A total of 946 goals have been scored in games at the men's 17 final tournaments of theUEFA European Championship, not counting penalties scored duringshoot-outs.[1] Since the first goal scored byYugoslav playerMilan Galić at the1960 European Nations' Cup, exactly 545 footballers have scored goals at the Euro tournaments,[2] of whom 39 have scored four or more.
Since in the beginning tournaments were contested between four teams and only two games were played, top goalscorers of the first three editions have scored only two goals.[3] This was bettered in1972, whenWest Germany'sGerd Müller scored four goals.Four years later this was matched by his compatriotDieter Müller and finally in1984France'sMichel Platini have scored record 9 goals in just 5 games.[4] His record stood for more than three decades untilCristiano Ronaldo scored his 10th goal forPortugal at theUEFA Euro 2020.[5] He has later improved his tally and stands at 14 goals in 30 appearances at the European Championship tournaments — also record.[6] The top 39 goalscorers have represented 15 nations, with 7 players scoring for Germany or West Germany, 5 for France, and 4 forNetherlands. In total, only 6 of them have scored at tournaments with maximum of 8 teams (prior toUEFA Euro 1996).
Platini holds the record for the most goals scored in a single tournament, with 9 goals in 1984.[7] The players that came closest wereAntoine Griezmann in2016 (with 6 goals) andMarco van Basten in1988,Alan Shearer in 1996,Savo Milošević andPatrick Kluivert in2000,Milan Baroš in2004, and Ronaldo andPatrik Schick in 2020 (all with 5 goals). Across the 17 tournaments of the Euro, 37 players have been credited with the most tournament goals, with Ronaldo the only one to achieve this feat twice (in2012 and 2020). Twelve of them scored at least four goals in a tournament, while Portugal'sNuno Gomes (2000),England'sWayne Rooney, Netherlands'Ruud van Nistelrooy (both in 2004),Belgium'sRomelu Lukaku, England'sHarry Kane, France'sKarim Benzema andSweden'sEmil Forsberg (all in 2020) are the only footballers to score at least 4 goals without being the top goalscorer. These 37 players represented 16 nations, the most (six) Germany or West Germany. Four played forYugoslavia, the Netherlands andSpain.
Of all the players who have played in the UEFA European Championship tournaments, only three have achieved an average of two goals per game played:Hungary'sDezső Novák and West Germany's: Gerd Müller and Dieter Müller — although Novák have appeared in only one Euro game.
Since 2008, if there is more than one player with the same number of goals, the tie-breaker goes to the player who has contributed the mostassists. If there is still more than one player, the tie-breaker goes to the player who has played the least amount of time.[3] Between the years 1960 and 2008, theGolden Boot award went to each of the top goalscorers of the UEFA European Championship tournaments. At Euro 2020, there was a new physical anddigital trophy presented to the tournament's top scorer. It was commissioned byAlipay, the Chinese company sponsoring the award. "Sculpted in the shape of the Chinese character '支' (pronounced zhi, and meaning 'payment' as well as 'support'), the barefooted player on the trophy reflects the egalitarian footballing ideal that success on the pitch comes regardless of background or status," according to UEFA.[24]
Top goalscorers at each UEFA European Championship final tournament[3][25]
