Which nations have produced the most Champions League winners?
Tuesday, May 26, 2026
Article summary
Fifty-four nations can lay claim to a European Cup-winning player, with Achraf Hakimi and Willian Pacho adding Morocco and Ecuador respectively to the list in 2025. Will Kang-in Lee make South Korea the 55th nation?
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Some 633 players from 54 nations have featured in European Cup or UEFA Champions League final wins (many more than once)*, and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Kang-in Lee is hoping to add South Korea to the list after having been an unused substitute in last season's decider.
Two more countries were added to the roll of honour when Paris overwhelmed Inter 5-0 in the 2025 showpiece. Achraf Hakimi became the first player from Morocco to appear in a final victory – having not played for Real Madrid in the 2017/18 knockout phase – and also the first from his nation to score in a European Cup final, while Willian Pacho was the first Ecuadorean to feature in a victorious team.
Surprisingly, a Turkish player is yet to stand on the podium after taking part in the competition's decider, and that continued in 2025 when Hakan Çalhanoğlu's Inter were beaten by Paris. His team-mates Kristjan Asllani (Albania), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Armenia) and Mehdi Taremi (Iran) also missed out on becoming the first from their respective nations to appear in a final win.
Trivia
• Türkiye (ninth in the current UEFA rankings) is the highest-ranked country never to have had a Champions League or European Cup winner. Their four finalists to date all ended up with runners-up medals: Yıldıray Baştürk (Leverkusen, 2002), Hamit Altıntop (Bayern, 2010), Nuri Şahin (Dortmund, 2013) and Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Inter 2023, 2025).
• Greece have had the most finalists without producing a winner – 12. That total includes Panathinaikos' 11 men from their 1971 final defeat, plus Akis Zikos, a runner up with Monaco in 2004.
• The lowest-ranked European nation to boast a Champions League or European Cup finalist and champion is San Marino; Massimo Bonini – a 1985 winner with Juventus – represented the country ranked 55th out of 55 in UEFA's national coefficient rankings.
How many players by nation have won the European Cup/Champions League final?
80: Spain
74: Italy
70: England
64: Germany
52: Netherlands
46: Portugal
41: Brazil
39: France
26: Scotland
14: Romania
13: Yugoslavia
12: Argentina
8: Croatia
8: Republic of Ireland
8: Denmark
7: Sweden
4: Belgium
4: Czechia
4: Norway
4: Poland
4: Wales
3: Ghana
3: Ivory Coast
3: Nigeria
3: Uruguay
2: Australia
2: Austria
2: Cameroon
2: Finland
2: Georgia
2: Mali
2: Northern Ireland
2: Senegal
2: Serbia
2: Switzerland
1: Algeria (Rabah Madjer, Porto 1987)
1: Bosnia and Herzegovina (Hasan Salihamidžić, Bayern 2001)
1: Bulgaria (Hristo Stoichkov, Barcelona 1992)
1: Canada (Alphonso Davies, Bayern 2020)
1: Costa Rica (Keylor Navas, Real Madrid 2016, 2017 & 2018)
1: Ecuador (Willian Pacho, Paris Saint-Germain 2025)
1: Egypt (Mohamed Salah, Liverpool 2019)
1: Hungary (Ferenc Puskás, Real Madrid 1959, 1960 & 1966)
1: Mexico (Rafael Márquez, Barcelona 2006)
1: Morocco (Achraf Hakimi, Paris Saint-Germain 2025)
1: North Macedonia (Goran Pandev, Inter 2010)
1: Peru (Víctor Benítez, AC Milan 1963)
1: South Africa (Benni McCarthy, Porto 2004)
1: Russia (Dmitri Alenichev, Porto 2004)
1: San Marino (Massimo Bonini, Juventus 1985)
1: Trinidad & Tobago (Dwight Yorke, Manchester United 1999)
1: Ukraine (Andriy Shevchenko, AC Milan 2003)
1: United States (Christian Pulišić, Chelsea 2021)
1: Zimbabwe (Bruce Grobbelaar, Liverpool 1984)
Last updated 25/05/2026
* Only players who feature in the final itself are included in the statistics.