Every Player to Score Four Goals in a Champions League Match

It’s a special achievement to score four or more goals in any game, let alone the Champions League.

Anthony Gordon joins some of the biggest names in the sport. | Angel Martinez/Real Madrid/Giorgi ARJEVANIDZE/AFP/AMA/Corbis/TF-Images/Matthew Peters/Manchester United/Getty Images

Anthony Gordon joined an elite group of players when he scored four times in Newcastle United’s 6–1 thrashing of Qarabağ, kicking off their Champions League knockout playoff in comprehensive fashion.

Prior to kick off in Azerbaijan, only 17 four-goal hauls—by 15 players—had been recorded in the competition since it rebranded from the European Cup in 1992. Two of those prolific players even managed to score a fifth goal in a single game.

Two of Gordon’s four goals came from the penalty spot, but all were scored in the first half alone. That isn’t as quick as you might think and doesn’t even crack the top 10 for the England winger.

The two five-goal hauls in the Champions League belong to Lionel Messi—who else?—and former Shakhtar Donestk striker Luiz Adriano. Messi scored five times in an hour against Bayer Leverkusen during the 2011–12 season, in which he managed 73 goals in total. Adriano eclipsed that by scoring his quintet of goals in only 54 minutes, against BATE Borisov in 2014–15.

Luiz Adriano scored five goals in under an hour. | MAXIM MALINOVSKY/AFP/Getty Images

The fastest four-goal haul in Champions League history was scored by Robert Lewandowski, who remarkably hit the net four times in only 14 minutes when Bayern Munich faced Red Star Belgrade during 2019–20, eventually lifting the trophy in the Covid-disrupted season.

Lewandowski is the only player other than Messi who appears twice on the list. His other was significantly slower—in 59 minutes—but came against the mighty Real Madrid in the semifinals, when the Pole was leading the line for Borussia Dortmund in 2012–13.

Cristiano Ronaldo also makes the list, albeit only once, for his four-goal haul for Real Madrid against Malmö during the 2015–16 group stage.

---

All-Time Champions League Four-Goal Hauls

Player	Opponent	Season	Minutes
Luiz Adriano (Shakhtar Donetsk)	BATE Borisov	2014–15	54 (5 goals)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)	Bayer Leverkusen	2011–12	60 (5 goals)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)	Red Star Belgrade	2019–20	14
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)	Malmö	2015–16	20
Mario Gómez (Bayern Munich)	Basel	2011–12	23
Dado Pršo (Monaco)	Deportivo La Coruña	2003–04	23
Bafétimbi Gomis (Lyon)	Dinamo Zagreb	2011–12	26
Marco van Basten (AC Milan)	Göteborg	1992–93	30
Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich)	Tottenham Hotspur	2019–20	35
Zlatan Ibrahimović (Paris Saint-Germain)	Anderlecht	2013–14	45
Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United)	Qarabağ	2025–26	46
Simone Inzaghi (Lazio)	Marseille	1999–00	54
Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund)	Real Madrid	2012–13	59
Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan)	Fenerbahçe	2004–05	60
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)	Arsenal	2009–10	67
Olivier Giroud (Chelsea)	Sevilla	2020–21	75
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Man Utd)	Sparta Prague	2004–05	76
Josip Iličić (Atalanta)	Valencia	2019–20	79

---