Over 1,250 players have represented England in almost 150 years of international matches since 1872. Countless legends are part of that number, with goal scorers celebrating more than most.
Here is a look at the very best scorers in the history of the England national team …
Danny Welbeck was a major England player in the mid-2010s / JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / Getty Images
England Career: 2011 – current
England’s goals: 16
England Appearance: 42
Welbeck was at his most productive for England in 2012 and 2014, scoring just five goals in each of those calendar years.
Tony Woodcock played for England for eight years / Gary Stone / Getty Images
England Career: 1978 – 1986
England’s goals: 16
England Appearance: 42
Woodcock had remarkable spells in Nottingham Forest, where he was a European Cup winner, Cologne (twice) and Arsenal during his club career.
Tommy Taylor scored almost one goal per game for England / Central Press / Getty Images
England Career: 1953 – 1957
England’s goals: 16
England Appearance: 19
Taylor’s career is the subject of a huge “what happens” if the flight disaster in Munich had not tragically claimed her life in 1958.
David Beckham often scored for England in 2002 and 2003 / GERALD PENNY / Getty Images
England Career: 1996 – 2009
England’s goals: 17
England Appearance: 115
Beckham scored several famous England goals during his 13-year international career, but nothing more than that free kick against Greece.
George Camsell averaged two goals per game for England / Keystone / Getty Images
England Career: 1929 – 1936
England’s goals: 18
England Appearance: 9
Middlesbrough legend Camsell has the best goals per game ratio for any England player in history with more than one appearance.
Johnny Haynes was captain of England at the 1962 World Cup / Don Morley / Getty Images
England Career: 1954 – 1962
England’s goals: 18
England Appearance: 56
Known as the first English player to be paid £ 100 a week, Haynes was England’s captain between legends Billy Wright and Bobby Moore.
Roger Hunt played for England in the 1960s / Don Morley / Getty Images
England Career: 1962 – 1969
England’s goals: 18
England Appearance: 34
Liverpool legend Hunt played all six matches on his way to England, which won the World Cup at home in 1966 and scored three times.
Dixie Dean is an Everton goal-scoring legend / HF Davis / Getty Images
England Career: 1927 – 1932
England’s goals: 18
England Appearance: 16
Dean is still the only player in English league history to score 60 goals in a single season and his international career was also productive.
Martin Peters had an impressive goal record from midfield / Central Press / Getty Images
England Career: 1966 – 1974
England’s goals: 20
England Appearance: 67
The late Peters had just made his debut in England before the 1966 World Cup and ended the tournament by scoring in the final.
Jermain Defoe scored against Slovenia at the 2010 World Cup / Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images
England Career: 2004 – 2017
England’s goals: 20
England Appearance: 57
Despite a 13-year international career that lasted until 2017, Defoe was only selected for major tournaments by England in 2010 and 2012.
Steven Gerrard did three times for England at the World Cup / Phil Cole / Getty Images
England Career: 2000 – 2014
England’s goals: 21
England Appearance: 114
Gerrard’s first ever international goal came in Germany’s 5-1 trashing in September 2001, the strike that put England ahead.
England was under-conquered during Kevin Keegan’s time / Getty Images / Getty Images
England Career: 1972 – 1982
England’s goals: 21
England Appearance: 63
England missed two World Cups in the 1970s, which meant that 1982 was Keegan’s only chance to play in the tournament.
Mick Channon played for England in the second division with the club side Southampton / Evening Standard / Getty Images
England Career: 1972 – 1977
England’s goals: 21
England Appearance: 46
Southampton were a Second Division club during a significant part of Channon’s England career, making his record more impressive.
Peter Crouch netted a treble against Jamaica 2006 / Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images
England Career: 2005 – 2010
England’s goals: 22
England Appearance: 42
Crouch scored more than one goal every other match in a shirt in England, with a 2006 hat-trick against Jamaica that gave birth to his “robot” celebration.
Tommy Lawton also played for England’s wartime team / Topical Press Agency / Getty Images
England Career: 1938 – 1948
England’s goals: 22
England Appearance: 23
Lawton was among a generation of players whose football career was brutally interrupted by World War II.
Stan Mortensen played with Stanley Matthews for club and country / Reg Burkett / Getty Images
England Career: 1947 – 1953
England’s goals: 23
England Appearance: 25
A club-level Blackpool legend, Mortensen was a leading name in the first England squad ever to go to a 1950 World Cup.
Geoff Hurst scored four goals at the 1966 World Cup / Express / Getty Images
England Career: 1966 – 1972
England’s goals: 24
England Appearance: 49
Close to a century of World Cup history, Hurst is the only male player to ever have a trick in the final, and did so in 1966.
Bryan Robson was captain of England a total of 65 times / Ben Radford / Getty Images
England Career: 1980 – 1991
England’s goals: 26
England Appearance: 90
Robson received an impressive return on goal from midfield during his illustrious career for both Manchester United and England.
David Platt is one of England’s highest scoring midfielders / Chris Cole / Getty Images
England Career: 1989 – 1996
England’s goals: 27
England Appearance: 62
Place’s most famous goal in an England shirt was the dramatic late-extended winner against Belgium at the 1990 World Cup.
Steve Bloomer lives on in statue form at Pride Park / Pete Norton / Getty Images
England Career: 1895 – 1907
England’s goals: 28
England Appearance: 23
Derby and Middlesbrough legend Bloomer was a star of Victorian football in the late 19th century and made his England debut in 1895.
Frank Lampard was a member of England’s famous Golden Generation / Jamie McDonald / Getty Images
England Career: 1999 – 2014
England’s goals: 29
England Appearance: 106
Lampard did not start playing regularly for England until 2003, but soon became an important goal threat – he did three times at Euro 2004.
Vivian Woodward from Chelsea pic.twitter.com/WmOVTKmZ14
– The League Magazine (@Theleaguemag) August 12, 2014
England Career: 1903 – 1911
England’s goals: 29
England Appearance: 23
Woodward, who also played regularly for England Amateurs, was England’s record goal scorer for 47 years between 1911 and 1958.
Tom Finney played his last game for England at the age of 36 / Central Press / Getty Images
England Career: 1946 – 1958
England’s goals: 30
England Appearance: 76
A career delayed by World War II, Finney made his debut in England in the country’s very first international after the fighting was over.
Alan Shearer ends international goal drought at Euro ’96 / Shaun Botterill / Getty Images
England Career: 1992 – 2000
England’s goals: 30
England Appearance: 63
Shearer, who was the top scorer at Euro ’96 with five goals, announced his shock retirement from international football when he was still only 29.
Nat Lofthouse was part of England’s 1954 World Cup squad / Douglas Miller / Getty Images
England Career: 1950
England’s goals: 30
England Appearance: 33
Bruoft’s central forward Lofthouse was nicknamed “Lion of Vienna” thanks to a special performance against Austria in 1952.
Harry Kane has a strong goal per game ratio for England / Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA / Getty Images
England Career: 2015 – now
England’s goals: 35
England Appearance: 58
Kane became the first England player in 32 years to win a World Cup football shoe when he did six times at the 2018 tournament.
Michael Owen was a teenage prodigy for England / JACQUES DEMARTHON / Getty Images
England Career: 1998 – 2008
England’s goals: 40
England Appearance: 89
Owen ran onto the stage for England just 18 and scored that goal against Argentina, but he was only 28 when he played his last game.
Jimmy Greaves did not get his World Cup medal until 2009 / Getty Images / Getty Images
England Career: 1959 – 1967
England’s goals: 44
England Appearance: 57
But for a group injury, it could have been Greaves and not Geoff Hurst who was England’s goal-scoring hero at the 1966 World Cup.
Gary Lineker was England’s top target threat in the late 1980s / Getty Images / Getty Images
England Career: 1984 – 1992
England’s goals: 48
England Appearance: 80
The Golden Boot winner at the 1986 World Cup, Lineker scored a total of ten goals in the various editions of the competition, more than any other English player.
Bobby Charlton is probably England’s greatest player ever / Hulton Archive / Getty Images
England Career: 1958 – 1970
England’s goals: 49
England Appearance: 106
Charlton won both the World Cup and the Ballon d’Or in 1966, while his goal-scoring record in England stood for 45 long years until it was finally broken.
Wayne Rooney broke England’s goal record of all time 2015 / Matthew Ashton – AMA / Getty Images
England Career: 2003 – 2018
England’s goals: 53
England Appearance: 120
Rooney succeeded Bobby Charlton as both England and Manchester United’s record goal scorer of all time.
