For footballers, representing their national football team is something that a majority of them aspire to do but to score a goal is a great achievement and one every young footballer dreams of.
However, the feeling of being your national team’s record goal scorer is an indescribable one. The outcome of a football match rotates around goals and over the years many great players have shone for their respective national teams through their goal scoring prowess.
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Many players have set national goal scoring records and many have been broken over the years. Let’s take a look at five international goal scoring records that can be broken soon.
#5 Gareth Bale
The Welsh football team does not have a proud footballing history except boasting of some world class players likes John Charles, Ryan Giggs, Ian Rush, Mark Hughes, and Neville Southall.
After reaching the quarter-finals of the 1958 World Cup, the Welsh were not able to qualify for any major tournament until quite recently, when the team led by Ashley Williams and manager Chris Coleman reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016.
With the likes of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey in their arsenal, Wales put on a brilliant performance in France over the summer, and have now been tipped to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Currently, Wales’ all-time top goal scorer is Liverpool legend Ian Rush with 28 goals in 73 appearances for the national team between 1980 and 1996. However, Rush’s two-decade-long record is on the verge of being broken and the best bet to break that record is Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale.
Once the world’s most expensive player, 27-year old Bale has so far scored 25 goals in 64 appearances for The Dragons and is only three goals behind Rush. With at least 6-7 years of top quality football in him, Bale could well set a new and a much higher national team record.
#4 Robert Lewandowski
During the 1970s and 1980s, under players like Grzegorz Lato, Kazimierz Deyna, and Zibi Boniek, Poland were one of the best teams in the world. But post the 1986-World Cup, when most star players called it quits on their international career, the Polish faded away and fared poorly at major tournaments.
However, the team that represented Poland at Euro 2012 have matured after the 2014 World Cup qualifiers and it was this very team that took Poland to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016, where they were beaten by eventual champions Portugal.
The leader of this team is Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski. The striker scored a total of 13 goals during Euro 2016 qualifying which is a joint-record for the most number of goals scored during European Championship qualifying.
Lewandowski, 28, currently has 40 goals for the national team in 84 appearances and is only eight goals behind the current leading goal scorer for the Polish national team, Wlodzimierz Lubanski who scored 48 in 75.
The Bayern Munich striker has been in prolific form lately for both club and country and it definitely won’t be a surprise if he surpasses the national goal-scoring record.
#3 Alexis Sanchez
Chile were not very successful in international football with a third-place finish at the 1962 World Cup and runner-up finishes at the 1979 and 1983 Copa America, the best they could do.
However, post-2010, a new generation of players that included the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal in addition to captain Claudio Bravo matured under the tutelage of Jorge Sampaoli and made it to the round of 16 of the 2014 World Cup, knocking out reigning champs Spain in the process. Chile almost defeated hosts Brazil in the World Cup but lost out on penalties. This team later beat Argentina in the finals of the 2015 and 2016 Copa Americas.
Currently, Chile’s all-time top goal scorer is one of their all-time greats, Marcelo Salas, who scored 37 goals in 70 appearances for La Roja from 1994-2007. However, there are two players that are all but certain to break his record.
The first one of these is Chile’s talisman, Alexis Sanchez. The Arsenal forward has so far scored 34 goals in 105 appearances for the national team and has been in brilliant form for both club and country.
Another player who could break the Chilean goal scoring record is Hoffenheim forward Eduardo Vargas who has played an integral role in Chile’s victories at the 2015 and 2016 Copa Americas, being the top goal scorer in both competitions. Vargas has scored 31 goals in just 64 appearances and isn’t far behind Alexis Sanchez.
#2 Clint Dempsey
After their shock win over England at the 1950 World Cup, USA were an unknown name in world football before the mid-90s and early 2000s thanks to the emergence of players like Claudio Reyna, Brian McBride, and Landon Donovan.
Slowly, the United States gained a foothold on the world stage. The team reached the round of 16 at the 2010 World Cup, as well as at the 2014 World Cup and put up a tough fight against Belgium before perishing to them 2-1.
A lot of credit for USA’s improvement in recent times goes to LA Galaxy forward Landon Donovan. The Best Young Player at the 2002 FIFA World Cup is currently the all-time top scorer for the USMNT with 57 goals in 157 appearances.
However, it’s only a matter of time before he’s overtaken by Clint Dempsey, who has 52 goals in his kitty in 130 appearances. Aged 33, Dempsey has time on his hands to score another six goals for the national team and by the time the 2018 World Cup is around the corner, Dempsey will hold the record for the all-time leading goal scorer record for the USMNT.
#1 Javier Hernandez
The most successful team in the CONCACAF region, Mexico, have been one of the biggest chokers when it comes to FIFA World Cups as they have had six straight round of 16 exits from 1994 till 2014 and out of those six.
Mexico were ahead on three occasions and had almost beaten the Netherlands in the Round of 16 of the 2014 World Cup before two late goals sunk them.
Having fielded a number of notable players like Hugo Sanchez, Rafael Marquez, and Jared Borgetti, Mexico are surely a team not to be taken lightly.
El Tri’s all-time top goal scorer is Jared Borgetti, who has scored 46 goals in 89 appearances from 1997-2008.
However, Mexico’s all-time goal scoring record could well be the most recent record that would be reset as only one goal separates Jared Borgetti and Javier Hernandez, who has piled up 45 goals in 86 appearances for the national team.
Chicarito’s move from Manchester United to Bayer Leverkusen last year has been a good one as the Mexican striker has rejuvenated himself at Bayer and has been in prolific form lately.
