- Across the 66 editions played to date, the CONMEBOL Libertadores boasts an extensive list of names who have left their mark on the continent's most prestigious club competition.
- Among them are prolific goalscorers who led their teams to titles or, through their goals, wrote their names into the competition's history.
Of the ten leading goalscorers in the competition's rich history, only three are still active and just one of them featured in the 2026 edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores.
Alberto Spencer (54 goals)
The Ecuadorian is one of the most important figures in the history of Eternal Glory. In 1960, he finished as the top scorer of the inaugural edition, scoring seven goals for Peñarol and leading the 'Manya' to their first major international title.
He lifted the coveted trophy with the Uruguayan side on two more occasions: in 1961, when he scored three goals, and in 1966, when he starred in the Final against River Plate. He scored in the second leg at the Monumental and twice in the play-off, as Peñarol won 4-2 at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago, Chile.
After a hugely successful spell with the 'Carbonero', during which he scored 48 goals in 70 appearances in the competition, he returned to his native Ecuador to play for Barcelona SC. Representing the Guayaquil side, Spencer scored six goals in 17 CONMEBOL Libertadores appearances.
Fernando Morena (37 goals)
The second-highest scorer in the competition's history was also an undisputed protagonist in the 'Charrúa' side's South American story. He topped the scoring charts in the 1974 edition (7 goals), 1975 (8) and 1982, when his seven goals finally helped him become a South American champion with Peñarol.
The tie against Cobreloa in the decisive stage was almost perfectly balanced. The first leg in Montevideo ended 0-0. The second leg in Santiago, Chile followed a similar pattern, and everything seemed set for a third-match play-off in Buenos Aires. But Fernando Morena produced a dramatic late moment after an attacking move from Venancio Ramos, finishing clinically past Chilean goalkeeper Óscar Wirth to give Peñarol their fourth CONMEBOL Libertadores title.
Pedro Rocha (37 goals)
The 'Manya' is an unavoidable reference point when it comes to goalscoring: the three leading scorers in the competition's history all wore its shirt. Pedro Rocha, the Uruguayan born in Salto, entered Peñarol's history books after lifting the CONMEBOL Libertadores three times (1960, 1961 and 1966).
He scored 26 goals for the Uruguayan side before joining São Paulo, with whom he reached the Final of the 1974 edition. He shared top spot in the scoring charts with Morena, but ultimately lost to Ricardo Bochini's Independiente in the play-off.
Nineteen years after his first appearance in the tournament, Rocha added another goal to his tally with Palmeiras in the 1979 edition, scoring in a 4-0 win over Peru's Alianza Lima in the group stage.
Daniel Onega (31 goals)
The 'Fantasma' holds a record that remains intact to this day: he is the player to have scored the most goals in a single edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores. In 1966, he scored 17 times for River Plate to lead the 'Millonario' to the Final, where they were beaten by Peñarol.
The Argentine forward, who played more than 200 matches for the Núñez club during his career, has 31 goals in 47 Eternal Glory appearances and is one of just two players among the competition's leading scorers who never managed to win the title.
Gabriel Barbosa (31 goals)
Gabriel Barbosa Almeida made his competition debut in the 2018 edition with Santos. A product of the Peixe academy, he scored once in his first campaign before moving to Flamengo.
In 2019, with the Rio side, he not only won the title but also finished as the competition's top scorer. In a memorable Final against River Plate — the first to be played as a single match — 'Gabigol' scored two dramatic late goals to turn the game around and secure Flamengo's second CONMEBOL Libertadores title.
He was decisive once again, and once again finished as top scorer, two years later. In 2021, Flamengo lost the Final to Palmeiras despite 'Gabigol' topping the scoring charts again, with 11 goals — three more than in 2019. A year later, he had his revenge by lifting the trophy: he formed a lethal attacking partnership with Pedro, with the pair scoring 18 goals between them, six of which came from 'Gabigol'.
Miguel Ángel Borja (31 goals)
The Colombian forward made his CONMEBOL Libertadores debut with Independiente Santa Fe in 2015. A year later, aged 23, he joined Atlético Nacional and needed just four matches to write his name into the history of the 'Verde Paisa'.
He scored all four of Atlético Nacional's goals in the semi-final tie against São Paulo, with victories of 2-0 away from home and 2-1 in Colombia. He then scored the decisive goal in the second leg of the Final against Independiente del Valle at the Atanasio Girardot Stadium in Medellín, securing a 2-1 aggregate win for the Colombian side, who were crowned champions of Eternal Glory for the second time after their first triumph in 1989.
Julio César Morales (30 goals)
The Uruguayan forward was an emblematic figure for Nacional. He played a starring role, scoring three goals, in the Montevideo side's first major continental triumph in 1971, when they defeated Estudiantes de La Plata — who entered the edition as three-time defending champions — in the play-off in Lima.
After returning from Austria Vienna, where he spent six seasons, 'Cascarilla' once again became a key part of Juan Martín Mujica's side that lifted Nacional's second CONMEBOL Libertadores title in 1980. Wearing the 'Bolso' shirt, Morales scored 30 goals in 76 appearances in the continent's most prestigious club competition.
Lucas Pratto (30 goals)
The 'Oso' is the second-highest-scoring Argentine in CONMEBOL Libertadores history, just one goal behind compatriot Daniel Onega. He played his first international competition in 2011 for Chilean side Universidad Católica and marked his debut with six goals in ten matches.
He played four editions of the tournament with Vélez Sarsfield, where he became a key figure and idol, posting numbers that helped the Argentine side reach the knockout stages on several occasions: eight goals in 33 appearances. In two campaigns with Atlético Mineiro, the only Brazilian side for which he played in the competition, he scored seven goals, with the quarter-finals in 2016 representing his best run.
His greatest achievement in the CONMEBOL Libertadores came during his outstanding spell with River Plate. He was crowned South American champion in 2018 in an epic Final — the last to be played over two legs — against Boca Juniors. He scored in the first leg at 'La Bombonera' and levelled the second leg at the Santiago Bernabéu, setting River on course for their eventual 3-1 victory.
Pratto, the only one of the tournament's ten leading scorers to feature in the 2026 edition, with Coquimbo Unido, has 30 goals in 93 appearances.
Luizão (29 goals)
Luiz Carlos Bombonato Goulart, the Brazilian forward, lifted the continent's most coveted trophy with two different clubs: he won the 1998 CONMEBOL Libertadores with Vasco da Gama and repeated the feat seven years later with São Paulo.
His greatest individual achievement, however, came in the 2000 edition. Representing Corinthians, he scored an extraordinary 15 goals — surpassed only by Onega's 17 in 1966 — although the Timão's campaign ended in the semi-finals, where they lost to Palmeiras on penalties after the aggregate score finished 6-6.
Juan Carlos Sarnari (29 goals)
'El Nene' entered River Plate's international history as the first player from the Argentine side to score a goal in the CONMEBOL Libertadores. It came in 1966, when the 'Millonario' defeated fierce rivals Boca Juniors 2-1, with Sarnari opening the scoring. The Santa Fe-born player captained River in the Final of that same edition, when the 'Banda' side lost to Peñarol.
Years later, he reached the semi-finals with Universidad Católica in 1969, enjoying an outstanding individual campaign in which he scored six goals in 13 matches. He never managed to win Eternal Glory, but his CONMEBOL Libertadores career will always be remembered for the 29 goals he scored during his spells with River Plate, Universidad Católica, Universidad de Chile and Independiente Santa Fe.
