Who Has the Most Champions League Appearances of All Time?

Only seven players have more than 150 caps in the Champions League.
An all-time great has the most Champions League appearances of all time.
An all-time great has the most Champions League appearances of all time. / IMAGO/ABACAPRESS

The players with the most Champions League appearances of all time have represented the biggest and best clubs in Europe's top competition.

Soccer's greats, from Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to Luka Modrić and Andrés Iniesta, have all lifted multiple UCL titles in their illustrious careers. Even players without a Champions League title in their trophy cabinet, including Zlatan Ibrahimović and Gianluigi Buffon, still enjoyed immense success in the competition.

Beyond skill, though, the players who dominated Europe had one thing in common—longevity. For years and years, the sport's best left everything out on the pitch in the pursuit of lifting the iconic Champions League trophy.

Check out the players who earned the most UCL caps in history.


Who Has the Most Champions League Appearances of All Time?

Cristiano Ronaldo has the most Champions League appearances of all time with 183. The Portugal international recorded 59 caps with Manchester United, 101 with Real Madrid and 23 with Juventus.

In his 183 appearances, Ronaldo scored 140 UCL goals, the most in the competition's history. He also is tied with Messi for the most Champions League hat tricks (8) of all time. Before leaving Europe, Ronaldo topped the competition five times and was an integral part in Real Madrid's historic three-peat in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Ronaldo's former Real Madrid teammate, Iker Casillas is the player with the second-most Champions League appearances. The goalkeeper earned 177 UCL caps throughout his career, representing Real Madrid 150 times and Porto 27 times in the Champions League.


All-Time Champions League Appearances: Full List

Appearances

Player

Club(s)

183

Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus

177

Iker Casillas

Real Madrid, Porto

163

Lionel Messi

Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain

153

Thomas Müller

Bayern Munich

152

Karim Benzema

Lyon, Real Madrid

151

Toni Kroos

Bayern Munich, Real Madrid

151

Xavi

Barcelona

143

Manuel Neuer

Schalke, Bayern Munich

142

Raúl

Real Madrid, Schalke

142

Sergio Ramos

Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Sevilla

141

Ryan Giggs

Manchester United

131

Luka Modrić

Tottenham, Real Madrid

130

Andrés Iniesta

Barcelona

129

Sergio Busquets

Barcelona

128

Gerard Piqué

Manchester United, Barcelona

125

Clarence Seedorf

Ajax, Real Madrid, Milan

124

Gianluigi Buffon

Parma, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain

124

Paul Scholes

Manchester United

124

Zlatan Ibrahimović

Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United

123

Robert Lewandowski

Dortmund, Bayern, Barcelona

Only seven players in Champions League history have played over 150 matches in the competition, and six of them are all Real Madrid or Barcelona greats: Ronaldo, Casillas, Messi, Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Xavi.

Bayern Munich's Thomas Müller is the other player to round out the top seven. In fact, the German is the player with the most Champions League appearances for one club.

Müller is also one of just five players on the list to never represent Barcelona or Real Madrid; his current teammate Manuel Neuer, along with Manchester United's Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, and Gianluigi Buffon are the only players who amassed the most UCL appearances in history without playing for one of the Spanish giants.

Neuer and Müller, as well as Luka Modrić and Robert Lewandowski are the four players still competing in the UCL. Although Ronaldo's 183 appearances seems rather unreachable for everyone but Müller, they can still climb the list of greats as they continue their European careers.


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Amanda Langell
AMANDA LANGELL

Amanda Langell is a Sports Illustrated Soccer freelance writer covering the European game and international competitions.