UEFA Champions League

UEFA Champions League
Founded	1955; 70 years ago; (rebranded in 1992)
Region	Europe (UEFA)
Number of teams	32 (group stage); 79 (total)
Qualifier for	UEFA Super Cup; FIFA Club World Cup
Related competitions	UEFA Europa League (2nd tier); UEFA Europa Conference League (3rd tier)
Current champions	Real Madrid CF (15th title)
Most successful club(s)	Real Madrid (15 titles)
Website	Official website
	2025–26 UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, or simply known as the UCL for a football competition organized by UEFA, between some of the top club teams in Europe. The top team in the league comes out UEFA champions league every year. 32 teams will play the game and determines the best football club. At first, it was started by France, not the European Football Federation. It was played only as a home and away tournament, but a group stage was added from the 1991-92 season. The teams are selected because of good performances in their respective domestic leagues. The teams used to have to win their countries' league, but more than one team can play in the competition depending on how good their league is. For example: the Spanish League can get 4 Spanish clubs in the competition compared to the Kazakhstan League which can only get one team in the competition.

Quick facts Founded, Region ...

Real Madrid won the Champions League the first five times it was held, still a record. They have also won the Champions League/European Cup 15 times, which is also a record.

A total of 23 clubs from 10 European countries won the Champions League. 12 clubs won it more than once: Real Madrid, Milan, Bayern, Liverpool, Barcelona, Ajax, Manchester United, Inter Milan, Juventus, Benfica, Porto, Chelsea and Nottingham Forest.

v t e Club	Title(s)	Runners-up	Seasons won	Seasons runner-up
Real Madrid	15	3	1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2024	1962, 1964, 1981
Milan	7	4	1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003, 2007	1958, 1993, 1995, 2005
Bayern Munich	6	5	1974, 1975, 1976, 2001, 2013, 2020	1982, 1987, 1999, 2010, 2012
Liverpool	6	4	1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 2005, 2019	1985, 2007, 2018, 2022
Barcelona	5	3	1992, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2015	1961, 1986, 1994
Ajax	4	2	1971, 1972, 1973, 1995	1969, 1996
Inter Milan	3	4	1964, 1965, 2010	1967, 1972, 2023, 2025
Manchester United	3	2	1968, 1999, 2008	2009, 2011
Juventus	2	7	1985, 1996	1973, 1983, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2015, 2017
Benfica	2	5	1961, 1962	1963, 1965, 1968, 1988, 1990
Chelsea	2	1	2012, 2021	2008
Nottingham Forest	2	0	1979, 1980	—
Porto	2	0	1987, 2004	—
Borussia Dortmund	1	2	1997	2013, 2024
Celtic	1	1	1967	1970
Hamburger SV	1	1	1983	1980
Steaua București	1	1	1986	1989
Marseille	1	1	1993	1991
Manchester City	1	1	2023	2021
Paris Saint-Germain	1	1	2025	2020
Feyenoord	1	0	1970	—
Aston Villa	1	0	1982	—
PSV Eindhoven	1	0	1988	—
Red Star Belgrade	1	0	1991	—
Atlético Madrid	0	3	—	1974, 2014, 2016
Reims	0	2	—	1956, 1959
Valencia	0	2	—	2000, 2001
Fiorentina	0	1	—	1957
Eintracht Frankfurt	0	1	—	1960
Partizan	0	1	—	1966
Panathinaikos	0	1	—	1971
Leeds United	0	1	—	1975
Saint-Étienne	0	1	—	1976
Borussia Mönchengladbach	0	1	—	1977
Club Brugge	0	1	—	1978
Malmö FF	0	1	—	1979
Roma	0	1	—	1984
Sampdoria	0	1	—	1992
Bayer Leverkusen	0	1	—	2002
Monaco	0	1	—	2004
Arsenal	0	1	—	2006
Tottenham Hotspur	0	1	—	2019

Nation	Title(s)	Runners-up	Total
Spain	20	11	31
England	15	11	26
Italy	12	18	30
Germany^[a]	8	11	19
Netherlands	6	2	8
Portugal	4	5	9
France	2	6	8
Romania	1	1	2
Scotland	1	1	2
Yugoslavia^[b]	1	1	2
Belgium	0	1	1
Greece	0	1	1
Sweden	0	1	1

Stadium	Hosts	Years
Wembley Stadium, London	8	1963, 1968, 1971, 1978, 1992, 2011, 2013, 2024
Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	5	1957, 1969, 1980, 2010
San Siro, Milan		1965, 1970, 2001, 2016
Stadio Olimpico, Rome		1977, 1984, 1996, 2009
Heysel Stadium, Brussels		1958, 1966, 1974, 1985
Praterstadion, Wien		1964, 1987, 1990, 1995
Parc des Princes, Paris	3	1956, 1975, 1981
Stade de France, Saint-Denis		2000, 2006, 2022
Olympiastadion, Munich		1979, 1993, 1997
Hampden Park, Glasgow		1960, 1976, 2002
Olympic Stadium, Athens		1983, 1994, 2007
Camp Nou, Barcelona	2	1989, 1999
Estádio da Luz, Lisbon		2014, 2020
De Kuip, Rotterdam		1972, 1982
Allianz Arena, Munich		2012, 2025
Neckarstadion, Stuttgart		1959, 1988
Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul		2005, 2023
Wankdorf Stadium, Bern	1	1961
Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam		1962
Estádio do Jamor, Lisbon		1967
Red Star Stadium, Belgrade		1973
Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville		1986
Stadio San Nicola, Bari		1991
Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam		1998
Old Trafford, Manchester		2003
Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen		2004
Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow		2008
Olympiastadion, Berlin		2015
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff		2017
NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kyiv		2018
Wanda Metropolitano, Madrid		2019
Estádio do Dragão, Porto		2021
Puskás Arena, Budapest		2026

Rank	Player	Goals	Apps	Ratio	Years	Club(s) (Goals)
1	Cristiano Ronaldo	140	183	0.77	2003–	Manchester United (21), Real Madrid (105), Juventus (14)
2	Lionel Messi	129	161	0.8	2005–	Barcelona (120), Paris Saint-Germain (9)
3	Robert Lewandowski	91	111	0.82	2011–	Borussia Dortmund (17), Bayern Munich (69), Barcelona (5)
4	Karim Benzema	86	145	0.59	2005–	Lyon (12), Real Madrid (74)
5	Raúl	71	142	0.5	1995–2011	Real Madrid (66), Schalke 04 (5)
6	Ruud van Nistelrooy	56	73	0.77	1998–2009	PSV Eindhoven (8), Manchester United (35), Real Madrid (13)
7	Thomas Müller	53	138	0.38	2009–	Bayern Munich
8	Thierry Henry	50	112	0.45	1997–2012	Monaco (7), Arsenal (35), Barcelona (8)
9	Alfredo Di Stéfano	49	58	0.84	1955–1964	Real Madrid
10	Andriy Shevchenko	48	100	0.48	1994–2012	Dynamo Kyiv (15), Milan (29), Chelsea (4)
10	Zlatan Ibrahimović	48	124	0.39	2001–	Ajax (6), Juventus (3), Inter Milan (6), Barcelona (4), Milan (9), Paris Saint-Germain (20)
12	Eusébio	46	65	0.71	1961–1974	Benfica
12	Filippo Inzaghi	46	81	0.57	1997–2012	Juventus (17), Milan (29)
14	Didier Drogba	44	92	0.48	2003–2015	Marseille (5), Chelsea (36), Galatasaray (3)
15	Mohamed Salah	43	77	0.56	2013–	Basel (2), Roma (1), Liverpool (40)
15	Neymar	43	80	0.54	2013–	Barcelona (21), Paris Saint-Germain (22)
17	Alessandro Del Piero	42	89	0.47	1995–2009	Juventus
18	Sergio Agüero	41	79	0.52	2008–2021	Atlético Madrid (5), Manchester City (36)
19	Kylian Mbappé	40	59	0.68	2016–	Monaco (6), Paris Saint-Germain (34)
20	Ferenc Puskás	36	41	0.88	1956–1966	Budapest Honvéd (1), Real Madrid (35)

UEFA Champions League

Records and statistics

Winners and runners-up

By nation

Final venues

All-time top goalscorers

Notes

Other websites

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