Footballers With the Most Trophies in History: Full Ranking

As of November, and using organiser-recognised major competitions only, Lionel Messi, who has the most trophies in football, sits at the top of stacked silverware. Close behind is Dani Alves, a long-time record holder. 

Below, you’ll find the footballers with the most honours broken down: club vs international, competitions dominated, and the active names still adding to their totals. This covers major winners’ medals only (league, domestic cups, continental titles, world crowns, and recognised super cups), the way most reliable databases like Transfermarkt and archives like RSSSF and long-running media outlets tally them. 

We only count elite medals across club and senior international play. 

Counting Policy

• Domestic leagues (top flight only): e.g., Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, Ligue 1.
• Primary domestic cups: e.g., FA Cup, Copa del Rey, Coppa Italia. 
• Continental titles: e.g., UEFA Champions League/Europa League/Conference League; Copa Libertadores/Sudamericana; AFC/CAF/CONCACAF equivalents. 
• World titles: FIFA World Cup, FIFA Club World Cup. 
• Recognised super cups: UEFA Super Cup; official national super cups recognised by the relevant FA/league (e.g., Supercopa de España, FA Community/Charity Shield when listed by primary sources). These are usually one-off matches between the previous season’s league and main cup winners (or top finishers), often played as a season curtain-raiser. 
• Senior international trophies: Copa América, UEFA EURO, UEFA Nations League, CONMEBOL–UEFA Finalissima, AFC/CAF/CONCACAF victories (senior level). 

Exclusions:

• Youth/U-23/U-20 tournaments: (incl. Olympic football), reserve/B-team trophies. 
• Pre-season/friendly cups: (e.g., Audi Cup, Joan Gamper), testimonial events. 
• Individual awards: (Ballon d’Or, Golden Boot), matchday honours. 
• Shared/voided titles: are not recognised by governing bodies. 

Notes:

• Tally: follows official competition recognition by FIFA, confederations, and national FAs. 
• Discrepancies: can occur between databases on certain national super cups; we default to the competition organiser’s records. 
• Dual-year or renamed: competitions are counted once per edition won. 

Dani Alves: The Former Record Holder (43 Trophies)

Dani Alves is widely credited with 43 senior trophies across Sevilla, Barcelona, Juventus, PSG, São Paulo and Brazil. At team level, he claimed league titles in three different countries, showcasing his success across Europe.

His achievements include:

• League titles: Six LaLiga crowns with Barcelona (2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16); one Serie A title with Juventus (2016–17); and two Ligue 1 titles with PSG (2017–18, 2018–19).
• Domestic cups: Five Copa del Rey wins (2006–07 with Sevilla; 2008–09, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2015–16 with Barcelona); one Coppa Italia (2016–17 with Juventus); one Coupe de France (2017–18 with PSG); and one Coupe de la Ligue (2017–18 with PSG).

His consistency and silverware across Spain, Italy, and France highlight his remarkable impact at the top level of European football.

On top of that came two UEFA Cups, three UEFA Champions Leagues, four UEFA Super Cups, three FIFA Club World Cups, and a string of national super cups in Spain and France. With Brazil’s senior team, he added two Copa Américas (2007, 2019) and two Confederations Cups (2009, 2013). 

Even after Messi overtook him, Alves remains the reference point in debates about the most decorated careers. 

Footnote on counts: Totals can differ slightly between databases, depending on how competition organisers and statistical sites classify certain super cups. This article uses the Counting Policy above (elite only, senior level, organiser-identified super cups). 

Top 10 Most Decorated Footballers of All Time

Below are the headline names most lists agree on. Totals can vary slightly by source depending on whether they include national super cups or treat certain regional competitions as “major,” but the order at the top is stable. 

Lionel Messi

Messi is now the football player with the most trophies in history, with 44 honours. At Barcelona, he collected 10 titles at LaLiga, 7 in Copa del Rey, 8 from Supercopa de España, 4 in UEFA Champions Leagues, 3 at UEFA Super Cups and 3 from FIFA Club World Cups. 

His move to PSG added 2 Ligue 1 crowns and 1 Trophée des Champions. With Argentina, he has four senior trophies: the 2022 World Cup, Copa América 2021 and 2024, and the 2022 Finalissima. 

Messi also lifted Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup and Supporters’ Shield. Different databases and outlets sometimes quote 45–46 team victories overall, depending on whether they include youth/Olympic successes and regional cups. But on a strict “majors only” basis, he still sits clearly at the top. 

Dani Alves

Alves is listed to have 43 trophies across Sevilla, Barcelona, Juventus, PSG, São Paulo and Brazil. He set the modern benchmark before Messi moved past him. No other full-back has matched the same mix of volume and variety in his medal collection. 

Andrés Iniesta

Iniesta’s 37 major trophies came from being the heartbeat of Barcelona and Spain: Nine LaLiga titles and four Champions Leagues with Barça, World Cup and two Euros with Spain; scorer of the 2010 World Cup final winner. 

Maxwell

Maxwell reached 37 elite honours, built almost entirely at team level with Ajax, Inter, Barcelona and PSG. His haul includes league crowns in four different countries, with two Eredivisie crowns, three Serie A victories, two La Liga wins and four Ligue 1 titles. 

On top of that, he collected primary domestic cups like the KNVB Cup and Coupe de France, plus a stack of recognised super cups. With Barcelona, Maxwell added the 2010–11 CL, a UEFA Super Cup and two Club World Cups, rounding out one of the most decorated club careers of any left-back in history. 

Gerard Piqué

Piqué finished on 37 cups: LaLiga x9 and Champions League x4 (including one in 2008 with Manchester United and three with Barcelona), plus the 2010 World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012 with Spain. A rare defender to combine multiple domestic trebles with global crowns. 

Sergio Busquets

Busquets is listed at 36 majors. At Barcelona, he stacked nine La Liga titles, three CLs, and every Spanish domestic cup multiple times, plus the World Cup and Euro with Spain. 

Note on national vs club trophies: most totals include senior international first prizes (World Cup, Euros/Copa América, Nations League/Finalissima where recognised), on top of elite silverware. 

Ryan Giggs

Giggs lifted 36 top-tier trophies, including a record 13 PL titles with Manchester United, as well as two CL, and a full set of domestic cups and super cups. He’s still the record-holder for top-flight English cups by a player. 

Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo has 35 majors under this article’s policy. His club haul includes 7 league titles across three countries: 3 Premier League titles with Manchester United, 2 La Liga crowns with Real Madrid, and 2 Serie A crowns with Juventus. These go with his 5 UEFA CLs, primary domestic cups and recognised super cups in England, Spain and Italy. 

For Portugal, Ronaldo has three senior trophies: UEFA EURO 2016, the 2019 and 2025 Nations Leagues. That mix gives him one of the broadest primary-title records across Europe’s biggest participants. 

Kenny Dalglish

As a Liverpool and Celtic legend, Kenny Dalglish collected 35 honours during his playing career, the majority coming from elite club competitions. 

His honours include:

• 10 league titles: 4 Scottish Victories with Celtic and 6 English First Division cups with Liverpool. 
• Domestic cups: 4 Scottish Cups and 1 Scottish League Cup at Celtic, plus 1 FA Cup and 4 League Cups with Liverpool. 
• European trophies: 3 European Cups and 1 European Super Cup with Liverpool. 

His accomplishments across both Scotland and England cemented his place as one of the most decorated players in British football history. 

Dalglish never lifted a major senior trophy with Scotland, but he set national records with 102 caps and 30 goals, underlining how his 35-trophy total is almost entirely a club story rather than an international one. 

Thomas Müller

Thomas Müller has 35 primary trophies under this article’s policy. With Bayern Munich, he achieved 13 Bundesliga titles, 6 DFB-Pokals, 8 DFL-Supercups, 2 UEFA Champions Leagues, 2 UEFA Super Cups and 2 FIFA Club World Cups (33 club majors in Germany). He then added the 2025 Canadian successes with Vancouver Whitecaps as Canada’s primary national cup. 

With Germany, he lifted the 2014 World Cup, giving him one of the most complete major-trophy records of any attacking midfielder: domestic dominance, two European Cups and a World Cup on top. 

Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo: Trophy Comparison Between the Two Legends

Messi still leads the race. Ronaldo’s spread across England, Spain, Italy, Saudi Arabia and Portugal keeps the debate lively, but the gap remains clear. To make the contrast easy to scan, here’s a snapshot of their totals under this article’s counting policy as of November 2025. 

Sources (organiser records):

• RFEF: Supercopa de España palmarés (competition winners list). 
• UEFA: 2018/19 Nations League season review (Portugal champions). 
• UEFA: 2024/25 Nations League finals (Portugal champions). 
• CONMEBOL: Copa América 2024: Argentina won the final. 
• UEFA Messi: Champions League records/features (competition honours context). 

Note: These organiser pages support the headline counts in the table (UEFA titles and Nations League; Spanish Super Cup competition records; Copa América 2024). 

The Most Decorated Active Players (2025 Update)

Among current stars, as of November 2025, Lionel Messi leads active players with a total of 44 major titles. Cristiano Ronaldo follows on 35, while Sergio Busquets sits on 36. Thomas Müller is on 35 after adding silverware in 2025. 

Among Real Madrid’s core, Carvajal, Modrić, and Nacho each reached six European Cups with the 2024 Champions League. 

Club and Country Success: Which Matters More?

It depends on how you watch the game. Some players built their legend on club dominance: 

• Giggs in the Premier League for United. 
• Maxwell across Ajax/Inter/Barcelona/PSG. 
• Piqué and Busquets at Barça. 

Others hit peak international heights. Messi’s World Cup and two Copas define one era. Cafu’s Brazil teams did the same in another. For many fans, league campaigns and domestic doubles sit alongside CL nights rather than above or below them. Both strands shape how a career is judged. 

Players Dominating by Competition

Here you’ll find the players with the most trophies in specific arenas: Europe, domestic leagues, and international finals, so you can see who truly dominated each stage. 

We’ll note the record holders and the teams and leagues where they built those totals. 

Most Champions League Titles

Paco Gento holds the benchmark with six European Cups. After Real Madrid’s 2024 success, Dani Carvajal, Toni Kroos, Luka Modrić, and Nacho joined him on six. Cristiano Ronaldo leads the modern era’s scorers and has five winners’ medals. 

Most Domestic League Titles

Ryan Giggs has a record 13 English titles with Manchester United. Zlatan Ibrahimović stacked league trophies across four countries – the Netherlands (Ajax), Italy (Inter, Milan, Juventus), Spain (Barcelona) and France (PSG). 

On a strict majors-only count that excludes victories later stripped from Juventus, he finishes on 12 recognised top-flight league titles under this policy. Some older lists still quote higher figures because they include those revoked Scudetti, which is why totals for Zlatan can differ slightly between databases. 

Either way, very few players have spread prime titles across as many clubs and leagues. 

Most International Trophies

At the senior level, Messi’s set (World Cup, two Copas, Finalissima) puts him in rare air among modern greats. Kylian Mbappé owns a World Cup and Nations League. 

Cafu’s Brazil sides went even further, winning two World Cups (1994, 2002), two Copa Américas (1997, 1999) and one Confederations Cup (1997), giving him five major international trophies under this article’s policy. 

These teams, and the managers who built them, shape legacies as much as club form. 

The Future of Football’s Trophy Race

As of November 2025, matching or surpassing Messi’s benchmark would demand regular access to major finals over several seasons. Given how rarely those windows open, it is difficult for any player to stay in that position for long. 

For Ronaldo, closing the gap now would require several more elite prizes at club level and with Portugal. It remains theoretically possible under sustained winning conditions, but at this stage of his career, it sits closer to an outside scenario than the base case. Established stars like Thomas Müller or Real Madrid’s remaining veterans (Carvajal, Modrić, Nacho) can still top up their totals, yet they are more likely to add one or two trophies at a time than to make a dramatic leap. 

Peak-window talents like Kylian Mbappé have a more open runway. At 26, playing for Real Madrid and captaining a competitive French national team, he has the platform to keep stacking titles if those teams stay near the top. 

Squad cycles, injuries, format changes and selection decisions can quickly change a player’s path. Extra super cups and expanded tournaments may increase the number of podiums available, yet truly major trophies remain scarce and difficult to accumulate in bulk.