Neymar, Roberto Firmino, Thiago Silva: Who are Brazil's top UEFA Champions League performers?

While Brazil has long been a footballing powerhouse, it was not until relatively recently that the nation's top players gravitated towards Europe: until the 1982 finals in Spain, no Brazilian FIFA World Cup squad had featured any European-based players. However, while the likes of Pelé and Garrincha never represented European clubs, modern greats like Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldinho and Neymar have lit up the UEFA Champions League.

Most appearances by Brazilian players in the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League (including qualifying)

128: Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid, Fenerbahçe)
116: Fernandinho (Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester City)
114: Dani Alves (Sevilla, Barcelona, Paris)
105: Thiago Silva (Milan, Paris, Chelsea)
102: Marcelo (Real Madrid)
97: Maxwell (Ajax, Inter, Barcelona, Paris)
88: Kaká (Milan, Real Madrid)
85: Lúcio (Leverkusen, Bayern, Inter, Juventus)
83: Casemiro (Real Madrid, Porto)
81: Neymar (Barcelona, Paris)
81: Marquinhos (Paris)

Top-scoring Brazilian players in the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League (including qualifying)

43: Neymar (Barcelona, Paris)
31: Rivaldo (Barcelona, Milan, Olympiacos, AEK Athens)
30: Kaká (Real Madrid, Milan)
28: Jardel (Porto, Galatasaray)
27: Giovane Elber (Bayern, Lyon)
24: José Altafini (Milan, Juventus)
23: Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
22: Luiz Adriano (Shakhtar Donetsk, Spartak Moskva)
20: Hulk (Porto, Zenit)
20: Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City)

Most appearances by Brazilian players in UEFA club competition*

155: Dani Alves (Sevilla, Barcelona, Paris)
147: Fernandinho (Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester City)
144: Roberto Carlos (Inter, Real Madrid, Fenerbahçe)
127: Luisão (Benfica)
122: Willian (Shakhtar Donetsk, Chelsea, Arsenal)
112: Fernando (Porto, Manchester City, Sevilla)
109: Marcelo (Real Madrid, Olympiacos)
105: Thiago Silva (Milan, Paris, Chelsea)
105: Taison (Metalist Khakhiv, Shakhtar Donetsk)
103: Adriano Correia (Sevilla, Barcelona, Beşiktaş)
102: David Luiz (Benfica, Chelsea, Paris, Arsenal)
102: Maxwell (Ajax, Inter, Barcelona, Paris)

Top-scoring Brazilian players in UEFA club competition*

43: Neymar (Barcelona, Paris)
43: Vágner Love (CSKA Moskva, Beşiktaş, Kairat Almaty)
40: Sonny Anderson (Servette, Monaco, Barcelona, Lyon, Villarreal)
39: Rivaldo (Barcelona, Milan, Olympiacos, AEK Athens)
37: Ronaldo (PSV Eindhoven, Inter, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Milan)
36: Luiz Adriano (Shakhtar Donetsk, Spartak Moskva)
36: Jardel (Porto, Galatasaray, Sporting CP)
32: Hulk (Porto, Zenit)
32: Giovane Elber (Grasshoppers, Stuttgart, Bayern, Lyon)
31: Marcos Tavares (APOEL, Maribor)
31: Kaká (Milan, Real Madrid)

Notable firsts

Canário (left) lines up ahead of the 1960 European Cup finalReal Madrid via Getty Images

First Brazilian to play in the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League
Julinho (Real Madrid 2-0 Fiorentina, 1957)

First Brazilian to win the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League
Canário (Real Madrid 7-3 Eintracht Frankfurt, 1960)

First Brazilian to appear in/win a European Cup Winners' Cup final
Dino da Costa (Rangers 1-4 agg Fiorentina, 1961)

First Brazilian to appear in/win a UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League final
Tita (Espanyol 3-3 agg Leverkusen, Leverkusen won 3-2 on pens, 1988)

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*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