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
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
| 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 |