This is a progressive list of men's association footballers who have held or co-held the world record for international goals, beginning with William Kenyon-Slaney, who played in England's second international scoring two goals.
The criteria used by national FAs in considering a match as a full international were not historically fixed. Particularly for the early decades, and until more recently for FAs outside UEFA and CONMEBOL, counts of 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 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 full goals and 44 amateur goals; the IFFHS and RSSSF considers him as the record-holder from 1908.
Hugo Sánchez Márquez is a Mexican former professional footballer and manager, who played as a forward. A prolific goalscorer known for his spectacular strikes and volleys, he is widely regarded as the greatest Mexican footballer of all time, one of the best players of his generation, and one of the best strikers of all time. In 1999, the International Federation of Football History and Statistics voted Sánchez the 26th best footballer of the 20th century, and the best footballer from the CONCACAF region. In 2004, Sánchez was named in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.
Gerhard "Gerd" Müller was a German professional footballer. A prolific striker, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalscorers and players in the history of the sport. With success at club and international level, he is one of nine players to have won the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the Ballon d'Or.
Ali Daei is an Iranian football manager and former professional footballer. A striker, he was the captain of the Iranian national team between 2000 and 2006. He played in the German Bundesliga for Arminia Bielefeld, Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin. He is regarded as one of the greatest Iranian footballers of all time as well as the greatest footballer from Asia.
Vivian John Woodward was an English footballer who enjoyed the peak of his career from the turn of the 20th century to the outbreak of the First World War. He played for Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea.
The history of the England national football team, also known as the Three Lions, begins with the first representative international match in 1870 and the first officially-recognised match two years later. England primarily competed in the British Home Championship over the following decades. Although the FA had joined the international governing body of association football FIFA in 1906, the relationship with the British associations was fraught. In 1928, the British nations withdrew from FIFA, in a dispute over payments to amateur players. This meant that England did not enter the first three World Cups.
Bader Ahmed al-Mutawa is a Kuwaiti professional footballer who plays for Qadsia. He usually operates as a second striker. He wears the jersey number 17. Al-Mutawa is the second-most-capped international player behind Cristiano Ronaldo.
Datuk Wira Soh Chin Ann is a Malaysian former footballer who played as a defender. He was affectionately known as Tauke or Towkay (Boss) by his teammates and fans. RSSSF and IFFHS recognised Soh as the player with the most international caps in men's football with 219 caps. He formerly held the record of all-time most appearances in FIFA international recognised matches with 195 caps, before being overtaken by Kuwait's Bader Al-Mutawa in 2022.
This is a progressive list of men's association footballers who have held or co-held the world record for international caps, beginning with Billy MacKinnon, the only man to play in all of Scotland's first seven internationals.
This page details Netherlands men's national football team records; the most capped players, the players with the most goals, Netherlands' match record by opponent and decade.
This is a progressive list of football players who have held or co-held the record for goals scored for the Scotland national football team. The list begins with Henry Renny-Tailyour and William Gibb, who both scored in the 4–2 defeat by England in March 1873. The first official international game, contested by the same teams in November 1872, had finished goalless. The record is shared by Denis Law and Kenny Dalglish, with 30 goals each.
This is a progressive list of men's association footballers who have held or co-held the European record for international goals since 1873. The progression up to 1956 is derivable from the world record progression because the world record holder was always European.
This is a progressive list of men's association footballers who have held or co-held the Oceania record for international goals since 1922.
This is a progressive list of men's association footballers who have held or co-held the Oceania record for international caps since 1922.
This is a progressive list of men's association footballers who have held or co-held the South American record for international caps since 1902.
This is a list of the England national amateur football team results. Between their first match in 1906 and 1939, when competitive football stopped for the Second World War, England amateurs played in over 100 official matches. Throughout this period they participated in three Olympic Football Tournaments in 1908, 1912 and in 1920, winning the former two after beating Denmark in both finals. Throughout this period they also set a 18-match unbeaten run, starting off with a 15-0 win over France on 1 November 1906 in the team's first official game, and until they were finally beaten by Denmark (1-2) 4 years later, on 5 May 1910, courtesy of a late goal from Vilhelm Wolfhagen. Notable figures during these years was Vivian Woodward who scored 44 goals in just 30 official matches, including 6 hat-tricks against the likes of France (twice) and the Netherlands (twice).
