UEFA Champions League: Oldest players to have scored

Scoring at any age in the UEFA Champions League is impressive in itself, let alone finding the net in the closing years of your career.

We've taken a look at the top five oldest players to have scored in Europe's most prestigious competition.

Top five oldest players to have scored in the UEFA Champions League

Player	Age	Fixture	Date
Pepe	40 years 9 months 17 days	Porto 5-3 Shakhtar Donetsk	December 13th, 2023
Willy Olsen	39 years 7 months 6 days	Fredrikstad FK 4-3 Ajax	August 31st, 1960
Manfred Burgsmüller	38 years 9 months 19 days	Werder Bremen 5-0 BFC Dynamo	October 11th, 1988
Gordon Smith	38 years 9 months 16 days	Dundee FC 2-1 Anderlecht	March 13th, 1963
Ferenc Puskas	38 years 5 months 21 days	Real Madrid 5-0 Feyenoord	September 22nd, 1965

Pepe

Pepe enjoyed a 23-year career which started and ended in Portugal.

Retiring in 2024, his longevity was admirable, playing at the highest level right to the very end. He represented Portugal in the 2024 EURO campaign, playing his last game in a 0-0 draw against France, before losing 5-3 on penalties.

To add to his exceptional career, he became the oldest player to score in the UEFA Champions League in 2023, finding the net in the 75th minute in a 5-3 win against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Willy Olsen

Willy Olsen takes the number two spot in the list, having scored his last UEFA Champions League goal at the age of 39.

The Norwegian forward netted the equaliser in the 35th minute of the game against Ajax in August 1960.

His side, Fredrikstad FK, went on to win the game 4-3 in a season where Benfica lifted the trophy.

Manfred Burgsmuller

Manfred Burgsmuller spent the last five years of his career at Werder Bremen, scoring 34 times in 115 appearances.

One of the 34 goals came in a 5-0 win against BFC Dynamo in the UEFA Champions League, making him the second oldest goalscorer in the competition at the time, only behind Willy Olsen.

Gordon Smith

Gordon Smith was a forward-thinking right-winger who spent 18 years at Hibernian, finding the net 125 times in 310 games.

After spending two years (1959-1961) at Hearts, he made the move to Dundee.

At 38 years of age, he scored the winning goal in a 2-1 win against Anderlecht in 1963.

Ferenc Puskas

Ferenc Puskas takes the fifth and final spot in this list, but this was no ordinary game for the Hungarian centre forward, or by his standards, maybe it was.

He found the net four times against Feyenoord on 22nd September, 1965. A first half hat-rick was followed up by a fourth in the 86th minute.

Netting four goals at any age is remarkable, but doing so at 38 years old on Europe's biggest stage proves why Los Blancos' number 10 was held in such high regard.

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