AFC Champions League Elite 2026-27 top scorers: three players share early lead

The race for the AFC Champions League Elite 2026-27 Golden Boot is already taking shape, with Njiva Rakotoharimalala of Ratchaburi, Prince Ampem of Shanghai Port and Aleksandar Cavric of Kashima Antlers leading the standings on three goals each.

The current edition of the competition began with 32 teams, split into two regional groups of 16: one representing the West and the other the East.

Alongside the battle for the title, forwards across the tournament are competing for the individual scoring award. Kashima Antlers’ Homare Tokuda, Hussein Rahimi of Al Ain and Gamba Osaka’s Takashi Usami are joint fourth on two goals.

A further 30 players have scored once so far. They include Georginio Wijnaldum of Al-Ittihad, Firas Al-Birakan of Al Ahli and both Mateo Retegui and Julian Quinones of Al Qadsiah.

Former champions’ top scorer Rafa Mujica, who plays for Al Sadd, finished as the leading scorer in the previous edition with eight goals, despite his side not winning the Asian title.

AFC Champions League Elite 2026-27 top scorers

Three goals

– Njiva Rakotoharimalala (Ratchaburi) – Prince Ampem (Shanghai Port) – Aleksandar Cavric (Kashima Antlers)

Two goals

– Homare Tokuda (Kashima Antlers) – Hussein Rahimi (Al Ain) – Takashi Usami (Gamba Osaka)

One goal

– Georginio Wijnaldum (Al-Ittihad) – Firas Al-Birakan (Al Ahli) – Mateo Retegui (Al Qadsiah) – Julian Quinones (Al Qadsiah) – Baghdad Bounedjah (Al Shamal) – Leandro Spadacio (Al Wasl) – Zoran Marusic (Neftchi) – Flamarion (Pakhtakor) – Yaser Asani (Esteghlal) – Ismail Golizadeh (Esteghlal) – Saeid Saharkhizan (Esteghlal) – Giorgos Giakoumakis (Al Ain) – Sofiane Rahimi (Al Ain) – Ruben Neves (Al Hilal) – Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Al Hilal) – Alaa Al-Din Hassan (Al Gharafa) – Oscar Arribas (Johor Darul Ta’zim) – Stefan Scepovic (Buriram United) – Jakub Trnka (Pohang Steelers) – Chadrac Akolo (Beijing Guoan) – Gang Shi-Jie (Beijing Guoan) – Jeremy Dudziak (Beijing Guoan) – Victor Bobson (Daejeon Citizen) – Kyosuke Tagawa (Kashima Antlers) – Patrick Wood (Newcastle Jets) – Ekanit Panya (Ratchaburi) – Wu Lei (Shanghai Port) – Leo Souza (Shanghai Port) – Kwame Gyau (Shanghai Port) – Yusei Toshida (Gamba Osaka) – Koshiro Sumi (Gamba Osaka) – Brian Beria (Cong An Ha Noi)