Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell, Wynton Rufer and Scott Chipperfield: Who are Australia and New Zealand's top UEFA Champions League performers?

Saturday, December 20, 2025

Which Australian and New Zealand players have the most appearances and goals in Europe's leading club competition?

Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell, Wynton Rufer and Scott Chipperfield

Last updated: 20 December 2025

Most appearances by Antipodean nationals in the UEFA Champions League (group stage/league phase to final)

29: Harry Kewell (AUS – Leeds, Liverpool)
20: Jason Culina (AUS – PSV Eindhoven)
19: Scott Chipperfield (AUS – Basel)
17: Mark Viduka (AUS – Dinamo Zagreb, Leeds)
14: Scott McDonald (AUS – Celtic)
14: Craig Moore (AUS – Rangers)
13: Miloš Degenek (AUS – Crvena Zvezda)
12: Brett Emerton (AUS – Feyenoord)
12: Tom Rogić (AUS – Celtic)
10: Wynton Rufer (NZL – Bremen)

Top-scoring Antipodean nationals in the UEFA Champions League (group stage/league phase to final)

Mark Viduka celebrates a Champions League goal for LeedsGetty Images

8: Wynton Rufer (NZL – Bremen)
4: Mark Viduka (AUS – Dinamo Zagreb, Leeds)
2: Scott McDonald (AUS – Celtic)
1: Awer Mabil (AUS – Midtjylland)
1: Craig Moore (AUS – Rangers)
1: Marko Stamenic (NZL – Copenhagen, Crvena Zvezda)

Most appearances by Antipodean nationals in UEFA club competition*

Watch some of Australia's greatest players in action

88: Harry Kewell (AUS – Leeds, Liverpool, Galatasaray)
78: Scott Chipperfield (AUS – Basel)
57: Tom Rogić (AUS – Celtic)
56: Mark Viduka (AUS – Dinamo Zagreb, Celtic, Leeds, Middlesbrough)
55: Mark Schwarzer (AUS – Middlesbrough, Fulham, Chelsea)
52: Mathew Ryan (AUS – Club Brugge, Valencia, Genk, Real Sociedad, Copenhagen, AZ Alkmaar)
51: James Holland (AUS – Austria Wien, LASK)
46: Miloš Degenek (AUS – Crvena Zvezda, TSC)
45: Craig Moore (AUS – Rangers, Newcastle)
44: Wynton Rufer (NZL – Zürich, Grasshoppers, Bremen)
44: Josip Skoko (AUS – Hajduk Split, Genk, Gençlerbirliği)

Top-scoring Antipodean nationals in UEFA club competition*

Wynton Rufer with Bremen in 1992©Getty Images

23: Wynton Rufer (NZL – Zürich, Grasshoppers, Bremen)
21: Harry Kewell (AUS – Leeds, Liverpool, Galatasaray)
18: Mark Viduka (AUS – Dinamo Zagreb, Celtic, Leeds, Middlesbrough)
9: Martin Boyle (AUS – Hibernian)
8: Scott Chipperfield (AUS – Basel)
7: Eduvard Krnčević (AUS – Dinamo Zagreb, Cercle Brugge, Anderlecht, RC Liègeois, Charleroi)
7: Josip Skoko (AUS – Hajduk Split, Genk, Gençlerbirliği)
6: Nikita Rukavytsya (AUS – Twente, Maccabi Haifa)
5: Joel Griffiths (AUS – Neuchâtel Xamax)
5: Brett Holman (AUS – AZ Alkmaar)
5: Scott McDonald (AUS – Celtic)
5: Chris Wood (NZL – Birmingham, Burnley, Nottingham Forest)

Notable firsts

Craig Johnston playing for Liverpool in 1983Bob Thomas Sports Photography

First Antipodean national to appear in/win a European Cup final
Craig Johnston§ (AUS – Liverpool 1-1 Roma, aet, Liverpool win 4-2 on pens, 1983/84)

First Antipodean international to appear in/win a European Cup Winners' Cup final
Wynton Rufer (NZL – Werder Bremen 2-0 Monaco, 1991/92)

First Antipodean international to appear in/win a UEFA Champions League final
Harry Kewell (AUS – AC Milan 3-3 Liverpool, aet, Liverpool win 3-2 on pens, 2004/05)

Nation-by-nation: Most appearances by Antipodean players in UEFA club competition*

Harry Kewell celebrates a UEFA Cup goal for LiverpoolAFP via Getty Images

American Samoa – NONE
Australia – 88: Harry Kewell (Leeds, Liverpool, Galatasaray)
Cook Islands – NONE
Fiji – NONE
New Caledonia – NONE
New Zealand – 44: Wynton Rufer (Zürich, Grasshoppers, Bremen)
Papua New Guinea – NONE
Samoa – NONE
Solomon Islands – NONE
Tahiti – 15: Marama Vahirua (Nantes)
Tonga – NONE
Vanuatu – NONE

Tahiti's Marama Vahirua playing UEFA Champions League football with Nantes in 2002Getty Images

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Africa's top Champions League performers
Asia's top Champions League performers
Central and North America's top Champions League performers
South America's top Champions League performers

*UEFA club competitions means European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, European/South American Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Super Cup and UEFA Intertoto Cup

§ Johnston was born in South Africa to Australian parents, and raised in New Zealand, but represented England at Under-21 level and never made a senior international appearance