Five players have won the European Cup or Champions League six times, and four of them did it in the same Real Madrid side. Paco Gento got there first and then waited a very long time for company: he won his sixth in 1966, and nobody matched it until Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Dani Carvajal and Nacho all reached six with Real Madrid in 2024.
Since the competition was rebranded as the UEFA Champions League for the 1992-93 season it has produced 34 finals. Real Madrid have won nine of those, and 15 European titles in all once the six European Cups of the 1950s and 1966 are counted — which is why almost every name near the top of this list is theirs.
Players with the most Champions League and European Cup titles
Every player with five or more titles, counting both the European Cup and the Champions League era.
|
Player |
Club(s) |
Titles |
Years |
|
Paco Gento |
Real Madrid |
6 |
1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966 |
|
Toni Kroos |
Bayern Munich, Real Madrid |
6 |
2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2024 |
|
Dani Carvajal |
Real Madrid |
6 |
2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2024 |
|
Luka Modric |
Real Madrid |
6 |
2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2024 |
|
Nacho |
Real Madrid |
6 |
2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2024 |
|
Juan Alonso |
Real Madrid |
5 |
1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 |
|
Rafael Lesmes |
Real Madrid |
5 |
1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 |
|
Marquitos |
Real Madrid |
5 |
1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 |
|
Hector Rial |
Real Madrid |
5 |
1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 |
|
Alfredo Di Stefano |
Real Madrid |
5 |
1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 |
|
Jose Maria Zarraga |
Real Madrid |
5 |
1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 |
|
Alessandro Costacurta |
Milan |
5 |
1989, 1990, 1994, 2003, 2007 |
|
Paolo Maldini |
Milan |
5 |
1989, 1990, 1994, 2003, 2007 |
|
Cristiano Ronaldo |
Manchester United, Real Madrid |
5 |
2008, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 |
|
Gareth Bale |
Real Madrid |
5 |
2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022 |
|
Karim Benzema |
Real Madrid |
5 |
2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022 |
|
Casemiro |
Real Madrid |
5 |
2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022 |
|
Marcelo |
Real Madrid |
5 |
2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022 |
|
Lucas Vazquez |
Real Madrid |
5 |
2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2024 |
Paco Gento and the 58-year wait
Gento won five in a row with the Real Madrid side that took the first five European Cups from 1956 to 1960, then added a sixth in 1966. He appeared in eight European Cup finals in all. For 58 years he was the only footballer with six, and the record survived Milan’s great sides, Liverpool’s and Bayern’s.
It fell in 2024, when Real beat Borussia Dortmund at Wembley and Kroos, Modric, Carvajal and Nacho all collected a sixth medal on the same night.
Real Madrid’s modern run
The core of that group came together for the 2014 win over Atletico Madrid, then took three in a row from 2016 to 2018 — Atletico again, Juventus and Liverpool — before adding 2022 and 2024. Nobody else has come close in the Champions League era.
Lucas Vazquez is the quiet member of the group, on five from 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2024, and Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Casemiro and Marcelo are on five as well.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the two-club exception
Almost everyone on five or more won the lot at one club. The exceptions are Kroos, whose first came with Bayern Munich in 2013, and Cristiano Ronaldo, whose first came with Manchester United in 2008 before four more at Real Madrid. Ronaldo also holds the record for the most match wins in the competition.
That 2008 final in Moscow was his first, and it went badly before it went well: he headed United in front from a Wes Brown cross, then missed his penalty in the shootout. Edwin van der Sar saved from Nicolas Anelka to win it anyway. Ronaldo lost the 2009 final to Barcelona, moved to Madrid for a then world-record fee and did not win the trophy again until 2014.
Who is on four titles?
The four-title group is a good deal broader and includes Sergio Ramos, Isco and Raphael Varane from the same Real side, Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta from Barcelona’s 2006-2015 run, Gerard Pique, Clarence Seedorf, Phil Neal of Liverpool, David Alaba and Mateo Kovacic. Seedorf is the only player on this list to have won it with three different clubs — Ajax, Real Madrid and Milan.
Where the trophy has gone since
Real Madrid have not won it since 2024. Paris Saint-Germain took their first in 2025, beating Inter 5-0 in Munich — the widest margin any Champions League final has produced — and then retained it in 2026, beating Arsenal 4-3 on penalties in Budapest after a 1-1 draw. They are the first club to defend the trophy since Real’s run of three from 2016 to 2018.
No PSG player is anywhere near this list yet, so the six-title record is safe for a while. For the international equivalent, see our lists of the most World Cup appearances and every World Cup Golden Boot winner.
Featured photo: Alamy