13 Players To Win The Champions League Golden Boot More Than Once

Highlights

• The Champions League is one of the greatest competitions in the world, with it often seen as the pinnacle of club football.
• The list of players who have won the Golden Boot more than once includes legends like Gerd Muller, Alfredo Di Stefano, and Raul.
• Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi sit at the top of the list, winning it seven and six times respectively.

The Champions League is one of the greatest competitions in the world – full of chaos, drama and intrigue as Europe’s greatest clubs go head to head. From Manchester City winning it for the first time in 2023, leading to crazy celebrations, to Real Madrid winning it for a record 14th time the year before, it is widely seen as the greatest club competition in the world.

As a team event, it requires every single player on the pitch to provide 100% effort. However, some players provide more quality than others, particularly in the final third. The Golden Boot highlights the impact of players in the final third – as an award that celebrates the player that scores the most goals in each Champions League season.

Over the years, a plethora of players have won the Golden Boot, helping their team often lift the trophy during the final celebrations. However, only 13 players have won the Golden Boot twice. This list goes through all of those players in detail, highlighting their greatness in meticulous detail.

In this list, we have included players who won the Golden Boot in the European Cup as well. The competition was rebranded as the Champions League in 1992.

13 Erling Haaland

Erling Haaland often defies logic with his strength, power and ‘robotic-like’ nature in the final third. He naturally scores goals every week, as shown in the Champions League. In 2021, he won the Golden Boot with Borussia Dortmund in 2021, scoring 10 goals with the German giants. They were eventually knocked out in the quarter-finals by his future club Man City. When he then joined them in 2022, he went on to win the Champions League in his first season. His 12 goals, including one in the quarter-final against Bayern Munich, highlighted his importance to Pep Guardiola’s team. He even missed an awful penalty against Bayern, yet it still didn’t matter.

12 Andriy Shevchenko

Man United won the Champions League in dramatic fashion in 1999, yet Andriy Shevchenko took some of the headlines with his natural goalscoring ability. The Ukrainian was still at FC Dynamo Kyiv and his eight goals during the campaign helped them reach the semi-finals. They narrowly lost to Bayern Munich to end their dream journey. Meanwhile, in 2006, during his final season with AC Milan, he scored nine goals as they reached the semi-finals. They lost to Barcelona 1-0 on aggregate, but the Ukrainian striker still finished two goals ahead of second-placed Ronaldinho in the Golden Boot rankings.

11 Raul

During the 1999/2000 Champions League campaign, Real Madrid were aiming to win the competition once again – and they did exactly that. They beat Spanish rivals Valencia 3-0 in the final. Raul scored the final goal in the match to secure victory, taking his tally to ten goals at the top of the rankings, equal with Mário Jardel and Rivaldo. Meanwhile, in the following season, Raul finished as the outright top scorer with seven goals. Two of his goals came in the quarter-finals as he helped the club overturn a 3-2 deficit against Galatasaray. However, Real Madrid were knocked out in the semi-finals by Bayern Munich.

10 Romario

Romario is often one of the forgotten players when people talk about 1990s football, but – on his day – he was one of the best players in the world. During the 1989/1990 campaign, he scored six goals with PSV Eindhoven to finish as top scorer alongside Marseille’s Jean-Pierre Papin. They were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Bayern Munich. Meanwhile, in the 1992/1993 season, he finished as top scorer of the tournament with seven goals, including a hat-trick in the second round against AEK Athens. It highlighted his importance to PSV, but he eventually moved to Barcelona in the summer of 1993.

9 Torbjorn Nilsson

Torbjorn Nilsson is a forgotten man within European football, with his success in the European Cup coming with Goteborg in 1985 and 1986. The Swedish club were knocked out in the quarter-finals to end the competition in disappointment, despite a goal from Nilsson. He never played for a major club, the largest coming in the form of PSV, but he still proved effective in the European Cup. In the following year, he won the Golden Boot outright with six goals, including two goals against Barcelona in the semi-finals. They eventually lost their semi-final against them on penalties, but Nilsson still wrote his name into history.

8 Alfredo Di Stefano

When you think of the sport’s greatest-ever goalscorers, Alfredo Di Stefano springs to mind. He was a legendary goalscorer with Real Madrid, including in the European Cup. He first won the Golden Boot in 1958 as Real Madrid won the competition after beating AC Milan in the final. Di Stefano scored the first equaliser in the match, highlighting his importance. Meanwhile, he won the Golden Boot for a second time in 1962 with eight goals. Real Madrid lost the final 5-3, but Di Stefano helped them get there with a goal in the semi-finals. His teammate Puskas scored a hat-trick in the final, yet they still remarkably lost.

7 Ruud van Nistelrooy

All three of Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Golden Boots came during his time with Manchester United in 2002, 2003 and 2005. In the first instance, he scored 10 goals, including a goal in the semi-finals against Bayer Leverkusen which they eventually lost. The following year, 2003, he scored 12 goals as Man United were knocked out by Real Madrid 6-5 on aggregate in the quarter-finals. He scored in both matches against the Spanish giants but still came out on the losing side. Meanwhile, in 2005, Man Utd lost to AC Milan in the Round of 16, but he still scored eight goals throughout.

6 Jean-Pierre Papin

Jean-Pierre Papin was the Golden Boot in the last three tournaments before it was rebranded to the Champions League in the 1992/1993 season. In 1990, he scored six goals, level with Romario, as Marseille were knocked out in the semi-finals by Benfica on away goals. In the following year, Marseille lost in the final on penalties to Red Star Belgrade, but Papin’s six goals, level with Peter Pacult, helped them reach it. Finally, in 1992, he scored seven goals alongside Sergei Yuran, but Marseille went backwards, getting knocked out on away goals by Sparta Prague in the second round.

5 Eusebio

Eusebio sits alongside the greatest footballers of all time. He had a natural instinct in the final third, which, coupled with his pace and strength, made him one of the best strikers of all time. He showcased this in the European Cup, winning it on three occasions, in 1965, 1966 and 1968. Benfica lost in the final in 1965, as Eusebio scored nine goals, level with teammate José Torres. Meanwhile, the following year, he scored seven goals as the Portuguese club were knocked out 8-3 on aggregate by Man Utd. Whilst, in 1968, Benfica lost to Man Utd again in the final, despite Eusebio’s six goals in the run to the final.

4 Ferenc Puskas

Very few players have an award named after them, but Ferenc Puskas defies logic. The modern-day Puskas Award celebrates the best goal of the year in memory of the legendary Hungarian player. In the European Cup, he was crowned Golden Boot winner in 1960, 1962 and 1964. 12 goals in 1960 helped Real Madrid win it, including four during their 7-3 win against Frankfurt in the final. Two years later, they lost the final to Benfica 5-3 despite Puskas’ hat-trick in the final. Meanwhile, in 1964, they lost the final again to Inter Milan, but Puskas still scored seven goals during the tournament.

3 Gerd Muller

Coming into the top three, Gerd Muller sits in third as one of the greatest strikers of all time. He won the European Cup Golden Boot four times in five years with Bayern Munich. In 1974 and 1975, Muller helped the club win the competition. In the first instance, he scored two goals in the final replay as they beat Real Madrid 4-0, whilst – in the following year – Muller made it 2-0 as they beat Leeds United to make it back-to-back triumphs. His 11 goals in the 1972/1973 season made it an impressive campaign, but they fell short in the knockout stages.

2 Lionel Messi

Moving forward into the modern-day, there is always a debate about who is ‘the GOAT’. Lionel Messi is always in those conversations – and his six Golden Boots in the Champions League highlight his talent. He first won it in 2009 as Barcelona’s legendary team beat Man Utd 2-0 in the final. Messi’s looping header, an unorthodox goal for him, secured victory. He won it the following three years with eight, 12 and 14 goals respectively. His success in 2011 led to another title as they beat Man United 3-1 at Wembley. Finally, despite losing in the semi-finals in 2019, Messi’s sixth Golden Boot with 12 goals showcased his longevity at the top of the game.

1 Cristiano Ronaldo

Last, but not least, Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest players of all time. His pace, strength and natural instinct made him unstoppable during his peak years. He first won the Golden Boot with Man Utd in 2008, as they beat Chelsea in the final on penalties. However, the other six all came at Real Madrid, including in 2016, 2017 and 2018 when Real Madrid – and Ronaldo – completed the treble. With 16, 12 and 15 goals each year respectively, Ronaldo all but carried the club to success, especially due to two goals in the 2017 final against Juventus in Wales. He will always be one of the greatest players of all time.