Ranking the 5 oldest goalscorers in UEFA Champions League history

Bhargav
Ryan Giggs is one of the oldest scorers in UEFA Champions League history
Ryan Giggs is one of the oldest scorers in UEFA Champions League history

The UEFA Champions League has been graced by a plethora of world-class players over the years.

Speaking of goalscorers in the Champions League, the first two names that come to mind are Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. They have won nine Champions League titles between them. Still going strong despite being on the wrong side of 30, they are the only two players to score over 100 goals in the competition.

Apart from Ronaldo and Messi, the Champions League has also had other players aged 30 or above who have scored in the competition. On that note, here's a look at the five oldest goalscorers in Champions League history.

Note: All stats are as per transfermarkt unless mentioned otherwise.


#5 Laurent Blanc - 36 years, 338 days (2002)

Laurent Blanc (right) is one of the oldest goalscorers in the Champions League.
Laurent Blanc (right) is one of the oldest goalscorers in the Champions League.

Laurent Blanc was one of the best goalscoring center-backs of his era. The 55-year-old played a key role in France's 1998 FIFA World Cup campaign on home soil.

Blanc, though, played only two seasons in the Champions League, all for Manchester United, scoring three times. His third strike in the competition, in a group game in the 2002-03 season, made him the oldest scorer in the Champions League.

The Frenchman would later be surpassed by four other players over the next two decades, though.


#4 Javier Zanetti - 37 years, 70 days

Javier Zanetti won the Champions League with Inter Milan in 2010.
Javier Zanetti won the Champions League with Inter Milan in 2010.

Javier Zanetti is one of the oldest scorers in the Champions League. He scored only twice in almost 100 games spanning 11 seasons in the competition, all for Inter Milan.

The Argentine's second strike in the competition - in a 4-3 win against Tottenham Hotspur in 2010-11 - made him the oldest scorer in Champions League history. That game saw a certain Gareth Bale announce himself with a breathtaking hat-trick; his effort came in a losing cause, though.

Zanetti's finest hour in the Champions League came a few months prior to his last goal in the competition, when he captained Inter Milan to the 2010 title against Bayern Munich in the final.


#3 Filippo Inzaghi - 37 years, 85 days (2010)

Filippo Inzaghi was a prolific scorer in the Champions League.
Filippo Inzaghi was a prolific scorer in the Champions League.

Javier Zanetti's record as the oldest goalscorer in Champions League history lasted only two weeks. That's because in the 2010-11 edition of the competition, Filippo Inzaghi scored a brace in AC Milan's 2-2 home draw against Real Madrid to go past Zanetti.

The now 48-year-old was a prolific goalscorer during his playing days. During an illustrious career with Juventus and AC Milan, the striker scored 46 goals in the Champions League. He won both his titles in the competition with Milan (2003, 2007).

A quintessential goal poacher, Inzaghi scored many a memorable goal in the Champions League. But his most important goals in the competition came in the 2007 final against Liverpool, which Milan won 2-1. That triumph remains Milan's latest in the Champions League.


#2 Ryan Giggs - 37 years, 291 days (2012)

Ryan Giggs is a Manchester United legend.
Ryan Giggs is a Manchester United legend.

Ryan Giggs is one of the best players to have graced the Champions League. The Manchester United legend played 20 seasons in the Champions League, scoring in all but four seasons.

Giggs made nearly 150 appearances in the competition, scoring 30 times and assisting on 46 occasions. His latest strike in the competition in 2012 made him the oldest player to score in the Champions League.

The versatile attacker won two Champions League titles. He scored four goals and assisted twice in the competition in United's historic treble-winning 1998-99 campaign.


#1 Francesco Totti - 38 years, 59 days

Francesco Totti is the oldest scorer in Champions League history.
Francesco Totti is the oldest scorer in Champions League history.

Francesco Totti is the oldest scorer in Champions League history. The AS Roma legend achieved the landmark in the 2014-15 edition of the competition, scoring in his team's 1-1 draw at Manchester City.

The now 45-year-old scored 17 times in 57 games spanning nine different seasons in the competition. Totti's most prolific Champions League campaign was in 2006-07, when he scored four times and provided three assists.

Despite interest from big clubs like Real Madrid, Totti stayed loyal to Roma. That also meant that the 2006 FIFA World Cup winner ended his legendary career without winning the Champions League.

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