European Championship all-time top scorers: Ronaldo, Griezmann and the greatest goal kings

Cameron Smith

• Updated: 29 Feb 2024 14:07 GMT
• 6 min read

The countdown to Euro 2024 is on and all qualified nations are now preparing for this summer’s tournament in Germany.

Italy are the reigning champions after their penalty shootout victory against England in the delayed 2020 edition, although they have been drawn in a tricky Group B this time around, alongside Spain, Croatia and Albania.

As ever, the race to be awarded the Golden Boot will be a hotly-contested one during the upcoming European Championship, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Patrik Schick hoping to reclaim their title after glory last time out.

However, while Ronaldo and Schick were successful in 2021, who is the all-time top goalscorer in European Championship history?

READ MORE: European Championship all-time appearances - Ronaldo and Pepe lead the way

Who has scored the most goals in European Championship history?

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored the most goals in European Championship tournament history. The Portuguese forward has found the back of the net 14 times during his Euros career, scoring in each of his five participations at the tournament - also a record.

Michel Platini is second on the all-time list of European Championship top goalscorers, having netted nine times at the tournament.

Antoine Griezmann and Alan Shearer are joint-third (both seven), while Ruud van Nistlerooy, Patrick Kluivert, Romelu Lukaku, Alvaro Morata, Wayne Rooney, Thierry Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Nuno Gomes have all scored six goals in European Championship tournament history.

Who has scored the most goals in European Championship qualification history?

Ronaldo has also scored the most goals in European Championship qualification history. The former Real Madrid and Manchester United superstar has scored 41 goals in Euros qualifiers during his illustrious career.

England’s Harry Kane and Republic of Ireland’s Robbie Keane have both scored 23 European Championship qualification goals, meaning they are joint-second on this list.

Robert Lewandowski has scored 22 times during Euros qualifying, while Lukaku has 21. Ibrahimovic and Hakan Sukur have both netted 19 goals in European Championship qualification history, ahead of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Jan Koller, Jon Dahl Tomasson and Raul (all 18).

Who has scored the most European Championship goals in a single tournament?

Michel Platini (France) has scored the most goals in a single European Championship campaign. The legendary midfielder scored all nine of his Euros goals during France’s win at the 1984 tournament.

Antoine Griezmann has scored the second-most goals during one European Championship tournament. He netted six in 2016 as France reached the final on home turf.

Marco van Basten, Alan Shearer, Patrick Kluivert, Savo Milosevic, Milan Baros, Cristiano Ronaldo and Patrik Schick have all scored five goals in a single Euros tournament.

Who is the oldest goalscorer in European Championship history?

Ivica Vastic is the oldest goalscorer in European Championship history. He scored from the penalty spot in Austria’s 1-1 draw against Poland in 2008 aged 38 years and 257 days old.

Goran Pandev is the second-oldest goalscorer in Euros history after his goal for North Macedonia against Austria in 2021. Zoltan Gera is third, while Gareth McAuley is fourth.

Ronaldo is the fifth-oldest goalscorer in European Championship history - his goal against France in 2021 came at the age of 36 years and 138 days.

Luka Modric is sixth, Andriy Shevchenko is seventh, Georgios Karagounis is eighth, Jan Koller is ninth and Christian Panucci is 10th.

Who is the youngest goalscorer in European Championship history?

Johan Vonlanthen is the youngest goalscorer in European Championship history. He scored during Switzerland’s 3-1 defeat against France in 2004 at 18 years and 141 days old.

Rooney is the second-youngest Euros goalscorer. He also scored in 2004, netting in England’s 3-0 win over Switzerland, aged 18 years and 237 days old.

Renato Sanches is the third-youngest goalscorer in European Championship history, while Dragan Stojkovic is fourth. Ronaldo appears on yet another list, as the fifth-youngest Euros goalscorer, ahead of Ferenc Bene (sixth) and Christian Chivu (seventh).

Kluivert, Pietro Anastasi and Michael Owen complete the top 10.