While Brazil has long been a footballing nation, it has only been in recent decades that the country’s best players have been drawn to Europe: until the 1982 finals in Spain, no Brazilian team hosted European players in a FIFA World Cup . While players like PelĂ© and Garrincha have never played for European clubs, big names like Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Dani Alves, Ronaldinho and Neymar have made waves in the UEFA Champions League.
128: Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid, Fenerbahce)
116: Fernandinho (Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester City)
114: Dani Alves (Seville, Barcelona, ​​​​Paris)
102: Marcello (Real Madrid)
102: Thiago Silva (Milan, Paris, Chelsea)
97: Maxwell (Ajax, Inter, Barcelona, ​​Paris)
88: Kaka (Milan, Real Madrid)
85: LĂşcio (Leverkusen, Bayern, Inter Milan, Juventus)
83: Casemiro (Real Madrid, Porto)
80: Alex Sandro (Porto, Juventus)
80: Neymar (Barcelona, ​​Paris)
43: Neymar (Barcelona, ​​Paris)
31: Rivaldo (Barcelona, ​​​​​​Milan, Olympiacos, AEK Athens)
30: Kaka (Real Madrid, Milan)
28: Jardel (Porto, Galatasaray)
27: Young Elber (Bayern, Lyon)
24: Jose Altafini (Milan, Juventus)
23: Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
22: Luiz Adriano (Shakhtar Donetsk, Spartak Moscow)
20: Hulk (Porto, Zenith)
20: Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City)
Most appearances by a Brazilian player in UEFA club competition*
155: Dani Alves (Seville, Barcelona, ​​​​Paris)
147: Fernandinho (Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester City)
144: Roberto Carlos (Inter, Real Madrid, Fenerbahce)
127: Luisao (Benfica)
122: Willian (Shakhtar Donetsk, Chelsea, Arsenal)
109: Marcelo (Real Madrid, Olympiakos)
106: Fernando (Porto, Manchester City, Sevilla)
105: Taison (Metalist Khakhiv, Shakhtar Donetsk)
103: Adriano Correia (Sevilla, Barcelona, ​​​​Beşiktaş)
102: David Luiz (Benfica, Chelsea, Paris, Arsenal)
102: Thiago Silva (Milan, Paris, Chelsea)
102: Maxwell (Ajax, Inter, Barcelona, ​​Paris)
Brazilian top scorers in UEFA club competitions*
43: Neymar (Barcelona, ​​Paris)
43: Vagner Love (CSKA Moscow, Besiktas, Kairat Almaty)
40: Sonny Anderson (Servette, Monaco, Barcelona, ​​Lyon, Villarreal)
39: Rivaldo (Barcelona, ​​​​​​Milan, Olympiacos, AEK Athens)
37: Ronaldo (PSV Eindhoven, Inter Milan, Barcelona, ​​​​Real Madrid, Milan)
36: Luiz Adriano (Shakhtar Donetsk, Spartak Moscow)
36: Jardel (Porto, Galatasaray, Sporting CP)
32: Hulk (Porto, Zenith)
32: Young Elber (Grasshoppers, Stuttgart, Bayern, Lyon)
31: Marcos Tavares (APOEL, Maribor)
31: Kaka (Milan, Real Madrid)
The first most important
First Brazilian to reach a European Cup/UEFA Champions League final
Julinho (Real Madrid – Florentine 2:0, 1957)
The first Brazilian to win the European Cup/UEFA Champions League
Canaries (real Madrid – Eintracht Frankfurt 7:3, 1960)
The first Brazilian to win the European Cup/make it to the final
Dino da Costa (Rangers – Florentine 4-1 after aggregate, 1961)
First Brazilian to win/participate in a UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League Final
Aunt (Spanish – Leverkusen 3-3 on aggregate, Leverkusen won 3-2 on penalties, 1988)
*UEFA club competition means European Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League, European Cup/South America, UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, UEFA Super Cup and UEFA Intertoto Cup
