51 not out: Keane tops Irish and British international scoring list

The top British and Irish goalscorers and their goal tallies

Robbie Keane (51)

Won his first senior cap against the Czech Republic as a teenager in March 1998 and opened his account with a double in a 5-0 demolition of Malta in October of the same year. He plundered his first hat-trick against San Marino in November 2006, but has also found the net against Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and France.

Bobby Charlton (49)

Charlton scored against Scotland on his England debut in 1958 and won 106 caps. He went to four World Cup final tournaments and was a key man in the side which lifted the Jules Rimet trophy at Wembley in 1966 after his two goals had seen off Portugal in the semi-final.

Gary Lineker (48)

Lineker won the first of his 80 caps against Scotland in 1984 and is one of only three Englishmen to score four goals in an international match (against Spain). Leading goalscorer at the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico, he missed a chance to draw level with Charlton’s total when he missed a penalty in a friendly against Brazil in May 1992.

Jimmy Greaves (44)

Greaves scored his 44 international goals in just 57 games, and amassed six hat-tricks in the process. He struck on his debut in a 4-1 defeat by Peru in May 1959. Greaves was the original first-choice striker for England for the 1966 World Cup but lost his place due to injury. His replacement, Geoff Hurst, went on to score a hat-trick in the final.

Michael Owen (40)

Owen announced himself on the global stage with a stunning strike against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup finals. He had become the youngest England player of the 20th century when he made his debut aged just 18 years and 59 days against Chile earlier the same year. But his international career stalled under coach Fabio Capello’s reign.

David Healy is Northern Ireland’s record holder with 35 goals , while Denis Law and Kenny Dalglish share the Scottish record with 30 goals each. Liverpool legend Ian Rush leads the scoring statistics for Wales with 28.