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With one game to go, it’s that man again at the top of another goal-scoring chart. Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo leads Euro 2021 with five goals and if Harry Kane or Raheem Sterling don’t catch up in their Euro championship match against Italy, he’ll come away with the top scorer award despite being eliminated a few rounds ago.
Kane is just one goal behind Ronaldo, but he’ll need two to overtake him, unless he also gets a couple of assists in the final. That’s because assists are the first tiebreaker in case players are tied on goals scored. Sterling is two goals back.
The Czech Republic’s Patrik Schick actually caught up to Ronaldo in the scorer standings, but Ronaldo’s lone assist gives him the edge based on the tiebreaker (see below).
The top scorer honor would be the latest in a decorated career for the 36-year-old Ronaldo, who has been the sportsbooks’ favorite to win the Euro Golden Boot. He’s the all-time leading scorer at Euro tournaments (14 goals) and he is also tied for the most international goals ever scored by a male player. The Portuguese international is coming off a season which saw him top the Italian Serie A scoring charts with Juventus (29 goals).
MORE: Updated Euro 2021 day-by-day schedule and TV
If players score the same number of goals, there are the tiebreakers that determine their final ranking in the scoring table. These were implemented by UEFA beginning with the Euro 2008 tournament:
- Most assists provided in Euro 2021
- Fewest minutes played in Euro 2021
- Most goals scored during Euro 2021 qualifying (including playoffs)
- Fewest cards (yellow and red combined) in Euro 2021
- Fewest cards (yellow and red combined) in Euro 2021 qualifying
The updated scoring chart follows below. If “Own Goal” was an actual entry in these rankings, it would be in the lead. The 11 own goals scored during the tournament easily surpass Ronaldo’s total.
Euro 2021 Top Scorers
| Ranking | Player | Team | Goals | Assists | Minutes Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 5 | 1 | 360 |
| Patrik Schick | Czech Republic | 5 | 0 | 404 | |
| 3. | Karim Benzema | France | 4 | 0 | 349 |
| Emil Forsberg | Sweden | 4 | 0 | 371 | |
| Romelu Lukaku | Belgium | 4 | 0 | 444 | |
| Harry Kane | England | 4 | 0 | 529 | |
| 7. | Xherdan Shaqiri | Switzerland | 3 | 1 | 371 |
| Raheem Sterling | England | 3 | 1 | 521 | |
| Kasper Dolberg | Denmark | 3 | 0 | 225 | |
| Robert Lewandowski | Poland | 3 | 0 | 270 | |
| Haris Seferovic | Switzerland | 3 | 0 | 301 | |
| Georginio Wijnaldum | Netherlands | 3 | 0 | 360 | |
| Alvaro Morata | Spain | 3 | 0 | 452 | |
| 14. | Pablo Sarabia | Spain | 2 | 2 | 252 |
| Memphis Depay | Netherlands | 2 | 2 | 327 | |
| Andriy Yarmolenko | Ukraine | 2 | 2 | 445 | |
| Ivan Perisic | Croatia | 2 | 1 | 261 | |
| Ferran Torres | Spain | 2 | 1 | 366 | |
| Ciro Immobile | Italy | 2 | 1 | 390 | |
| Roman Yaremchuk | Ukraine | 2 | 1 | 430 | |
| Joakim Maehle | Denmark | 2 | 1 | 570 | |
| Matteo Pessina | Italy | 2 | 0 | 191 | |
| Yussuf Poulsen | Denmark | 2 | 0 | 295 | |
| Manuel Locatelli | Italy | 2 | 0 | 248 | |
| Thorgan Hazard | Belgium | 2 | 0 | 268 | |
| Kai Havertz | Germany | 2 | 0 | 304 | |
| Denzel Dumfries | Netherlands | 2 | 0 | 315 | |
| Mikkel Damsgaard | Denmark | 2 | 0 | 330 | |
| Federico Chiesa | Italy | 2 | 0 | 352 |
Note: Total of 51 players tied with one goal in the tournament.
UEFA didn’t recognize the top scorer with an official award before Euro 1996 . Here are the winners of the top scorer honor since it was instituted:
Euros Top Scorers (since 1996)
| Year | Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Alan Shearer | England | 5 |
| 2000 | Patrick Kluivert | Netherlands | 5 |
| Savo Milošević | Yugoslavia | 5 | |
| 2004 | Milan Baros | Czech Republic | 5 |
| 2008 | David Villa | Spain | 4 |
| 2012 | Fernando Torres | Spain | 3 |
| 2016 | Antoine Griezmann | France | 6 |
