England's Leading Goal Scorers

Bobby Charlton,Gary Lineker,Jimmy Greaves,Michael Owen,Tom Finney

Feb 1, 2008

Bobby Charlton is England's leading goal scorer, a record that has stood for thirty-eight years. Only Michael Owen is in a position to challenge and overtake it.

England’s leading goal scorer is Bobby Charlton who scored 49 goals in 106 appearances. He played for Manchester United and from midfield with his powerful running and shot he amassed these goals during a twelve-year international career. He was a vital member of England’s World Cup winning team in 1966, playing in all six matches and scoring three goals. He scored one against Mexico in the group stage and then both goals to defeat Portugal in the semi-final.

His last international appearance was in the 1970 World Cup when the team lost to Germany having held a two goal advantage.

Charlton scored on his debut against Scotland in 1958 and his final goal was against Columbia in a friendly in preparation for the World Cup in Mexico.

Gary Lineker

Gary Lineker was the master goal scorer for England from 1984 to 1992. He fell one short of Charlton’s record, missing a penalty against Brazil at Wembley in a pre-European championships friendly.

He made his debut against Scotland in 1984 but it was the following year before he played again for England, scoring his first international goal against the Republic of Ireland. He made eighty appearances for England, twenty six less than Charlton.

Lineker played for his home club, Leicester City before transferring to Everton and then to Barcelona where he had considerable success. He returned to England to play for Tottenham Hotspur before going to Japan but injury forced him to retire.

He scored five hat-tricks for England and is one of only three players to twice score four goals for his country – Jimmy Greaves and Steve Bloomer being the others. His international career came to a disappointing end at the 1992 European Championships. England played poorly and manager Graham Taylor substituted Lineker with the team losing to Sweden and denying him the opportunity to equal Charlton’s scoring record. He scored his final international goal against CIS and failed to score in his final six England matches.

Jimmy Greaves

Jimmy Greaves was the leading and most prolific goal scorer in the 1960s and scored 44 goals in 57 appearances for his country. He made his debut against Peru in 1959 and scored as he did in all his debut games for club and country. He played for Chelsea, AC Milan, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United and was the leading goal scorer for three consecutive seasons in the early 1960s.

Greaves missed out on World Cup success in 1966. He was injured in the final group game and although fit for the Final was unable to regain his place.

His final goal for England was in his penultimate game against Spain at Wembley in 1967.

Michael Owen

Michael Owen has scored 40 goals for England from 88 appearances. With England undergoing change under new manager Fabio Capello, Owen is the only current player who could challenge Charlton’s record. However, fitness problems in the past seasons have restricted his appearances and he will need to re-establish himself in the England team.

Owen made his debut against Chile in 1998 but it was his fourth game against Morocco before he scored. His most memorable goal scoring performance for England is his hat-trick against Germany in the 5-1 World Cup qualifying victory.

Other Leading Goal Scorers:

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