Who was the top UEFA competition scorer of 2018?
Friday, December 28, 2018
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Chelsea and Netherlands prospect Daishawn Redan led Europe in 2018 to finish as the top scorer in UEFA competition.
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Chelsea and Netherlands prospect Daishawn Redan outshone the rest of Europe in 2018 to finish as the leading scorer in UEFA competition, an honour claimed by Cristiano Ronaldo in three of the previous five years.
Redan, who joined Chelsea from Ajax in summer 2017 and did not turn 17 until February, helped the Blues to the UEFA Youth League final with goals in the last 16, quarters and semis. He followed that up at the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in England by scoring three times as the Netherlands claimed the title to match his tally in March's elite round.
That form has continued this season, both for Chelsea in the UEFA Youth League and the Netherlands in U19 EURO qualifying. Outside UEFA competition, Redan has also been impressing with Chelsea's U23s in Premier League 2 and their U21s in the EFL Trophy, where he has two goals in four appearances against lower-division senior opposition.
Second behind Redan is another Dutch youngster, with Ajax forward Nikita Tromp recording 15 UEFA European Women's U17 Championship goals over the course of the calendar year to become the competition's joint all-time leading scorer on 20, with room to add later in the season. Edin Džeko is third on 13, his total of ten UEFA Champions League goals in 2018 matched only by Robert Lewandowski.
Top scorers in UEFA competitions in 2018
19: Daishawn Redan (Chelsea/Netherlands) – 8 UYL, 5 U19, 6 U17
15: Nikita Tromp (Netherlands) – 15 WU17
13: Edin Džeko (Roma/Bosnia and Herzegovina) – 10 UCL, 3 UNL
12: Munas Dabbur (Salzburg) – 4 UCL, 8 UEL
12: Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid/France) – 4 UCL, 6 UEL, 2 UNL
11: Michał Kubik (Record Bielsko-Biala/Poland) – 10 UFCL, 1 FEURO
11: Romée Leuchter (Netherlands) – 6 WU17, 5 WU19
11: Troy Parrott (Tottenham Hotspur/Republic of Ireland) – 3 UYL, 4 U19, 4 U17
Previous five seasons
2017 27: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal) – 19 UCL, 8 EQ
2016 18: Ada Hegerberg (Lyon/Norway) – 9 UWCL, 7 WEURO, 2 WOLT
2015 20: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern München/Poland) – 11 UCL, 9 EQ
2014 17: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal) – 13 UCL, 2 SCUP, 2 EQ
2013 15: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) – 15 UCL
Teams listed are only those for which the player scored in UEFA competition that year.
Key
EQ: European Qualifiers
FEURO: UEFA Futsal EURO (including qualifying)
SCUP: UEFA Super Cup
UCL: UEFA Champions League (including qualifying)
UEL: UEFA Europa League (including qualifying)
UFCL: UEFA Futsal Cup/UEFA Futsal Champions League
UNL: UEFA Nations League
UWCL: UEFA Women's Champions League
UYL: UEFA Youth League
U19: UEFA European Under-19 Championship (including qualifying)
U17: UEFA European Under-17 Championship (including qualifying)
WEURO: UEFA Women's EURO (including qualifying)
WOLT: European play-offs for Women's Olympic tournament
WU19: UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship (including qualifying)
WU17: UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship (including qualifying)
Qualifying for FIFA Women's World Cup and FIFA Futsal World Cup or FIFA World Cups prior to the introduction of separately branded European Qualifiers do not count statistically as UEFA competition.