Top 10 goal scorers of the European Championship
There’s no better time to take a look at the top scorers of the European Championship with UEFA Euro 2016 in sight. The list of the top ten scorers is a who's who of the best in European football. While most have retired, there are still a few on the list who can better their record and change the top ten for some time to come.
Veterans of the sport are likely to be displaced with newer names going down in history this time around.
(The rankings are according to total number of goals scored but where the goals scored are the same, the player’s goal scoring average has been taken into consideration.)
The countdown begins with Wayne Rooney at no. 10 with five goals. A few huge names with the same number of goals miss out due to goal average but definitely deserve mention.
Milan Baros from the Czech Republic, Marco van Basten from The Netherlands, France’s Zinedine Zidane and Spain’s Fernando Torres have all found the net five times in the course of their career at the European Championship for their country. Baros, van Basten and Torres went on to win the Golden Boot in 1988, 2004 and 2012 respectively.
So without much ado, here’s a countdown to the top scorer of the European Championship:
10: Wayne Rooney
Goals scored – 5
Matches played – 6
Goal average – 0.83
The beginning of Wayne Rooney’s campaign for England at Euro 2004 was well worth remembering. In his very first match of the tournament he became the youngest player to score after netting two goals against Switzerland in the group stages.
Even though he suffered an injury in their quarter final match against Portugal and eventually lost, his four goals in four games earned him a spot in the UEFA Team of the Tournament.
Euro 2012 was an entirely forgettable experience for Rooney. After spending most of the group stages serving out a two game ban, he managed just one goal and an early elimination. However, unlike many on this list, Rooney is an active player and the captain of the England team.
He will surely be looking for an opportunity to get some more goals on his record and improve his 10th place ranking.