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The European Championship is one of the most hotly contested international tournaments. Over the years, we've had some legendary footballers play at the Euros. They’ve given us some joyful moments of the ball nestling into the back of the net.
Italy won their second ever European Championship title by beating England on penalties at Euro 2020.
With the tournament done and dusted, we have the chance to look at some of the great goal-scorers at the Euros.
So without further ado, let’s take a look at the top five goal-scorers at the European Championship.
#5 Thierry Henry – 6 goals
Thierry Henry is the first of three Frenchmen to feature on this list. In his prime, Henry was a prolific goal-scorer, and could also leave defenders in the dust with his incredible dribbling ability and pace.
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Henry played at three European Championships and helped France win their second title in 2000. He was France’s top-goal-scorer at Euro 2000 with three goals, and played a key role for Les Blues that year.
Henry also scored at Euro 2004 and Euro 2008, but France weren’t able to match their exploits of 2000 when they won the title.
With a total of six goals in 11 Euro appearances, Henry is fifth on our list.
#4 Alan Shearer – 7 goals
Alan Shearer’s seven goals in nine appearances at the Euros is one of the best game-to-goal ratios on this list.
The England international was one of the most natural goal-scorers of his generation, and he replicated his incredible club form for his national team.
Shearer was part of the English side at Euro 1992, but he featured just once in three games and went goalless as the Three Lions crashed out in the group stages.
The Newcastle United legend was pretty much unstoppable on home soil at Euro 1996. He scored five goals in as many games and picked up the Golden Boot award. However, that wasn’t enough as England lost to Germany on penalties in the semi-final.
Shearer then captained England at Euro 2000, and scored twice. Unfortunately he didn’t have the chance to score more goals as England once again crashed out in the group stages.
#3 Antoine Griezmann – 7 goals
Griezmann has featured in two European Championships, and his seven goals in 11 games sees him occupy third position on this list.
The Frenchman’s six goals at Euro 2016 saw him win the gold boot award that year. But ultimately it wasn’t enough as France finished runners-up to Portugal.
Griezmann was far from his best at Euro 2020, and managed just one solitary goal despite playing four games for Les Blues.
The Frenchman is a talented footballer, and perhaps could have found himself higher on this list had France not underachieved at Euro 2020.
#2 Michel Platini – 9 goals
Michel Platini was the highest goal-scorer at the European Championships before his record was broken at Euro 2020.
The Frenchman was perhaps the best player of his generation and won three Ballon d’Or awards for his incredible creativity and goal-scoring exploits from attacking midfield.
Platini is the only player on this list to have played in a single European Championship, as all nine of his goals came at Euro 1984.
The attacking midfielder helped France win their first ever European Championship in 1984, and his exploits of nine goals in a single tournament have not been matched since.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo – 14 goals
No player has featured at the Euros more than Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo, and he has certainly made the appearances count by scoring a record 14 goals in 25 games.
After suffering a heart-breaking loss to unfancied Greece at Euro 2004, Ronaldo inspired Portugal to their maiden European Championship title more than a decade later in 2016 to finish the job.
The Portuguese star also won the golden boot earlier this summer for his five goals at Euro 2020, and with that, he became the most successful goal-scorer at the European Championships.
Ronaldo has scored in every edition he has played in, and Euro 2020 was his most prolific in terms of his output. Now 36, it’s unlikely we will see Cristiano Ronaldo strut his magic at the Euros again.
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