showcases the rich history of individual brilliance in Europe's premier club competition. The list goes back to the 2000/01 season when Raúl González was the leading scorer.