Progression of England association football goalscoring record

This is a progressive list of association footballers who have held or co-held the record for international goals for the England national football team, beginning with William Kenyon-Slaney who scored the first ever international goal. He scored twice in the second international game played, the first game having finished 0–0.

Criteria[edit]

For the early decades, records of players appearances and goals were often considered unreliable. RSSSF and IFFHS have spent much effort trying to produce definitive lists of full international matches, and corresponding data on players' international caps and goals. Using this data, the following records can be retrospectively produced. Note that, at the time, these records may not have been recognised.

One point of note is that many early matches by the England Amateur side were played against the full national side of opponents. These matches are counted as full internationals by the IFFHS and the opposing FAs, though not by the (English) FA. This affects Vivian Woodward, who scored 29 goals 23 in full internationals and a further 44 in amateur internationals recognized by the opposing FAs. This article uses the Football Association's definition, and therefore excludes goals scored in Woodward's international amateur appearances.

England record[edit]

Player	Goals	Date	Opponent	Score	Notes
William Kenyon-Slaney	2	1873-03-08	Scotland	4–2
Charles Bambridge	2	1879-04-05	Scotland	5–4	Jointly with Kenyon-Slaney
Charles Bambridge	4	1880-03-13	Scotland	4–5	Bambridge scored twice in this game
Charles Bambridge	5	1881-03-12	Scotland	1–6
Charles Bambridge	6	1882-02-18	Ireland	13–0
Howard Vaughton	6	1882-03-11	Scotland	1–5	Jointly with Bambridge
Charles Bambridge	7	1883-02-03	Wales	5–0
Charles Bambridge	9	1884-02-23	Ireland	8–1	Bambridge scored twice in this game
Charles Bambridge	10	1885-02-28	Ireland	4–0
Charles Bambridge	11	1885-03-21	Scotland	1–1
Tinsley Lindley	11	1888-04-07	Ireland	5–1	Jointly with Bambridge
Fred Dewhurst	11	1889-02-23	Wales	4–1	Jointly with Bambridge and Lindley
Tinsley Lindley	12	1890-03-15	Wales	3–1
Tinsley Lindley	14	1891-03-07	Ireland	6–1	Lindley scored twice in this game
Steve Bloomer	15	1898-04-02	Scotland	3–1	Bloomer scored twice in this game to overtake Lindley
Steve Bloomer	17	1899-02-18	Ireland	13–2	Bloomer scored twice in this game
Steve Bloomer	19	1899-03-20	Wales	4–0
Steve Bloomer	20	1900-04-07	Scotland	1–4
Steve Bloomer	24	1901-03-18	Wales	6–0	Bloomer scored four times in this game
Steve Bloomer	25	1901-03-30	Scotland	2–2
Steve Bloomer	26	1904-04-09	Scotland	1–0
Steve Bloomer	27	1905-02-25	Ireland	1–1	From 27 March 1905 to 3 April 1909, Bloomer was the most capped England player as well as top scorer. This is the first of two instances of a player holding both records simultaneously.
Steve Bloomer	28	1907-04-06	Scotland	1–1
Vivian Woodward	29	1911-03-13	Wales	3–0	Woodward scored twice in this game to overtake Bloomer. He held the record either individually or jointly for 47 years – the longest until superseded by Bobby Charlton in 2014.
Nat Lofthouse	29	1956-05-20	Finland	5–1	Jointly with Woodward
Tom Finney	29	1958-06-08	Soviet Union	2–2	Jointly with Woodward and Lofthouse
Tom Finney	30	1958-10-04	Northern Ireland	3–3	Finney held the record alone for a single match – the shortest time ever
Nat Lofthouse	30	1958-10-22	Soviet Union	5–0	Jointly with Finney
Bobby Charlton	30	1963-06-05	Switzerland	8–1	Jointly with Lofthouse and Finney. Charlton held the record either individually or jointly for over 48 years – the longest time ever
Bobby Charlton	31	1963-10-12	Wales	4–0
Bobby Charlton	32	1964-05-17	Portugal	4–3
Bobby Charlton	32	1964-05-24	Republic of Ireland	3–1
Bobby Charlton	33	1964-05-27	United States	10–0
Jimmy Greaves	35	1964-10-03	Northern Ireland	4–3	Greaves scored three times in this game to overtake Charlton
Jimmy Greaves	36	1964-12-09	Netherlands	1–1
Jimmy Greaves	37	1965-04-10	Scotland	2–2
Jimmy Greaves	38	1965-05-05	Hungary	1–0
Jimmy Greaves	39	1966-05-04	Yugoslavia	2–0
Jimmy Greaves	43	1966-06-29	Norway	6–1	Greaves scored four times in this game
Jimmy Greaves	44	1967-05-24	Spain	2–0
Bobby Charlton	44	1968-04-03	Spain	1–0	Jointly with Greaves
Bobby Charlton	45	1968-05-22	Sweden	3–1	Charlton finally regained the record alone; he held it alone for over 500 games, more than half the total number played by England
Bobby Charlton	46	1968-06-08	Soviet Union	2–0
Bobby Charlton	47	1969-05-07	Wales	2–1
Bobby Charlton	48	1970-04-21	Northern Ireland	3–1
Bobby Charlton	49	1970-05-20	Colombia	4–0	From 11 June 1970 to 14 June 1973, Charlton was the most capped England player as well as top scorer. This is the second instance of a player holding both records simultaneously.
Wayne Rooney	49	2015-09-05	San Marino	6–0	Jointly with Charlton
Wayne Rooney	50	2015-09-08	Switzerland	2–0
Wayne Rooney	51	2015-11-17	France	2–0
Wayne Rooney	52	2016-05-27	Australia	2–1
Wayne Rooney	53	2016-06-27	Iceland	1–2