Anthony Gordon went on a rampage on Wednesday night in the UEFA Champions League, helping Newcastle United surge ahead of Qarabag in style by scoring four goals before halftime. After such an astonishing individual display, questions arose about how many times the competition’s all-time leading scorers, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, have achieved such a feat.
The game started quickly for the Magpies, with Dan Burn threading a pass through for Gordon to open the scoring after 122 seconds, the fastest goal by any Newcastle player in the history of the competition. Then in the 32nd minute, after Harvey Barnes was fouled in the box, Gordon added his third goal of the night from the penalty spot.
Shortly after play resumed, Qarabag gave the ball away, and following a failed touch from a defender, Gordon pounced, rounded goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski and scored Newcastle’s fourth to complete his hat trick. Just before halftime, the winger was brought down inside the box again and, as the designated taker, calmly slotted home his fourth of the match.
Now sitting second in the scoring table just behind Kylian Mbappé (13), Gordon has made history for the English side, becoming the first player in club history to score four goals in a European match. In addition, with 10 goals in the 2025-26 edition, he has also become Newcastle’s all-time leading scorer in the Champions League as well as the club’s single-season record holder.
Anthony Gordon of Newcastle United celebrating.
How many times have Messi and Ronaldo scored four goals in UCL before halftime?
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi stand as the two greatest scorers in Champions League history, each producing elite performances for more than a decade. However, Gordon appears to have something on them in this particular category.
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Neither Ronaldo nor Messi has ever scored four goals in the first half of a Champions League match. Both superstars have recorded four-goal games, but none of those came within the opening 45 minutes.
In fact, Gordon is only the second player ever to accomplish the feat in Europe’s top competition. The first was Luiz Adriano, who, while playing for Shakhtar Donetsk, scored four first-half goals against BATE Borisov before adding a fifth after the break during the 2014-15 group stage.
Still, Ronaldo and Messi have their own remarkable four-goal records. Ronaldo netted four against Malmö FF in a 20-minute span (39th to 59th minute), while Messi produced his haul in a dazzling display against Arsenal in 2009, scoring in the 21st, 37th, 42nd and 88th minutes.
