Champions League top scorers 2023/24: Final standings as Real Madrid are crowned

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 1 Jun 2024 19:23 CDT
• 13 min read

The race to be named Champions League top scorer for 2023/24 proved to be an exciting one again, as Europe's best strikers chased the prestigious honour.

Erling Haaland was looking to fire Manchester City to back-to-back European Cup wins under Pep Guardiola after the Premier League champions won the trophy for the first time last season.

He hoped to join Champions League greats Ruud van Nistelrooy, Eusebio, Ferenc Puskas and Jean-Pierre Papin in becoming a three-time UCL Golden Boot winner.

Kylian Mbappe, like Haaland, is fast rising up the rankings of top Champions League goalscorers, and the PSG ace was seen as likely to pose a major threat to the Man City forward.

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You can never discount Robert Lewandowski either, with the Poland international having been a prolific goalscorer in the Champions League for more than a decade with Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and now Barcelona. Harry Kane, now of Bayern Munich, and Napoli hitman Victor Osimhen were among the other strikers looking to make their mark.

This page displayed the Champions League top scorers for the 2023/24 season after each matchday. With the tournament now over, let's have a look at the final scoring standings.

Champions League top scorers 2023/24

Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe finished level in first place in the list of Champions League top scorers for the 2023/24 season, with a competitive Golden Boot battle having now reached its conclusion.

Real Madrid stars Rodrygo, Joselu, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham are also prominent in the UCL scoring standings and still had a chance to finish near the top ahead of Saturday's final.

As it happened, Vinicius struck in a 2-0 win for Real Madrid over Borussia Dortmund to secure a share of third place in the goal rankings. The Brazilian became the youngest player to score in two Champions League finals, having also netted against Liverpool in 2022.

The UCL group stage concluded last year after six dramatic matchdays and, after a long break, the tournament returned with the last 16 across February and March.

Fans also enjoyed the quarter-finals in April, as Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, PSG and Real Madrid progressed at the expense of Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and holders Man City respectively.

The semi-finals began on April 30 and May 1, as Bayern took on Real Madrid, at home in the first leg, while Dortmund hosted PSG for their opener.

Going into the last four, Mbappe led Kane by one goal at the top of the scoring standings. Antoine Griezmann and Erling Haaland were also part of the leading group but their hopes of winning the Golden Boot award were over after their teams were eliminated in the last eight.

Kane and Vinicius were the big movers as Bayern and Real Madrid drew a thrilling first-leg clash 2-2. Kane and Leroy Sane scored for the hosts, but a double from Vinicius took him up to five goals this season, a total he improved again in the final.

Niclas Fullkrug then scored the only goal as Dortmund claimed a 1-0 lead over PSG, with Mbappe denied. That meant he went into the second legs level at the top with Kane on eight goals.

Mbappe and Kane were then both eliminated in the competition in the semi-finals, with Dortmund and Real Madrid making it to the final. Joselu was the Madrid hero, scoring twice in a stunning late turnaround to eliminate Bayern and Kane 4-3 on aggregate.

PSG, meanwhile, lost 2-0 to Dortmund on aggregate, with Mats Hummels striking in the second leg, meaning Mbappe did not net in either semi-final leg.

The Champions League final took place on Saturday June 1 at Wembley. Real Madrid went into the match in England as strong favourites to lift the trophy and they did prevail courtesy of late goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius, although Dortmund were the stronger side in the first half and made the Spanish side work hard for their record-extending 15th continental title.

Looking back to the quarter-finals, Kane netted in Bayern's dramatic 2-2 away first-leg draw against Arsenal. Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard moved on to four goals in the competition with their strikes in the match.

There was also excitement as Real Madrid and Man City drew 3-3 in Spain. Phil Foden is prominent in the standings after scoring in a game which also saw Rodrygo improve on his tournament tally.

Mbappe could not add to his competition total as PSG lost 3-2 to Barcelona in the first leg courtesy of a double from Raphinha. Atletico beat Dortmund 2-1 in the other game, although there were no goals from either Griezmann or Morata.

But Mbappe struck in the second leg, scoring two of PSG's goals in a dramatic 4-1 triumph in the return match, progressing 6-4 on aggregate. Morata and Griezmann's Golden Boot hopes were ended on the same night, as a 4-2 win for Dortmund in the second leg sent Atletico out in a 5-4 aggregate loss.

As the final two ties were settled, Premier League sides Arsenal and Man City suffered elimination as Bayern and Real Madrid progressed.

Madrid's victory on penalties came after Rodrygo had scored a crucial goal for the Spanish side. The exit for Man City ended Haaland's hopes of defending his Golden Boot crown.

Manchester City star Haaland was looking to defend his Golden Boot title in this competition and, despite Man City's exit, he is one of the players who has fared well in 2023/24.

Last season’s top scorer Haaland did not get up and running for the tournament until Man City travelled to play Young Boys in MD3, but he impressed with two goals in a 3-1 victory.

Alvarez was the Man City player who had made the bigger impression over the first two matchdays.

Haaland came into MD4 meeting with Young Boys at home as an injury doubt after coming off at half-time against Bournemouth in the Premier League in the previous match. But he ended up starting and adding a further two goals, powering in a penalty as well as a long-range strike to continue his fine form this season.

Both Haaland and Alvarez were on target as Man City fought back from two goals down to beat RB Leipzig 3-2 on MD5.

But neither Man City striker played in the 3-2 win at Red Star Belgrade, with qualification already secured.

Foden was among the scorers for Man City as they won 3-1 in Denmark against Copenhagen when the knockout stage began. It was Foden's fourth goal of the competition so far and continued a strong run of form in front of goal which had also seen him score a hat-trick at Brentford in the Premier League and score twice against Man Utd in the derby.

Haaland was unable to add to his tally in the match, with Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva getting the other two goals.

But the Norway star netted his sixth goal of the competition as Man City again won 3-1 over Copenhagen to progress 6-2 on aggregate, with Alvarez also on target as the team-mates continued a strong continental campaign.

Rasmus Hojlund saw his hopes of becoming the Champions League top scorer brought to an end after Man Utd crashed out of the competition in the group stage.

Man Utd lost 1-0 at home to Bayern Munich on Matchday 6 to ensure finished bottom of Group A, ending their European campaign and removing any further chance for Hojlund to add to his season tally of five UCL goals.

Hojlund remained one of four co-leaders on five goals as the group stage came to an end, though knew he was all but certain to be overtaken as the tournament progressed.

Manchester United striker Hojlund was yet to score in the Premier League by the time his team suffered UCL elimination in December, but he made his mark in this competition.

The Denmark international netted a double in his side's dramatic 4-3 away loss to former club Copenhagen, though it was still a desperately disappointing night for United as they suffered defeat in a seven-goal thriller.

He had gone six matches without a goal for United across all competitions prior to scoring that brace.

For Hojlund, the two matches for Man Utd against Copenhagen - the team he started his career with - were hugely important nights, though it was defender Harry Maguire who scored the winner for United in the home clash, with Hojlund making up for his goalless night with a first-half double in the away fixture.

Manchester United striker Hojlund had previously netted an impressive double even as his side suffered a miserable 3-2 home defeat against Galatasaray in Matchday 2, while the Denmark star also scored against Bayern Munich in United's opener.

Morata remained one of the players in contention for much of the campaign after scoring twice as Atletico Madrid thrashed 10-man Celtic 6-0, having previously netted in the away leg against the Scottish side as well as netting a double in the 3-2 triumph against Feyenoord.

Griezmann also netted a double in the huge home win over Celtic as the Spanish club impressively topped Group E with 14 points.

In the last 16, Atletico needed penalties to defeat Inter. They lost the first leg 1-0, but a goal from Griezmann helped the Spanish club to a 2-1 win on the night in the second leg, leading to the shoot-out.

One of the top performances this season came from Evanilson, who scored a hat-trick for Porto as they came from behind to defeat Antwerp 4-1. He also scored in the 2-0 return victory for the Portuguese club to reach four goals for the campaign.

His team-mate Galeno was also on four goals after the group stage before increasing his tally with a key strike in the last-16 tie with Arsenal, but the Portuguese team were ultimately knocked out on penalties to end the hopes of their two attacking stars.

Gabriel Jesus scored in all four of the group matches he started in the UCL this season, including his strike as Arsenal trashed Lens 6-0 on MD5.

Joao Felix scored a double as Barcelona thrashed Antwerp 5-0 on MD1, with Lewandowski also opening his account for the campaign in that match.

It was Ferran Torres who struck for Barca in MD2, as they won 1-0 away to Porto, and the former Man City attacker was on target again as Barca edged to a 2-1 win over Shakhtar Donetsk on MD3.

But there was a shock result in MD4, as Shakhtar beat Barca 1-0, with Danylo Sikan scoring his third goal of the season, a total he increased to four on MD6.

Barca got back on track with a 2-1 home MD5 win over Porto, with Joao Felix getting the winner, while Torres scoring in a 3-2 loss to Antwerp to conclude the group stage.

In the last 16, Osimhen and Lewandowski exchanged strikes as Napoli drew 1-1 with Barcelona.

Lewandowski scored again in the second leg as Barca won 3-1 at home to progress 4-2 on aggregate.

In the groups, it was a last-gasp goal from Bellingham that got Real Madrid off to a winning start, as they beat Union Berlin 1-0 in Group C, and he was on target again in the 3-2 win at Napoli and 2-1 win in Portugal against Braga.

Bellingham later moved up to four goals as Real Madrid beat Napoli 4-2 in an entertaining encounter

It continued a fine start to the season for England midfielder Bellingham, who has also thrived in La Liga, though he was not as prolific in the UCL knockout stage.

Real Madrid striker Joselu scored twice in a dramatic 3-2 away win over Union Berlin on MD6 to enter the standings for the first time this season.

Kane was back in England when Bayern took on Manchester United, getting an assist in the 1-0 win. Back at the start of the campaign he was among four scorers for the German side as they won their dramatic home clash with United 4-3 on Matchday 1.

Bayern had to come from behind in MD2, but ultimately battled to a 2-1 win in Copenhagen, with Mathys Tel scoring the winner to move on to two UCL goals.

Kane and Jamal Musiala also reached two goals each for the campaign on MD3, as Bayern won 3-1 away to Galatasaray.

In-form Kane was the Bayern hero once more on MD4, scoring a double in a 2-1 win over Galatasaray that secured top spot with two games to play.

Kane was kept out in the last-16 first-leg defeat to Lazio, but was back with a bang in the second leg, scoring twice as Bayern won 3-0 to progress 3-1 on aggregate.

Mbappe, meanwhile, scored in PSG's 2-0 first-leg win over Real Sociedad and matched Kane’s feat with a second-leg brace as PSG defeated Real Sociedad 2-1 to win 4-1 overall.

Prior to his last-16 and quarter-final performances, Mbappe scored in PSG’s wins over Dortmund and AC Milan, before a late, controversial penalty in the home draw with Newcastle gave him a third goal.

It was close at the top of the goalscoring charts in Europe’s top club competition, with Haaland unable to defend his Golden Boot crown despite a strong attempt. Mbappe and Kane will now be the men to beat next season.

Champions League top scorers 2022/23

Erling Haaland topped the Champions League goalscoring rankings in 2022/23.

He netted 12 times for eventual winners Man City, though it was midfielder Rodri who scored the winner in the final against Inter.

Haaland also did not score in either leg of the 5-1 aggregate semi-final win over Real Madrid, but still comfortably claimed his second UCL top scorer title due to his stunning form before that stage.

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The striker was helped by his fantastic five-goal performance in a 7-0 round-of-16 second leg win for Man City over RB Leipzig.

Haaland also netted in both legs of the UCL quarter-final win over Bayern.

Mohamed Salah came in second place, scoring eight times in eight matches, helped by netting a group-stage hat-trick against Rangers.

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But he and Liverpool will not be part of the competition in 2023/24, after they missed out on a Premier League top-four finish.

Haaland also topped the UCL scoring charts for Borussia Dortmund in 2020/21, netting 10 times on that occasion.

Karim Benzema and Robert Lewandowski have also been recent winners of the award.

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Prior to that, there was an astonishing era of dominance from Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

One of those two players won the award from every year between 2007 and 2019. That run was only briefly disrupted by Neymar in 2014/15, and even then he was only able to share the honour with Ronaldo and Messi, with all three players striking 10 times that season.

The highest Champions League goalscorer has netted at least 10 times during each of the last 13 seasons.

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Lionel Messi was the last player to win the award while only scoring in single figures, finishing as top scorer in the 2009/10 competition with eight goals.

Champions League all-time goal records

Cristiano Ronaldo is the all-time Champions League top goalscorer.

The Portugal star scored 140 times in 183 matches, playing in the competition for Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.

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Lionel Messi is in second place with 129 goals, while Robert Lewandowski is the highest active UCL player in the rankings. He is third and fast closing on on a century of goals.

Ronaldo has scored the most goals in a single Champions League campaign, striking 17 times for Real Madrid in 2013/14. That included a goal in the 2014 Champions League final, as his side defeated city rivals Atletico Madrid in extra-time.

And Ronaldo has also become the Champions League top scorer on more occasions than anyone else.

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Ronaldo is a seven-time UCL top scorer, putting him just ahead of great rival Lionel Messi, who topped the competition's scoring charts on six occasions.

Real Madrid and Barcelona have traditionally dominated the top scorer rankings. Madrid have had the golden boot winner 16 times dating back to the start of the European Cup, while Barca have had nine winners.

Benfica, Man Utd and Bayern have all had the UCL top scorer seven times.