The UEFA European Championship is a soccer competition that was founded in 1960. It is held every four years and is contested by UEFA's men's national teams. The Soviet Union won the inaugural final, defeating Yugoslavia 2-1 in extra time in Paris. Portugal won the most recent final, which was held in Paris in 2016, defeating France 1-0 after extra time.
The European Championship final is the competition's last match, and the outcome decides which country's team is crowned European champion. If the result is a tie after 90 minutes of regular play, a further 30-minute phase of play, known as extra time, is added. If a game is still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out is held. The squad that wins the penalty shoot-out is crowned champion.
Until Euro 1996, when Alan Shearer won the prize on his turf, there was no official top scorer award at the UEFA European Championship. The Alipay Top Scorer Award is awarded to the leading goalscorer in Euro 2020. Find out the past UEFA European Championship top goalscorers for each tournament.
Euro 2020: List by year of past UEFA European Championship top goalscorers
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo had a tally of five goals at Euro 2020, and he has thus won the European Golden Boot despite the elimination of his country in the Round of 16. Neither Harry Kane nor Raheem Sterling couldn't match his record against Italy in the Final. Patrik Schick of the Czech Republic actually tied Ronaldo with five goals in the competition, but CR7's one assist has given him a tiebreaker-based advantage.
France star Antoine Griezmann won the prize for the top goalscorer of the previous UEFA European Championship, the Euro 2016 while playing on his own turf in France. He netted six goals during the tournament which Les Bleus eventually came to lose in the final against Portugal.
The Euro 2012 saw a great number of even six players become the competition's leading goalscorers, as Fernando Torres, Alan Dzagoev, Mario Gomez, Mario Mandzukic, Mario Balotelli, and Cristiano Ronaldo all scored an equalling three goals. They managed to overcome the record which was set in the tournament's first edition in 1960, when Francois Heutte, Viktor Ponedelnik, Valentin Ivanov, Drazan Jerkovic, and Milan Galic each netted two goals.
In the year 1960, as well as in the following two editions of the UEFA European Championship in 1964 and 1968, players managed to score the lowest number of goals in history - 2. In contrast to that, Michel Platini marked the greatest number of goals in one single Euro tournament, scoring nine in 1984.
| Year | Top goalscorer(s) | Total goals |
| 2020 | Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)**, Patrik Schick (Czech Republic) | 5 |
| 2016 | Antoine Griezmann (France) | 6 |
| 2012 | Fernando Torres (Spain)*, Alan Dzagoev (Russia), Mario Gomez (Germany), Mario Mandzukic (Croatia), Mario Balotelli (Italy), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) | 3 |
| 2008 | David Villa (Spain) | 4 |
| 2004 | Milan Baros (Czech Republic) | 5 |
| 2000 | Patrick Kluivert (Netherlands), Savo Milosevic (Yugoslavia) | 5 |
| 1996 | Alan Shearer (England) | 5 |
| 1992 | Henrik Larsen (Denmark), Karl-Heinz Riedle (Germany), Dennis Bergkamp (Netherlands), Tomas Brolin (Sweden) | 3 |
| 1988 | Marco van Basten (Netherlands | 5 |
| 1984 | Michel Platini (France) | 9 |
| 1980 | Klaus Allofs (West Germany) | 3 |
| 1976 | Dieter Müller (West Germany) | 4 |
| 1972 | Gerd Müller (West Germany) | 4 |
| 1968 | Dragan Dzajic (Yugoslavia) | 2 |
| 1964 | Jesus Maria Pereda (Spain), Ferenc Bene (Hungary), Deszo Novák (Hungary) | 2 |
| 1960 | Francois Heutte (France), Viktor Ponedelnik and Valentin Ivanov (USSR), Drazan Jerkovic and Milan Galic (Yugoslavia) | 2 |
*Torres was awarded the 2012 Golden Boot because of having an extra assist, and for playing the fewest minutes of any player who scored three goals.
**Because of one assist on his name, Ronaldo earned the 2020 Golden Boot trophy.
