When Harry Kane reaches Wayne Rooney’s tally of 53 England goals, he’ll join a motley crew of record scorers around the world who are leading the way for their respective nations, some better known than others…
Words Chris Flanagan
THE GOAL GRABBER (LITERALLY)
Rashidi Yekini netted a record 37 goals for Nigeria – but none were more famous than his strike against Bulgaria at the 1994 World Cup. Having top-scored as Nigeria captured the Africa Cup of Nations earlier that year, Yekini’s goal against the Bulgarians was his country’s first ever at a World Cup, putting them on course for a historic 3-0 victory – not bad, considering their opponents went on to reach the semi-finals. ‘The Goalsfather’ celebrated by grabbing the goal net and shaking it in weepy joy. It remains one of the World Cup’s most iconic goal celebrations.
PHIL IN THE BLANKS
No England-born footballer has ever scored more international goals than Wayne Rooney, who struck 53 times in 120 games for the Three Lions. Then it’s Bobby Charlton and Harry Kane sharing second place on the list with 49 goals each, right? Well… no. Ellen White has netted a record 50 times for the England women’s team, but even she trails behind the mighty Phil Younghusband, the Surrey-born star who bagged a record 52 goals for the Philippines between 2006 and 2019. He was minding his own business in Chelsea’s reserve team when the Philippines Football Federation reached out in 2005 – his Filipino heritage had been listed on Football Manager, prompting an anonymous gamer to alert the federation. Phil was swiftly called up alongside older brother James – another Chelsea youth team graduate who later represented AFC Wimbledon, Staines, Woking and Farnborough. Both became national heroes – as well as breaking the Philippines’ goal record, Phil had a successful club career in Southeast Asia and even married a Filipino-Spanish model, thus becoming an actual young husband. Aww.
THE JOURNO WHO HUMBLED HITLER
If Erling Haaland wants to become Norway’s record scorer, he’ll have to overhaul a man who wasn’t even a full-time pro. Forget Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and John Carew – all three of the country’s leading scorers struck their goals before 1960. Harald Hennum and Einar Gundersen were unable to match the 33-goal tally of record holder Jorgen Juve, who played for Norway while also working as the sports editor for national newspaper Dagbladet, which is one way of guaranteeing positive headlines for your performances. Juve only actually operated as a striker for 22 of his 45 caps – after breaking the goal
