In 2004, he was named as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers as part of FIFA's 100th anniversary celebration, and in the same year he also received the Ballon d'Or.

[12] In his international career, he led Ukraine as captain to the quarter-finals in their first ever FIFA World Cup appearance in 2006, and also took part at UEFA Euro 2012 on home soil.

[15][16] He returned to football in 2016, as assistant coach of the Ukraine national team February to July, at the time led by Mykhaylo Fomenko.

In July 2016, Shevchenko was appointed Ukraine's head coach, and led the nation to the quarter-finals at UEFA Euro 2020.

He left the National Olympic Committee in January 2023 due to disagreement with the results of the election of its new President Vadym Gutzeit.

At an early age, he also was a competitive boxer in the LLWI Ukrainian junior league,[22] but eventually he elected to move on to football.

[citation needed] He made his Vyshcha Liha debut for Dynamo Kiev on 8 November 1994 in an away game against Shakhtar Donetsk when he was 18.

During the same season, he also reunited with Kakha Kaladze as teammates when Milan signed the Georgian defender from Dynamo Kyiv in January 2001.

[28] Despite netting only five times in 24 matches, mainly due to injuries, Shevchenko became the first Ukrainian-born player to win the Champions League after Milan lifted their sixth trophy in 2002–03.

[30] Following Milan winning the Champions League, Shevchenko flew to Kyiv to put his medal by the grave of Valeriy Lobanovskyi (who he was managed by when he was at Dynamo), who died in 2002.

Shevchenko made Champions League history the following season; on 23 November 2005, he scored all four goals in Milan's 4–0 group stage drubbing of Fenerbahçe, becoming only the fifth player to accomplish this feat; his company includes Marco van Basten, Simone Inzaghi, Dado Pršo and Ruud van Nistelrooy (while Lionel Messi joined that group in the 2009–10 season and Robert Lewandowski in 2012–13 and 2019–20), and Shevchenko was the only player to have done it in an away game until Olivier Giroud did so for Chelsea, away to Sevilla, in the 2020–21 season.

[37] In the 2005–06 Champions League, he scored his last Milan goal in the second leg of the quarter-final as they eliminated Lyon after a last-minute comeback in a 3–1 victory.

[38] In the semi-final, Milan lost to eventual winners Barcelona 1–0, a match where Shevchenko controversially had a last minute equaliser denied by the referee.

[citation needed] During the summer of 2005, there were persistent reports that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich offered a record sum €73 million and striker Hernán Crespo to Milan in exchange for Shevchenko.

[49] Shevchenko made his debut for Chelsea on 13 August 2006 in the FA Community Shield, scoring his side's goal in a 2–1 loss to Liverpool.

He scored goals sporadically throughout the season, including equalisers against Porto and Valencia in the 2006–07 Champions League and another against London rival club Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup to help take his side into the semi-final.

He missed the Champions League semi-final against Liverpool and the FA Cup final against Manchester United at the new Wembley Stadium on 19 May 2007.

{[52]} Shevchenko was handed his first start of the 2007–08 season against Blackburn Rovers at home to cover for the injured Didier Drogba, but the game finished goalless.

[citation needed] Shevchenko was not used very often in the starting line-up at Chelsea, and with the appointment of Luiz Felipe Scolari, he was deemed surplus to requirements.

[54] Shevchenko was not even on the bench for Chelsea's penalty shoot-out victory over Manchester United at Wembley at the weekend in the season-opening Community Shield.

[55] Despite this, Ancelotti said it had nothing to do with his decision to leave Shevchenko out of Chelsea's 2009–10 Champions League squad, but just to continue playing first-team football.

[13] Shevchenko earned 111 appearances and scored 48 goals for the Ukraine national team, representing the country at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012.

[68] A fast, hardworking, energetic, and well-rounded striker, Shevchenko was a prolific and highly opportunistic goalscorer, who was usually deployed as an out-and-out striker in a centre-forward role,[69][70][71] although he was capable of operating anywhere along the front line,[70] and often played in a free role, in which he could attack from the left wing, and get past opposing defenders with his runs into the penalty area, courtesy of his pace and movement off the ball.

He also occupied a wider position as an outright winger on the left flank at times, in particular at the beginning of his career, and also during his second stint with Dynamo Kyiv during his later years;[58][71][72][73] he was also capable of playing on the right.

Often compared by pundits to fellow former Milan striker Marco van Basten, although he was not as elegant as the Dutch forward, he also possessed good technical skills himself, which along with his pace and physicality, made him effective when dribbling or carrying the ball at speed on the run.

[86] On 14 October 2019, Shevchenko led Ukraine to qualify for Euro 2020 with a 2–1 home win over reigning European champions Portugal.

[90] On 7 November 2021, Shevchenko was announced as the new head coach of Serie A side Genoa, following the club's takeover by US investment firm 777 Partners, replacing Davide Ballardini.

He left the National Olympic Committee in January 2023 due to disagreement with the results of the election of its new President Vadym Gutzeit.

[104][105] Shevchenko commemorated his first son's birth by scoring the only goal against Sampdoria;[106] Milan owner and former Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi was the boy's godfather.

[107] The day after his second son's birth in 2006, Shevchenko scored in a 4–0 Chelsea victory over Watford and he and several of his teammates gathered and performed the popular "rock-the-baby" goal celebration as a tribute.