(N.B. more detailed data on players are available from the alphabetic index.)
1.Mohamed Al-Deayea [Saudi Arabia] 181* (1990-2006)
2.Claudio Suárez [Mexico] 178* (1992-2006)
3.Hossam Hassan [Egypt] 169 (1985-2006)
4.Cobi Jones [USA] 164* (1992-2004)
Adnan Kh. Al-Talyani [UAE] 164 (1984-1997)
6.Sami Al-Jaber [Saudi Arabia] 163* (1992-2006)
7.Iván Hurtado [Ecuador] 159* (1992-2009)
8.Martin Reim [Estonia] 156* (1992-2007)
9.Vitalijs Astafjevs [Latvia] 153* (1992-2009)
Ahmed Hassan [Egypt] 153* (1996-2009)
11.Lothar Matthäus [(West) Germany] 150 (1980-2000)
12.Ali Daei [Iran] 149* (1993-2006)
13.Pavel Pardo [Mexico] 145* (1996-2009)
14.Mohammed Al-Khilaiwi [Saudi Arabia] 143 (1990-2001)
Marko Kristal [Estonia] 143 (1992-2005)
Thomas Ravelli [Sweden] 143 (1981-1997)
17.Cafu [Brazil] 142* (1990-2006)
Lilian Thuram [France] 142 (1994-2008)
19.Majed Abdullah [Saudi Arabia] 139 (1978-1994) [a]
20.Myung-Bo Hong [South Korea] 136 (1990-2002)
21.Bashar Abdullah [Kuwait] 134* (1996-2007)
Jeff Agoos [USA] 134* (1988-2003)
Dorinel Munteanu [Romania] 134* (1991-2007)
24.Javier Zanetti [Argentina] 131* (1994-2009)
25.Jorge Campos [Mexico] 130* (1991-2003)
Kiatisuk Senamuang [Thailand] 130* (1993-2007)
Edwin van der Sar [Netherlands] 130* (1995-2008)
28.Peter Schmeichel [Denmark] 129* (1987-2001)
29.Marcelo Balboa [USA] 128* (1988-2000)
30.Luis Figo [Portugal] 127* (1991-2006)
31.Paolo Maldini [Italy] 126* (1988-2002) [d]
Hussain Saeed Mohammed [Iraq] 126 (1977-1990)
Rigobert Song [Cameroon] 126* (1993-2009)
Andoni Zubizarreta [Spain] 126 (1985-1998)
35.Walter Centeno [Costa Rica] 125* (1995-2009)
Gheorghe Hagi [Romania] 125 (1983-2000)
Ibrahim Hassan [Egypt] 125 (1988-2002)
Roberto Carlos [Brazil] 125* (1992-2006)
Peter Shilton [England] 125 (1970-1990)
40.Fabio Cannavaro [Italy] 124* (1997-2009)
Amado Guevara [Honduras] 124* (1994-2009)
Luis Antonio Marin [Costa Rica] 124* (1993-2007)
Hany Ramzy [Egypt] 124 (1989-2003)
44.Sang-Chul Yoo [South Korea] 123 (1994-2005)
45.Masami Ihara [Japan] 122 (1988-1999)
Jari Litmanen [Finland] 122* (1989-2009)
Roberto Palacios [Peru] 122* (1992-2007)
Abdullah Zubromawi [Saudi Arabia] 122 (1993-2002)
49.David Carabott [Malta] 121* (1987-2005)
Bum-Kun Cha [South Korea] 121 (1972-1986)
Aide Iskandar [Singapore] 121* (1995-2007)
Ramón Ramírez [Mexico] 121* (1991-2000)
53.Theodoros Zagorakis [Greece] 120* (1994-2007)
54.Pat Jennings [Northern Ireland] 119 (1964-1986)
Mart Poom [Estonia] 119* (1991-2008)
56.Karel Poborský [Czech Republic] 118* (1994-2006)
Rüstü Reçber [Turkey] 118* (1994-2008)
58.Gilbert Agius [Malta] 117* (1993-2009)
Angus Eve [Trinidad/Tobago] 117* (1994-2005)
Heinz Hermann [Switzerland] 117 (1978-1991)
Woon-Jae Lee [South Korea] 117* (1994-2009)
62.Marcel Desailly [France] 116 (1993-2004) [d]
Abdul Rahem Jumaa [UAE] 116* (1998-2009)
Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi [Japan] 116* (1997-2008)
Roland Nilsson [Sweden] 116 (1986-2000)
66.Roberto Fabián Ayala [Argentina] 115* (1994-2007)
Hao Haidong [China] 115* (1992-2004)
Noureddine Naybet [Morocco] 115* (1990-2006)
Björn Nordqvist [Sweden] 115 (1963-1978)
Gheorghe Popescu [Romania] 115 (1988-2003)
Shunmugham Subramani [Singapore] 115* (1996-2007)
72.Ian Goodison [Jamaica] 113* (1996-2008)
Viktor Onopko [Russia/C.I.S.] 113* (1992-2004) [e]
74.Zuhair Bakhit Bilal [UAE] 112 (1988-2002)
Frank de Boer [Netherlands] 112* (1990-2004)
Alain Geiger [Switzerland] 112 (1980-1996)
Andres Oper [Estonia] 112* (1995-2008)
Claudio Reyna [USA] 112* (1994-2006)
Hakan Sükür [Turkey] 112* (1992-2007)
Dino Zoff [Italy] 112 (1968-1983) [d]
81.Carmel Busuttil [Malta] 111 (1982-2001)
Thierry Henry [France] 111* (1997-2009)
Carlos Valderrama [Colombia] 111* (1985-1998)
84.David Beckham [England] 110* (1996-2009)
Paul Caligiuri [USA] 110* (1984-1997)
Fernando Couto [Portugal] 110* (1990-2004)
Carlos Gamarra [Paraguay] 110* (1993-2006)
Nader El-Sayed [Egypt] 110 (1992-2005)
Nohair Al-Shammari [Kuwait] 110* (1996-2008)
Mauricio Solis Mora [Costa Rica] 110* (1993-2006)
Kristen Viikmäe [Estonia] 110* (1997-2009)
92.Alex Aguinaga [Ecuador] 109* (1987-2004)
Niclas Alexandersson [Sweden] 109* (1993-2008)
Fan Zhiyi [China] 109 (1992-2002)
Rolando Fonseca [Costa Rica] 109* (1992-2008)
Alberto García Aspe [Mexico] 109 (1988-2002)
Stern John [Trinidad/Tobago] 109* (1995-2009)
Wail Sulaiman Al-Habashi [Kuwait] 109 (1986-1997)
99.Landon Donovan [USA] 108* (2000-2009)
Abdul Salam Jumaa [UAE] 108* (1997-2009)
Ali Mohammed Karimi [Iran] 108* (1998-2008)
Jürgen Klinsmann [(West) Germany] 108 (1987-1998)
Bobby Moore [England] 108 (1962-1973) [d]
Jamal Abdulrahman Mubarak [Kuwait] 108* (1994-2004)
Zinedine Zidane [France] 108 (1994-2006)
106.Thomas Helveg [Denmark] 107* (1994-2007)
Mehdi Mahdavikia [Iran] 107* (1996-2009)
Abdel Zaher El-Saqua [Egypt] 107* (1997-2007)
109.Imants Bleidelis [Latvia] 106* (1995-2007)
Bobby Charlton [England] 106 (1958-1970) [d]
Li Weifeng [China] 106* (1998-2008)
Diego Pablo Simeone [Argentina] 106 (1988-2002)
Patrick Vieira [France] 106* (1997-2008)
Eric Wynalda [USA] 106* (1990-2000)
115.Héctor Chumpitaz [Peru] 105 (1965-1981)
Jürgen Kohler [(West) Germany] 105 (1986-1998)
Mohsen Mosabeh Faraj [UAE] 105 (1988-1999)
Theodore Whitmore [Jamaica] 105* (1993-2004)
Billy Wright [England] 105 (1946-1959) [d]
120.Ladislau Bölöni [Romania] 104 (1975-1988) [c]
Sarkis Hovsepyan [Armenia] 104* (1992-2009)
Kim Tae-Yeong [South Korea] 104 (1992-2004)
Henrik Larsson [Sweden] 104* (1993-2009)
Michael Laudrup [Denmark] 104 (1982-1998)
José Manuel Rey [Venezuela] 104* (1997-2009)
Indra Sahdan bin Daud [Singapore] 104* (1997-2009)
Thorbjřrn Svenssen [Norway] 104 (1947-1962)
Mihails Zemlinskis [Latvia] 104* (1992-2005)
129.Franz Beckenbauer [West Germany] 103 (1965-1977)
Stéphane Chapuisat [Switzerland] 103* (1988-2004)
Didier Deschamps [France] 103 (1989-2000) [d]
Andreas Herzog [Austria] 103 (1988-2003)
Seon-Hong Hwang [South Korea] 103 (1993-2002)
Lee Young-Pyo [South Korea] 103* (1999-2009)
Hussein O.A. Sulimani [Saudi Arabia] 103* (1996-2008)
136.Joe Brincat [Malta] 102* (1988-2004)
Kenny Dalglish [Scotland] 102 (1971-1986)
Kasey Keller [USA] 102* (1990-2007)
Bülent Korkmaz [Turkey] 102* (1990-2005)
Borislav Mikhailov [Bulgaria] 102 (1983-1998) [f]
Savo Milosevic [Yugoslavia/S.-M.] 102* (1994-2008)
Morten Olsen [Denmark] 102 (1970-1989)
Raúl [Spain] 102* (1996-2006)
Steve Staunton [Ireland] 102 (1988-2002)
Jon Dahl Tomasson [Denmark] 102* (1997-2008)
Indrek Zelinski [Estonia] 102* (1994-2007)
147.Leonel de Jesús Alvarez [Colombia] 101 (1985-1997)
Oleg Blokhin [Soviet Union] 101 (1972-1988) [c]
József Bozsik [Hungary] 101 (1947-1962) [h]
Phillip Cocu [Netherlands] 101* (1996-2006)
Geremi Fotso Njitap [Cameroon] 101* (1996-2009)
Thomas Häßler [(West) Germany] 101 (1988-2000)
Rúnar Kristinsson [Iceland] 101* (1987-2004) [g]
Jorge Soto [Peru] 101* (1992-2005)
Earnie Stewart [USA] 101* (1990-2004)
Claudio Taffarel [Brazil] 101 (1988-1998)
157.Angelos Basinas [Greece] 100* (1999-2009)
Henning Berg [Norway] 100 (1992-2004)
Luis Enrique Capurro [Ecuador] 100* (1985-2003)
Ari Hjelm [Finland] 100 (1983-1996)
Ulf Kirsten [(East) Germany] 100 (1985-2000) [b]
Tony Meola [USA] 100* (1988-2006)
Joe-Max Moore [USA] 100 (1992-2002)
Mohd Nazri Bin Nasir [Singapore] 100 (1990-2004)
Andrejs Rubins [Latvia] 100* (1998-2009)
Dario Simic [Croatia] 100* (1996-2008)
Players whose country is italicized are national record holders.
Players marked with * are still active.
Notes:
[a] Abdullah was earlier reported as having 147 caps, but investigations of
IFFHS discovered 4 matches which were not played and 1 against an Irish
League XI; 2 more matches were deleted from the records following FIFA's
decision not to recognize Olympic matches (see below);
one more involved non-FIFA members Northern Cyprus.
[b] Kirsten played 49 matches for East Germany and 51 for (unified) Germany.
[c] several players had Olympic matches deleted from their records.
[d] several players had matches against FIFA or continental representations
deducted - or not, see below. Zoff's total also includes a match against a
US select team comprising mainly of aging foreigners which the Italian FA
insist is official.
[e] Onopko played 4 matches for the C.I.S. and 109 for Russia.
[f] Mikhailov's total includes 4 matches against Olympic teams which are
official according to the Bulgarian FA though not according to FIFA pratice.
[g] Kristinsson has played 104 matches according to the Icelandic federation,
which however includes 3 Olympic qualifiers not considered official according to FIFA
practice; however, FIFA do accept a match against England B in 1991.
[h] Bozsik had a match vs Lebanon played in 1956 recognised as official by
the Hungarian FA in May 2002 (!).
Henri Camara [Senegal] 99* (1999-2008)
Igors N. Stepanovs [Latvia] 99* (1995-2008)
Marvin Andrews [Trinidad/Tobago] 98* (1996-2006)
Cuauhtémoc Blanco [Mexico] 98* (1995-2008)
Ulises de la Cruz [Ecuador] 98* (1995-2007)
Djalma dos Santos [Brazil] 98 (1952-1968)
Juris Laizans [Latvia] 98* (1998-2009)
Oswaldo Sánchez [Mexico] 98* (1996-2009)
Joachim Streich [East Germany] 98 (1969-1984) [c]
Robert Acuna [Paraguay] 97* (1993-2006)
Laurent Blanc [France] 97 (1989-2000) [d]
Sami Hyypiä [Finland] 97* (1992-2009)
Juan Jayo [Peru] 97* (1994-2008)
Bixente Lizarazu [France] 97 (1992-2004)
Ronaldo [Brazil] 97* (1994-2006)
Oscar Alfredo Ruggeri [Argentina] 97 (1983-1994)
Erik Thorstvedt [Norway] 97 (1982-1996)
Patrik Andersson [Sweden] 96 (1991-2002)
Jacek Bak [Poland] 96* (1993-2008)
Hristo Bonev [Bulgaria] 96 (1967-1979) [14]
Jan Ceulemans [Belgium] 96 (1977-1991)
Hans-Jürgen Dörner [East Germany] 96 (1969-1985) [c]
Alexi Lalas [USA] 96 (1990-1998)
Javad Nekounam [Iran] 96* (2000-2009)
Anders Svensson [Sweden] 96* (1999-2009)
Hans-Hubert Vogts [West Germany] 96 (1967-1978)
Efstratos Apostolakis [Greece] 95 (1986-1998)
John Buttigieg [Malta] 95 (1984-2000)
Soon-Ho Choi [South Korea] 95 (1980-1991)
Seok-Joo Ha [South Korea] 95 (1991-2001)
Kevin Kilbane [Ireland] 95* (1997-2009)
Grzegorz Lato [Poland] 95 (1966-1979) [c]
Josef Maier [West Germany] 95 (1966-1979)
Brian McBride [USA] 95 (1993-2006)
Dan Petrescu [Romania] 95 (1989-2000)
Toni Polster [Austria] 95 (1982-2000)
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge [West Germany] 95 (1976-1986)
Players whose country is italicized are national record holders.
Players marked with * are still active.
FIFA decided in 1999 that while all Olympic matches from 1908-1952 (bar those involving Great Britain or countries with a professional league who sent amateur squads, e.g. Austria in 1936) are full internationals, all matches since the sixties are not at all recognised, while for the intermediate part additional analysis will be made. Ten years later, no such analysis appears to have been forthcoming. Most Eastern European and Scandinavian FAs (to whom the issue is most relevant) have ignored the ruling, and the relevant countries have the totals as recognised by the responsible FAs included in the list, with the exception of a few which will be looked at later.
The following players were affected:
Majed Abdullah [Saudi Arabia] 140 (was 142; minus 2 matches)
Ladislau Bölöni [Romania] 104 (was 108; minus 4 matches)
Oleg Blokhin [Soviet Union] 101 (was 112; minus 11 matches)
Joachim Streich [East Germany] 98 (was 102; minus 4 matches)
Hans-Jürgen Dörner [East Germany] 96 (was 100; minus 4 matches)
Grzegorz Lato [Poland] 95 (was 100; minus 5 matches)
FIFA and Continental Representations
In January 2001, FIFA deleted all matches against FIFA XI's or continental representations. However, most FAs (including those of Brazil, England, Frane and Italy) did not follow this ruling and keep the relevant matches in their records.
The above list therefore ignores this FIFA ruling.
According to national FA's information, the following players also have a century of appearances for their country:
Warren Barrett [Jamaica] 127
Dunnett Brown [Jamaica] 111
Sadok Sassi "Attouga" [Tunisia] 110
Tarak Dhiab [Tunisia] 107
Steve Sumner [New Zealand] 60 [105 according to NZFA]
Note that the Jamaican FA includes all matches, even against club sides,
youth teams or olympic representations. The records of the other players
are also unconfirmed and awaiting further clarification.
Note: record holders with 95+ caps can be found above.
Foto Strakosha [Albania] 73*
Oscar Sonejee [Andorra] 78*
Aslan Kerimov [Azerbaijan] 75*
Elvir Bolic [Bosnia-Herzegovina] 52*
Alex Tobin [Australia] 87*
Sergei Gurenko [Belarus] 80*
Luis Héctor Cristaldo [Bolivia] 93
Marco Antonio Sandy [Bolivia] 93
Randy Samuel [Canada] 82
Leonel Sánchez [Chile] 84
Yiannakis Okkas [Cyprus] 89*
Óli Johannesen [Faroe Islands] 83*
Levan Kobiashvili [Georgia] 82*
Guillermo Ramirez [Guatemala] 93*
Kurniawan Dwi Julianto[Indonesia] 59*
Arik Benado [Israel] 94*
Ruslan Baltiyev [Kazakhstan] 67*
Vyacheslav Amin [Kyrgyzstan] 33*
Mario Frick [Liechtenstein] 86*
Andrius Skerla [Lithuania] 72*
Jeff Strasser [Luxembourg] 90*
Goce Sedloski [Macedonia] 90*
Radu Rebeja [Moldova] 74*
Vaughan Coveny [New Zealand] 64*
Nwankwo Kanu [Nigeria] 76* [i]
Damiano Vannucci [San Marino] 50*
Miroslav Karhan [Slovakia] 90*
Zlatko Zahovic [Slovenia] 80*
Aaron Mokoena [South Africa] 84*
Errion Charles [Turks and Caicos] 7*
Duan Clinton [Turks and Caicos] 7*
Charles Cook [Turks and Caicos] 7*
Andriy Shevchenko [Ukraine] 86*
Rodolfo Rodríguez [Uruguay] 78
Andrey Fyodorov [Uzbekistan] 65*
Mirdzhalal Kasymov [Uzbekistan] 65*
Neville Southall [Wales] 92
[i] Mudashiru Lawal played 86 matches for Nigeria and was considered record
holder before, but his total includes more than 13 unofficial matches.
Players marked with * are still active.
(N.B. more detailed data on players with 40+ goals are available from the alphabetic index.)
1.Ali Daei [Iran] 109*(149) (1993-2006) [15]
2.Ferenc Puskás [Hungary/Spain] 84 ( 89) (1945-1956) [1]
3."Pelé" [Brazil] 77 ( 92) (1957-1971) [9]
4.Bashar Abdullah [Kuwait] 75*(134) (1996-2007)
Sándor Kocsis [Hungary] 75 ( 68) (1948-1956)
-.Vivian John Woodward [England/England Am] 73 ( 53) (1903-1914) [2]
6.Hossam Hassan [Egypt] 69 (169) (1985-2006)
Stern John [Trinidad/Tobago] 69*(109) (1995-2009)
8.Gerd Müller [West Germany] 68 ( 62) (1966-1974)
9.Majed Abdullah [Saudi Arabia] 67 (139) (1978-1994) [3]
10.Kiatisuk Senamuang [Thailand] 65*(130) (1993-2007)
11.Jassem Al-Houwaidi [Kuwait] 63*( 74) (1992-2002)
12.Ronaldo [Brazil] 62*( 97) (1994-2006)
13.Hussain Saeed Mohammed [Iraq] 61 (126) (1977-1990)
14.Imre Schlosser [Hungary] 59 ( 68) (1906-1927)
15.Gabriel Batistuta [Argentina] 56 ( 78) (1991-2002)
16.Bum-Kun Cha [South Korea] 55 (121) (1972-1986)
Kunishige Kamamoto [Japan] 55 ( 61) (1964-1977) [8]
Jan Koller [Czech Republic] 55*( 90) (1999-2008)
Kazuyoshi Miura [Japan] 55 ( 89) (1990-2000)
Romário [Brazil] 55 ( 70) (1987-2005)
21.Joachim Streich [East Germany] 53 ( 98) (1969-1984)
Adnan Kh. Al-Talyani [UAE] 53 (164) (1984-1997)
23.Poul "Tist" Nielsen [Denmark] 52 ( 38) (1910-1925)
24.Zico [Brazil] 52 ( 72) (1976-1986)
25.Hakan Sükür [Turkey] 51*(112) (1992-2007)
Lájos Tichy [Hungary] 51 ( 72) (1955-1971) [12]
Jon Dahl Tomasson [Denmark] 51*( 99) (1997-2008)
28.Karim Bagheri [Iran] 50*( 86) (1993-2009)
Seon-Hong Hwang [South Korea] 50 (103) (1993-2002)
Carlos Alberto Pavón [Honduras] 50*( 85) (1993-2009)
31.Bobby Charlton [England] 49 (106) (1958-1970) [9]
Sven Rydell [Sweden] 49 ( 43) (1923-1932)
33.Hristo Bonev [Bulgaria] 48 ( 96) (1967-1979) [14]
Thierry Henry [France] 48*(111) (1997-2009)
Gary Lineker [England] 48 ( 80) (1984-1991)
36.Rolando Fonseca [Costa Rica] 47*(109) (1992-2008)
Jürgen Klinsmann [(West) Germany] 47 (108) (1987-1998)
Pauleta [Portugal] 47*( 88) (1997-2006)
Rudi Völler [(West) Germany] 47 ( 90) (1982-1994)
40.Jared Borgetti [Mexico] 46*( 89) (1997-2008)
Davor Suker [Croatia/Yugoslavia] 46 ( 71) (1990-2002) [4]
42.Karl-Heinz Rummenigge [West Germany] 45 ( 95) (1976-1986)
Laith Hussein Shihaib [Iraq] 45 ( 96)
Paulo César Wanchope [Costa Rica] 45*( 73) (1996-2008)
45.Jimmy Greaves [England] 44 ( 57) (1959-1967) [9]
Sami Al-Jaber [Saudi Arabia] 44*(163) (1992-2006)
Pauli Jřrgensen [Denmark] 44 ( 47) (1925-1939)
Miroslav Klose [Germany] 44*( 88) (2001-2009)
Wlodzimierz Lubanski [Poland] 44 ( 65) (1963-1980) [5, 8]
Toni Polster [Austria] 44 ( 95) (1982-2000)
Raúl [Spain] 44*(102) (1996-2006)
52.Gunnar Nordahl [Sweden] 43 ( 33) (1942-1948)
Uwe Seeler [West Germany] 43 ( 72) (1954-1970)
54.Grzegorz Lato [Poland] 42 ( 95) (1971-1984) [5, 8]
Ole Madsen [Denmark] 42 ( 51) (1958-1969)
Ahmed Radhi [Iraq] 42 ( 73) (1983-1997)
Györgi Sárosi [Hungary] 42 ( 62) (1931-1943) [13]
58.Michael Ballack [Germany] 41*( 92) (1999-2009)
Dimitar Berbatov [Bulgaria] 41*( 71) (1999-2009)
Eusébio [Portugal] 41 ( 64) (1961-1973)
Hao Haidong [China] 41*(115) (1992-2004)
Michel Platini [France] 41 ( 72) (1976-1987)
Carlos Humberto Ruiz [Guatemala] 41*( 83) (1998-2008)
64.Patrick Kluivert [Netherlands] 40*( 79) (1994-2004)
Rabah Madjer [Algeria] 40 ( 87) (1978-1992)
Michael Owen [England] 40*( 89) (1998-2008)
Andriy Shevchenko [Ukraine] 40*( 86) (1995-2009)
68."Bebeto" [Brazil] 39 ( 73) (1985-1998)
Raúl Díaz Arce [El Salvador] 39 ( 55) (1991-2000)
Samuel Eto'o Fils [Cameroon] 39*( 83) (1997-2009)
Alexander Frei [Switzerland] 39*( 67) (2001-2009)
Nándor Hidegkuti [Hungary] 39 ( 69) (1945-1958)
Ernest Pol [Poland] 39 ( 46) (1956-1965) [5]
74.Stjepan Bobek [Yugoslavia] 38 ( 63) (1946-1956)
Preben Elkjær-Larsen [Denmark] 38 ( 69) (1977-1988)
Robbie Keane [Ireland] 38*( 88) (1998-2009)
77.Fabrice Maceio 'Akwa' [Angola] 37*( ) (1995-2006)
Dennis Bergkamp [Netherlands] 37*( 79) (1990-2000)
Olivier Bierhoff [(West) Germany] 37 ( 70) (1996-2002)
Landon Donovan [USA] 37*(108) (2000-2009)
Milan Galic [Yugoslavia] 37 ( 51) (1959-1965)
Henrik Larsson [Sweden] 37*(104) (1993-2009)
Michael Laudrup [Denmark] 37 (104) (1982-1998)
Savo Milosevic [Yugoslavia/S.-M.] 37*(102) (1994-2008)
Marcelo Salas [Chile] 37*( 70) (1994-2007)
Hristo Stoichkov [Bulgaria] 37 ( 83) (1987-1999) [11]
Rashidi Yekini [Nigeria] 37 ( 58) (1984-1998)
88.Ferenc Bene [Hungary] 36 ( 76) (1962-1979)
Didier Drogba [Ivory Coast] 36*( 55)
Blagoje Marjanovic [Yugoslavia] 36 ( 57) (1926-1938)
91.Oleg Blokhin [Soviet Union] 35 (101) (1972-1988)
Hernán Crespo [Argentina] 35*( 64) (1995-2007)
Gheorghe Hagi [Romania] 35 (125) (1983-2000)
David Healy [Northern Ireland] 35*( 73) (2000-2009)
Carlos Hermosillo [Mexico] 35*( 90) (1984-1997)
Luis Hernández [Mexico] 35*( 85) (1995-2002)
Ali Mohammed Karimi [Iran] 35*(108) (1998-2008)
Andres Oper [Estonia] 35*(112) (1995-2008)
Juan Carlos Plata [Guatemala] 35*( 86) (1996-2006)
Antonin Puc [Czechoslovakia/B&M] 35 ( 61) (1926-1939)
Luigi Riva [Italy] 35*( 42) (1965-1974)
Wilmer Velásquez [Honduras] 35*( 47) (1994-2007)
Faas Wilkes [Netherlands] 35 ( 38) (1946-1961)
Zlatko Zahovic [Slovenia] 35*( 80) (1992-2004)
105.Max Abegglen [Switzerland] 34 ( 68) (1922-1937)
Cuauhtémoc Blanco [Mexico] 34*( 98) (1995-2008)
Iuliu Bodola [Romania/Hungary] 34 ( 61) (1931-1948) [7]
Angus Eve [Trinidad/Tobago] 34*(117) (1994-2005)
Ulf Kirsten [(East) Germany] 34 (100) (1985-2000) [6]
Johann Krankl [Austria] 34 ( 69) (1973-1985)
Diego Maradona [Argentina] 34 ( 91) (1977-1994)
Milton Núńez [Honduras] 34*( 86) (1994-2008)
Rivaldo [Brazil] 34*( 74) (1993-2003)
David Trezeguet [France] 34*( 71) (1998-2008)
Kubilay Türkyilmaz [Switzerland] 34*( 62) (1988-2001)
Ernest Wilimowski [Poland/Germany] 34 ( 30) (1934-1942) [10]
Eric Wynalda [USA] 34 (106) (1990-2000)
Ivan Zamorano [Chile] 34 ( 69) (1987-2001)
119.Johan Cruijff [Netherlands] 33 ( 48) (1966-1977)
Kazimierz Deyna [Poland] 33 ( 84) (1969-1978) [5, 8]
"Jairzinho" [Brazil] 33 ( 81) (1963-1982) [9]
Jřrgen Juve [Norway] 33 ( 45) (1928-1937)
Kurniawan Dwi Julianto[Indonesia] 33*( 59) (1995-2005)
Abe Lenstra [Netherlands] 33 ( 47) (1940-1959)
Patrick Mboma [Cameroon] 33*( 57) (1995-2004)
Giuseppe Meazza [Italy] 33 ( 53) (1930-1939)
Ruud van Nistelrooij [Netherlands] 33*( 64) (1998-2008)
Fritz Walter [(West) Germany] 33 ( 61) (1940-1958)
129.Ademir Marques [Brazil] 32 ( 39) (1945-1953)
Milan Baros [Czech Republic] 32*( 73) (2001-2009)
Lakhdar Belloumi [Algeria] 32 ( 90) (1978-1990)
Luis Figo [Portugal] 32*(127) (1991-2006)
Klaus Fischer [West Germany] 32 ( 45) (1977-1982)
Gunnar Gren [Sweden] 32 ( 57) (1940-1958)
Benni McCarthy [South Africa] 32*( 76) (1997-2009)
Rajko Mitic [Yugoslavia] 32 ( 59) (1946-1957)
Tibor Nyilasi [Hungary] 32 ( 70) (1975-1985)
Lukas Podolski [Germany] 32*( 62) (2004-2009)
"Ronaldinho" [Brazil] 32*( 87) (1999-2009)
"Tostăo" [Brazil] 32 ( 54) (1966-1972) [9]
Gyula Zsengellér [Hungary] 32 ( 39) (1936-1947)
142.Florián Albert [Hungary] 31 ( 75) (1959-1974)
Kennet Andersson [Sweden] 31*( 83) (1990-2000)
Enrique Borja [Mexico] 31 ( 65) (1966-1975)
Agustín Delgado [Ecuador] 31*( 71) (1994-2006)
Zdénék Nehoda [Czechoslovakia] 31 ( 90) (1971-1987)
Héctor Scarone [Uruguay] 31 ( 52) (1917-1930)
Zinedine Zidane [France] 31 (108) (1994-2006)
149.Soon-Ho Choi [South Korea] 30 ( 95) (1980-1991)
Kenny Dalglish [Scotland] 30 (102) (1972-1987)
Tom Finney [England] 30 ( 76) (1946-1958)
Just Fontaine [France] 30 ( 21) (1953-1960)
Denis Law [Scotland] 30 ( 55) (1959-1974)
Ernst Lehner [Germany] 30 ( 65) (1936-1942)
Jari Litmanen [Finland] 30*(122) (1989-2009)
Nathaniel Lofthouse [England] 30 ( 33) (1950-1958)
Brian McBride [USA] 30 ( 95) (1993-2006)
Bambang Pamungkas [Indonesia] 30*( 61) (1999-2009)
Jean-Pierre Papin [France] 30 ( 54) (1986-1995)
Silvio Piola [Italy] 30 ( 34) (1935-1952)
Maksim Shatskikh [Uzbekistan] 30*( 46) (1999-2009)
Alan Shearer [England] 30 ( 63) (1991-2000)
Paul Van Himst [Belgium] 30 ( 81) (1960-1974)
Bernard Voorhoof [Belgium] 30 ( 61) (1928-1940)
Luis Alves "Zague" [Mexico] 30*( 84) (1988-2001)
"Zizinho" [Brazil] 30 ( 53) (1942-1957)
Players whose country is italicized are national record holders.
Players marked with * are still active.
Notes:
[ 1] Puskás scored all his 84 international goals in his 85 appearances
for Hungary; in his 4 internationals for Spain he did not score. Note
that Puskás had a match vs Lebanon played in 1956 recognised as official
by the Hungarian FA in May 2002 (!). Puskás scored 1 goal in that match.
[ 2] Woodward scored 29 goals in 23 matches for the official England team
between 1903 and 1911 and 44 goals in 30 matches for the England
Amateur side between 1906 and 1914; all matches for the Amateur side
were considered full internationals for their respective opponents.
[ 3] Abdullah was earlier reported as having 147 caps, but investigations
of IFFHS discovered 4 matches which were not played and 1 against an
Irish League XI; 2 more matches were deleted from the records following
FIFA's decision not to recognize Olympic matches (see above);
one more involved non-FIFA members Northern Cyprus.
[ 4] Suker scored 45 goals in 69 matches for Croatia and 1 goal in 2
matches for (former) Yugoslavia.
[ 5] Previous official Polish records included unofficial matches. Earlier
records included: Lubanski 50 goals in 81 matches, Lato 45 in 104,
Deyna 45 in 102, Pol 40 in 49 and Szarmach 36 in 64 (now 25 in 55).
[ 6] Ulf Kirsten scored 14 goals in 49 matches for East Germany and 20
goals in 51 matches for Germany.
[ 7] Iuliu Bodola scored 30 goals in 48 matches for Romania and 4 goals
in 13 matches for Hungary.
[ 8] several players had Olympic matches (and possibly goals) deleted
from their records.
[ 9] several players had matches (and possibly goals) against FIFA or
continental representations deducted - or not, see below.
[10] Ernest Wilimowski scored 21 goals in 22 matches for Poland and 13
goals in 8 matches for Germany.
[11] This total includes 1 goal in 1 match against an East Germany
olympic team in a match which the Bulgarian FA insists is official.
[12] Note that Tichy had a match vs Lebanon played in 1956 recognised
as official by the Hungarian FA in May 2002 (!). He scored two goals
in that match.
[13] Note that Sarosi had a match vs Portugal played in 1933 recognised
as official by the Hungarian FA in May 2002 (!). He did not score in
that match.
[14] This includes goals from Olympic and other matches recognised by
the Bulgarian FA (but not by FIFA) as official.
[15] Includes Daei's cap but not his goal on October 27, 2003, against
North Korea; the match was abandoned and later awarded 3-0 to Iran.
FIFA decided in 1999 that while all Olympic matches from 1908-1952 (bar those involving Great Britain or countries with a professional league who sent amateur squads, e.g. Austria in 1936) are full internationals, all matches since the sixties are not at all recognised, while for the intermediate part additional analysis will be made. Ten years later, no such analysis appears to have been forthcoming. Most Eastern European and Scandinavian FAs (to whom the issue is most relevant) have ignored the ruling, and the relevant countries have the totals as recognised by the responsible FAs included in the list, with the exception of a few which will be looked at later.
The following players were affected in the above list:
Kunishige Kamamoto [Japan] (was 82 from 85; lost 27 goals from 24 matches)
Wlodzimierz Lubanski [Poland] (was 48 from 75; lost 4 goals from 10 matches)
Oleg Blokhin [Soviet Union] (was 42 from 112; lost 7 goals from 11 matches)
Grzegorz Lato [Poland] (was 45 from 100; lost 3 goals from 5 matches)
Kazimierz Deyna [Poland] (was 41 from 97; lost 8 goals from 12 matches)
Andrzej Szarmach [Poland] (was 31 from 60; lost 6 goals from 5 matches)
FIFA and Continental Representations
In January 2001, FIFA deleted all matches against FIFA XI's or continental representations. However, most FAs (including those of Brazil, England, Frane and Italy) did not follow this ruling and keep the relevant matches in their records.
The above list therefore ignores this FIFA ruling.
The following players may have more than 30 goals for their country (numbers indicated are not yet official and under investigation), or (in Drogba's case) recach this total in the near future:
Al-Thenaian [Saudi Arabia] 47
Keith Gumbs [St. Kitts/Nevis] 46
Hani Al-Dhabit [Oman] 45
I.M. Vijayan [India] 40
Obeid Al-Dossary [Saudi Arabia] 39
Peter Ndlovu [Zimbabwe] 38
Faisel Al-Dekheel [Kuwait] 36
Mubarak Mustafa [Qatar] 34
Abdelhafid Tasfaout [Algeria] 34
Jassim Yacoub [Kuwait] 34
Kalusha Bwalya [Zambia] 33
Mohamed Al-Enazi [Qatar] 33
Hussein Ali Ahmed [Bahrain] 31
Mohd Noh Alam Shah [Singapore] 30
Ricky Charles [Grenada] 30
Le Huynh Duc [Vietnam] 30
Austin Huggins [St. Kitts/Nevis]
Vernon Sangeart [St. Kitts/Nevis]
Abdoulaye Traoré [Ivory Coast] 29?
Note: record holders with 30+ goals can be found above.
Alban Bushi [Albania] 14*( 65)
Ildefons Lima [Andorra] 5*( 55)
Artur Petrosyan [Armenia] 11*( 69)
Damian Mori [Australia] 29*( 45)
Gurban Gurbanov [Azerbaijan] 12*( 65)
Maxym Romashchenko [Belarus] 19*( 65)
Deon MacCauley [Belize] 4*
Wangay Dorji [Bhutan] 5*
Joaquín Botero [Bolivia] 20*( 48)
Elvir Bolic [Bosnia-Herzegovina] 22*( 52)
Diphetogo Selolwane [Botswana] 15*
John Catliff [Canada] 19 ( 43)
Dale Mitchell [Canada] 19 ( 55)
Carlos Morais [Cape Verde] 10*
Arnoldo Iguarán [Colombia] 25 ( 67)
Michalis Konstandinou [Cyprus] 26*( 68)
Ahmed Daher [Djibouti] 4*
Adelio Maria Costa [East Timor] 3*
Emilio Da Silva [East Timor] 3*
Rógvi Jacobsen [Faroe Islands] 10*( 52)
Shota Arveladze [Georgia] 26*( 60)
Nikolaos Anastopoulos [Greece] 29 ( 73)
Zachary Pangelinan [Guam] 11*
Nigel Codrington [Guyana] 17*
Eiđur Sm. Gudjohnsen [Iceland] 23*( 57)
Mordechai Spiegler [Israel] 24 ( 57)
Ruslan Baltiyev [Kazakhstan] 12* (67)
Viktor Zubarev [Kazakhstan] 12*( 18)
Sergey Chikishev [Kyrgyzstan] 3*( 6)
Farhad Haytbayev [Kyrgyzstan] 3*( 17)
Ruslan Jamshidov [Kyrgyzstan] 3*( 18)
Zamirbek Jumagulov [Kyrgyzstan] 3*( 18)
Sergey Kutsov [Kyrgyzstan] 3*( 16)
Visay Phaphouvanin [Laos] 13*
Maris Verpakovskis [Latvia] 25*( 76)
Wartan Ghazarian [Lebanon] 19
Mario Frick [Liechtenstein] 13*( 86)
Tomas Danilevicius [Lithuania] 17*( 56)
Léon Mart [Luxembourg] 16 ( 24)
Chan Kin Seng [Macao] 7*
Giorgji Hristov [Macedonia] 16*( 48)
Ali Ashfaq [Maldives] 11*
Ibrahim Fazeel [Maldives] 11*
Carmel Busuttil [Malta] 23 (111)
Serghei Clescenco [Moldova] 11*( 69)
Ganbaatar Tugsbayar [Mongolia] 6*
Manuel José Bucuane [Mozambique] 22*
Vaughan Coveny [New Zealand] 29*( 64)
Fahed Attal [Palestine] 12*
José Saturnino Cardozo [Paraguay] 25*( 82)
Teófilo Cubillas [Peru] 26 ( 81)
Vladimir Beschastnykh [Russia] 26*( 70)
Andy Selva [San Marino] 8*( 44)
Philip Zialor [Seychelles] 10*
Szilard Nemeth [Slovakia] 22*( 57)
Matakage Roshan-Parera [Sri Lanka] 16
Numonjon Khakimov [Tajikistan] 14*
Francileudo dos Santos [Tunisia] 21*
Charyar Mukhadov [Turkmenistan] 13
Gavin Glinton [Turks and Caicos] 4*( 6)
Giancarlo Maldonado [Venezuela] 17*( 44)
Ian Rush [Wales] 28 ( 73)
Ali Al-Nono [Yemen] 15*
Players marked with * are still active.
With thanks to Matthias Arnhold (MatthiasArnhold@aol.com), John Beuker, Frank Ballesteros, Yaniv Bleicher (yanivbl@hotmail.com), Sřren Elbech (elbech@hotmail.com), Fernando Espinoza Añazco (nanoespinoza@hotmail.com), László Földesi (foldesilaszlo@freemail.hu), Dick Holstein (dick@viplanet.nl), Andrei Libin (andrei@openmail.irex.ru), Dave Litterer (spectrum@sover.net), Misha Miladinovich (mmiladinovich@sprint.ca), Neil Morrison (nfm24@cam.ac.uk), Gwidon Naskrent (naskrent@skrzynka.pl), Milad Niqui (mniqui@cs.kun.nl), Chuka Onwumechili (agodi2_mechili@yahoo.com), Jarek Owsianski (jarek-o@go2.pl), Majeed Panahi (pamajeed@batelco.com.bh), Luis Fernando Passo Alpuin (fernandopasso2004@yahoo.com), José Luis Pierrend (josepie@hotmail.com), Ricardo Pontes, Macario Reyes, Ralph Rönsch (rroensch@debis.com), Phil Schoen (philsoc@bellsouth.net) and Bernd Timmermann (bernd@dsfs.de) for various informations and corrections.
Prepared and maintained by Roberto Mamrud and Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Authors: Roberto Mamrud
(robert@elsitio.net)
and Karel Stokkermans
(karel@rsssf.com)
Last updated: 28 May 2009
(C) Copyright Roberto Mamrud, Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 1998/2009
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper
acknowledgement is given to the authors. All rights reserved.