Neymar, Messi, Suárez: Who are South America's top UEFA Champions League performers?

Most appearances by South American nationals in the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League (including qualifying)

163: Lionel Messi (ARG – Barcelona, Paris)
128: Roberto Carlos (BRA – Real Madrid, Fenerbahçe)
116: Fernandinho (BRA – Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester City)
114: Dani Alves (BRA – Sevilla, Barcelona, Paris)
105: Thiago Silva (BRA – Milan, Paris, Chelsea)
105: Javier Zanetti (ARG – Inter)
103: Angel Di María (ARG – Benfica, Real Madrid, Paris, Juventus)
102: Marcelo (BRA – Real Madrid)
98: Javier Mascherano (ARG – Liverpool, Barcelona)
97: Maxwell (BRA – Ajax, Inter, Barcelona, Paris)

Top-scoring South American** nationals in the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League (including qualifying)

129: Lionel Messi (ARG – Barcelona, Paris)
49: Alfredo Di Stéfano (ARG – Real Madrid)
47: Sergio Agüero (ARG – Atlético Madrid, Manchester City)
43: Neymar (BRA – Barcelona, Paris)
35: Edinson Cavani (URU – Napoli, Paris, Manchester United)
31: Rivaldo (BRA – Barcelona, Milan, Olympiacos, AEK Athens)
31: Luis Suárez (URU – Ajax, Liverpool, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid)
30: Kaká (BRA – Real Madrid, Milan)
28: Hernán Crespo (ARG – Parma, Inter, Chelsea, Milan)
28: Jardel (BRA – Porto, Galatasaray)

Most appearances by South American** nationals in UEFA club competition*

Javier Zanetti with the UEFA Champions League trophy in 2010©Getty Images

167: Lionel Messi (ARG – Barcelona, Paris)
160: Javier Zanetti (ARG – Inter)
155: Dani Alves (BRA – Sevilla, Barcelona, Paris)
147: Fernandinho (BRA – Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester City)
144: Roberto Carlos (BRA – Inter, Real Madrid, Fenerbahçe)
131: Angel Di María (ARG – Benfica, Real Madrid, Paris, Juventus)
127: Luisão (BRA – Benfica)
122: Willian (BRA – Shakhtar Donetsk, Chelsea, Arsenal)
114: Gonzalo Higuaín (ARG – Real Madrid, Napoli, Juventus, Milan, Chelsea)
112: Claudio Pizarro (PER – Werder Bremen, Bayern, Chelsea)
112: Fernando (BRA – Porto, Manchester City, Galatasaray, Sevilla)

Top-scoring South American** nationals in UEFA club competition*

132: Lionel Messi (ARG – Barcelona, Paris)
63: Sergio Agüero (ARG – Atlético Madrid, Manchester City)
55: Edinson Cavani (URU – Palermo, Napoli, Paris, Manchester United)
50: Alfredo Di Stéfano (ARG – Real Madrid)
48: Radamel Falcao (COL – Porto, Atlético Madrid, Monaco, Galatasaray)
48: Claudio Pizarro (PER – Werder Bremen, Bayern, Chelsea)
48: Luis Suárez (URU – Ajax, Liverpool, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid)
43: Neymar (BRA – Barcelona, Paris)
43: Vágner Love (BRA – CSKA Moskva, Beşiktaş, Kairat Almaty)
40: Sonny Anderson (BRA – Servette, Monaco, Barcelona, Lyon, Villarreal)

Nation-by-nation: South American nations' UEFA record holders

Bolivia's Erwin Sánchez in action for Boavista©Getty Images

Argentina
ECCC/UCL appearances: 163 – Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Paris)
ECCC/UCL goals: 129 – Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Paris)
UEFA club appearances: 167 – Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Paris)
UEFA club goals: 132 – Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Paris)

Bolivia
ECCC/UCL appearances: 13 – Erwin Sánchez (Boavista)
ECCC/UCL goals: 3 – Erwin Sánchez (Boavista)
UEFA club appearances: 36 – Erwin Sánchez (Benfica, Boavista)
UEFA club goals: 6 – Erwin Sánchez (Benfica, Boavista)

Brazil
ECCC/UCL appearances: 128 – Roberto Carlos (Inter, Real Madrid, Fenerbahçe)
ECCC/UCL goals: 43 – Neymar (Barcelona, Paris)
UEFA club appearances: 155 – Dani Alves (Sevilla, Barcelona, Juventus, Paris)
UEFA club goals: 43= Neymar (Barcelona, Paris), Vágner Love (CSKA Moskva, Beşiktaş, Kairat Almaty) 

Chile
ECCC/UCL appearances: 83 – Arturo Vidal (Juventus, Bayern, Barcelona, Inter)
ECCC/UCL goals: 16 – Alexis Sánchez (Udinese, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter, Marseille)
UEFA club appearances: 107 – Arturo Vidal (Leverkusen, Juventus, Bayern, Barcelona, Inter)
UEFA club goals: 21 – Iván Zamorano (Real Madrid, Inter)

Colombia

Radamel Falcao celebrates winning the 2012 UEFA Europa League finalGetty Images

ECCC/UCL appearances: 68 – Iván Córdoba (Inter)
ECCC/UCL goals: 14 = Radamel Falcao (Porto, Monaco), Jackson Martínez (Porto, Atlético Madrid)
UEFA club appearances: 92 – Iván Córdoba (Inter)
UEFA club goals: 48 – Radamel Falcao (Porto, Atlético Madrid, Monaco)

Ecuador
ECCC/UCL appearances: 45 – Antonio Valencia (Villarreal, Manchester United)
ECCC/UCL goals: 6 = Christian Noboa (Rubin, Dinamo Moskva, Rostov, Zenit), Antonio Valencia (Villarreal, Manchester United)
UEFA club appearances: 65 – Christian Noboa (Rubin, Dinamo Moskva, Rostov, Zenit, Sochi)
UEFA club goals: 13= Felipe Caicedo (Basel, Manchester City, Sporting CP, Lokomotiv Moskva, Lazio), Christian Noboa (Rubin, Dinamo Moskva, Rostov, Zenit, Sochi)

Peru's Claudio Pizarro©Getty Images

Paraguay
ECCC/UCL appearances: 61 – Roque Santa Cruz (Bayern, Málaga)
ECCC/UCL goals: 12 – Óscar Cardozo (Benfica)
UEFA club appearances: 93 – Óscar Cardozo (Benfica, Trabzonspor, Olympiacos)
UEFA club goals: 35 – Óscar Cardozo (Benfica, Trabzonspor, Olympiacos)

Peru
ECCC/UCL appearances: 77 – Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen, Bayern München, Chelsea)
ECCC/UCL goals: 24 – Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen, Bayern München, Chelsea)
UEFA club appearances: 112 – Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen, Bayern München, Chelsea)
UEFA club goals: 48 – Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen, Bayern München, Chelsea)

Uruguay
ECCC/UCL appearances: 79 – Luis Suárez (Ajax, Liverpool, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid)
ECCC/UCL goals: 35 – Edinson Cavani (Napoli, Paris, Manchester United)
UEFA club appearances: 111= Diego Godín (Villarreal, Atlético, Inter), Luis Suárez (Ajax, Liverpool, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid)
UEFA club goals: 55 – Edinson Cavani (Palermo, Napoli, Paris, Manchester United)

Venezuela
ECCC/UCL appearances: 12 – José Rondón (Zenit)
ECCC/UCL goals: 4 – José Rondón (Zenit)
UEFA club appearances: 48 – Roberto Rosales (Gent, Twente, AEK Larnaca)
UEFA club goals: 18 – José Rondón (Rubin Kazan, Zenit)

*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

**South American means registered with the ten CONMEBOL member nations; thus Surinamese and Guyanan players are not counted