England's 5 greatest footballers of all time

#4 Gary Lineker

Gary Lineker

It is often said that a player’s true worth can be gauged by his performances on big occasions and if we go by that logic, there are very few English footballers who can match Gary Lineker’s exploits. He scored 10 goals in the two World Cups he played in and also won the Golden Boot in the Mexico World Cup in 1986 by scoring 6 goals.

Lineker scored 4 more in the 1990 World Cup including one in the semifinal against West Germany, which England lost on a penalty shootout. He scored 48 goals in 80 international appearances for England in an international career spanning 8 years. He also finished runner-up in Ballon d’Or in 1986.

Lineker also had a very successful career with English clubs like Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City. He also remains one of the few English footballers to have had a successful stint in the Spanish League. Lineker won the Cup Winners’ Cup for FC Barcelona and the FA Cup for Tottenham.

He scored 221 goals from 406 matches in his club career and remains one of the most prolific English strikers of all time. Lineker’s opportunism, quick turns and ability to shoot from a tight space set him apart from most of the other strikers of his generation.