Mabil, Rogić, Degenek: Who are Australia and New Zealand's top UEFA Champions League performers?
Saturday, December 3, 2022
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Which Australian and New Zealand players have the most appearances and goals in Europe's leading club competition?
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Most appearances by Antipodean nationals in the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League (including qualifying)
32: Harry Kewell (AUS – Leeds, Liverpool, Galatasaray)
31: Tom Rogić (AUS – Celtic)
29: Scott Chipperfield (AUS – Basel)
28: Miloš Degenek (AUS – Crvena zvezda)
27: Craig Moore (AUS – Rangers, Newcastle)
25: Mark Viduka (AUS – Dinamo Zagreb, Leeds)
20: Jason Culina (AUS – PSV Eindhoven)
20: Scott McDonald (AUS – Celtic)
18: Tony Vidmar (AUS – Rangers)
15: Awer Mabil (AUS – Midtjylland)
15: Brett Emerton (AUS – Feyenoord)
Top-scoring Antipodean nationals in the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League (including qualifying)
8: Wynton Rufer (NZL – Werder Bremen)
5: Mark Viduka (AUS – Dinamo Zagreb, Leeds)
4: Scott McDonald (AUS – Celtic)
3: Tom Rogić (AUS – Celtic)
3: Awer Mabil (AUS – Midtjylland)
2: Scott Chipperfield (AUS – Basel)
2: Leonidas Christodolou (AUS – Panathinaikos)
2: Eduvard Krnčević (AUS – Anderlecht)
2: Chris James (NZL – Tampere United)
Most appearances by Antipodean nationals in UEFA club competition*
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 – Kaiserslautern, Middlesbrough, Fulham, Chelsea)
47: James Holland (AUS – AZ Alkmaar, Austria Wien, LASK)
45: Craig Moore (AUS – Rangers, Newcastle)
44: Wynton Rufer (NZL –Zürich, Grasshopper Club, Werder Bremen)
44: Josip Skoko (AUS – Hajduk Split, Genk, Gençlerbirliği)
43: Miloš Degenek (AUS – Crvena zvezda)
Top-scoring Antipodean nationals in UEFA club competition*
23: Wynton Rufer (NZL – Zürich, Grasshoppers, Werder Bremen)
21: Harry Kewell (AUS – Leeds, Liverpool, Galatasaray)
18: Mark Viduka (AUS – Dinamo Zagreb, Celtic, Leeds, Middlesbrough)
8: Scott Chipperfield (AUS – Basel)
7: Eduvard Krnčević (AUS – Dinamo Zagreb, Cercle Brugge, Anderlecht, RC Liègois, 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)
Notable firsts
First Antipodean national to appear in/win a European Champion Clubs' 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*
American Samoa – NONE
Australia – 88: Harry Kewell (Leeds, Liverpool, Galatasaray)
Cook Islands – NONE
Fiji – NONE
New Zealand – 44: Wynton Rufer (Werder Bremen)
Papua New Guinea – NONE
Samoa – NONE
Solomon Islands – NONE
Tahiti – 15: Marama Vahirua (Nantes)
Tonga – NONE
Vanuatu – NONE
*UEFA club competitions means European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League, UEFA Europa 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