On Monday night, England travelled to San Marino to complete their World Cup qualifying campaign. And they did resoundingly, winning 10-0 to secure top spot.
Manager Gareth Southgate usually rotates for the fixtures against the minnows, giving his biggest names a rest. Southgate has since left the role, with the England manager search following his resignation throwing up some high-profile names.
But on this occasion, he gave captain Harry Kane a start. He took full advantage, finding the net four times in the first half.
That’s put him just five goals short of England’s all-time goal record, and at his current rate, you’d be surprised if he doesn’t break it soon.
Here is our England all time top scorers list, covering every player to have found the net 40 or more times for the national side.
6) Michael Owen – 40 goals in 89 appearances
Had his career not been decimated by injuries, there’s a good chance Michael Owen could have held the England goal record. But the Ballon d’Or winner has to settle for sixth place.
Owen came through as a teenager and made an immediate impact, debuting at 18 before scoring one of the great World Cup goals against Argentina a few months later.
In the knockout stages of major tournaments, Owen excelled. He played in four knockout games and scored in all of them, netting against Argentina, Denmark, Brazil and Portugal from 1998 to 2004.
5) Jimmy Greaves – 44 goals in 57 appearances
Out of the players on this list, Jimmy Greaves has the best strike rate. His 44 goals in 57 appearances gives him a goal-per-game ratio of 0.77. For comparison, Cristiano Ronaldo’s career ratio is 0.73 goals per game.
Among the top England goalscorers of all time, nobody was more clinical in front of goal. He was also part of the 1966 World Cup-winning squad, playing all three group stage games before missing the knockouts through injury.
Greaves holds the record for the most hat-tricks for the England national team, netting six. He also managed to score four goals in a single game on two occasions, against Northern Ireland and Norway.
4) Gary Lineker – 48 goals in 80 appearances
Few England forwards have been as reliable in the big games as Gary Lineker. He scored ten goals in 12 World Cup appearances, and almost all of them mattered.
His first World Cup goals came against Poland in 1986, as he hit a hat-trick to take his side through to the knockout stages. He added a brace against Paraguay in the round of 16 and one more against Argentina in the quarter-finals to wrap up the Golden Boot.
Four years later, he added four more to his tally. He netted in the opener against Republic of Ireland before hitting two penalties in the quarter-final against Cameroon.
His biggest England goal came in the semi-final against West Germany, equalising with ten minutes to go to take the game to extra time.
3) Harry Kane – 48 goals in 67 appearances
Harry Kane is currently England’s best goalscorer by a mile. The next highest active goalscorer is Raheem Sterling, who has bagged 18 on the international stage.
It’s only a matter of time before Kane becomes England’s all time top goal scorer. He’ll be hoping to have it wrapped up by the end of 2022.
His record at tournaments is very impressive. Aside from a disastrous Euro 2016 when he was bizarrely put on corners, the captain has been England’s top scorer in each of the last two competitions, winning the Golden Boot at the World Cup with six and adding a further four at the European Championships last summer.
His total of ten is the most of any English player at major tournaments, level with Lineker. If he could help England win a trophy, he could go down as the national side’s greatest ever player.
2) Bobby Charlton – 49 goals in 106 appearances
Charlton was the record holder for over 50 years, first taking the title in October 1964 and holding it until September 2015.
What separates him from everyone else on this list is simple. He was a midfielder. England’s next top-scoring midfielder is Frank Lampard, who got 29 in the same number of caps.
The peak of Charlton’s international career came at the 1966 World Cup. He scored three goals, including a brace against Portugal in the semi-finals, as they lifted their only piece of silverware in history.
A few months later, he was named the recipient of the Ballon d’Or, beating Portuguese legend Eusebio by just one point.
1) Wayne Rooney – 53 goals in 120 appearances
Finally, we’ve got England’s all time highest goal scorer. The Man Utd legend sealed the record with a penalty against Switzerland at Wembley on September 8, 2015.
And yet, there are still several question marks over his international career. While he holds the record, he’s been accused of not turning up on the big stage.
As a teenager, he was brilliant at Euro 2004. He scored four group stage goals before getting injured in the quarter-final against Portugal. Had he stayed fit, the Three Lions may well have won the tournament.
That was the only tournament in which he scored more than one goal. In 2006, he couldn’t score and was sent off in the quarter-final, again against Portugal. In 2008, he was part of a side that failed to qualify.
His only World Cup goal came in the group stages of 2014 against Uruguay, and his only knockout goal came from the penalty spot in the Euro 2016 round of 16 defeat to Iceland.
Still, being England’s all time top scorer in football is no small thing. Whatever else you say about him.
Just Missed Out
A few names will jump out at you for not being on this England goalscorers list, and the most obvious one is Alan Shearer.
Alan Shearer – 30 goals in 63 appearances: Premier League football’s all-time top scorer managed 30 goals for England, which in any other era would probably have been enough to feature higher. Injuries and a relatively short international career kept him off this list, but he remains one of the most feared strikers England has produced.
Nat Lofthouse – 30 goals in 33 appearances: The Bolton Wanderers legend averaged nearly a goal a game for England and was one of the most dominant centre-forwards of the 1950s. His ratio puts him right up there with Greaves, and in a longer international career he’d have challenged the top of this list comfortably.
Tom Finney – 30 goals in 76 appearances: Finney is widely regarded as one of England’s greatest ever players, and he chipped in with 30 goals from wide positions. Sir Tom could play anywhere across the front line and was a constant threat throughout the late 1940s and 1950s.
A Record That Keeps Moving
England’s all time top scorers list has changed hands a few times over the decades, and it’ll change again. Rooney overtook Charlton in 2015 after the record had stood for over 50 years. Kane is now closing in on Rooney, and given how many goals he’s scoring at club level, it’s hard to see what stops him.
What’s striking about this England top scorers all time list is how different the players on it are. A midfielder. A teenage prodigy. A World Cup Golden Boot winner. A striker who divided opinion for most of his career. The record has passed through all of them.
Kane will be the next name at the top. The question is just when.
Read also: Why regular international breaks are necessary.
