Andriy Shevchenko

Ukrainian football striker and Ballon d'Or winner, legendary AC Milan goalscorer who became Ukraine's all-time leading scorer with 48 international goals.

Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko was born on 29 September 1976 in Dvirkivshchyna, a village roughly 100 kilometres east of Kyiv, then part of the Soviet Union. He grew up in Kyiv's Obolon district among the city's Soviet-era apartment blocks, and his father Mykola, who hoped his son would instead pursue a military career, was initially reluctant to support his footballing ambitions. Shevchenko began kicking a ball around the courtyards near his school before joining the famed Dynamo Kyiv academy in 1986, where legendary coach Valeriy Lobanovskyi helped shape him into a complete forward. Shevchenko broke into Dynamo Kyiv's first team in the 1990s and quickly established himself as Ukraine's brightest talent, prompting AC Milan to sign him in 1999. He became a Rossoneri icon, forming a devastating strike partnership and scoring the decisive penalty as Milan won the 2003 Champions League final against Juventus at Old Trafford. The following year, in 2004, he won the Ballon d'Or, becoming only the third Ukrainian to do so after Oleg Blokhin and Igor Belanov — an honour he dedicated to the people of Ukraine. Over seven seasons in Milan, Shevchenko scored 175 goals in 322 appearances, still the most of any player in Milan derby history, and won the Serie A title in 2004 alongside a Coppa Italia and UEFA Super Cup. He moved to Chelsea in 2006 for a club-record fee before returning to Milan on loan and later finishing his career back at Dynamo Kyiv, where he first began. Internationally, Shevchenko became Ukraine's all-time leading scorer with 48 goals and helped lead the nation to the quarter-finals of its first-ever World Cup appearance in 2006. He later managed the Ukrainian national team, guiding them to the quarter-finals of Euro 2020, and became President of the Ukrainian Association of Football in 2024. In August 2022, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he was awarded the title "National Legend of Ukraine" in recognition of his sporting legacy and his advocacy for his country during the war.

Clinical finisher with pace, intelligent movement and lethal left foot

Greatest Ukrainian footballer of all time and one of the finest strikers of the 2000s

• Champions League 2003 (Milan)
• Or 2004
• Serie A 2x
• 111 Ukraine caps, 48 goals
• Champions League 2003
• Ballon d'Or 2004
• Serie A 2004

Club Career

Club	Period	Fee	Apps	Goals
Dynamo-2 Kyiv	1993–1996	—	51	16
Dynamo Kyiv	1993–1999	—	117	60
AC Milan	1999–2006	—	208	127
Chelsea	2006–2009	£30m	48	9
AC Milan	2008–2009	loan	18	0
Dynamo Kyiv	2009–2012	—	55	23
Ukraine	—	—	111	48