Wayne Rooney’s goal against Lithuania on Friday was his 47th in England colours. It was a strike that has moved him to within two of the all-time Three Lions scoring record of 49, currently held by 1966 World Cup winner Sir Bobby Charlton.
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For Rooney, surpassing the record seems an inevitability, and he’ll have his latest shot and closing the gap on Charlton when England take on Italy in a friendly match on Tuesday.
However, Friday’s 4-0 win – our fifth in succession in Euro 2016 qualifying – also brought us Harry Kane’s first England goal. The Tottenham Hotspur man, 21, took just 78 seconds to break his international duck, and already has his eyes on bigger things.
With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of five young strikers who could one day break Rooney’s England goal record…
5) Cauley Woodrow (Fulham)
The 20-year-old has scored two goals in five games for England’s Under-21 side thus far, and the powerful forward looks a bright prospect for the future. Currently with Championship side Fulham, for whom he’s scored four goals thus far, he was thrown into the mix at the end of the last season, when he led the line in a Premier League relegation fight. However, he’s still very raw at this stage.
4) Benik Afobe (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
The former Arsenal academy prospect, 22, has been scoring goals for fun so far this season. He probably doesn’t have the quality to be a Premier League or England regular at this stage, but he has all the capabilities to do it one day. He’s scored eight in 14 since joining Wolves in January, and has one in two since joining up with England’s Under-21 side. He needs to get himself back into the top flight as soon as possible.
3) Saido Berahino (West Bromwich Albion)
We’ve seen the outside bets, now it’s time for the true contenders. This 21-year-old has already been included in the England squad, although he’s still waiting on his first cap. He’s scored ten goals in 13 games for Gareth Southgate’s England Under 21 team, for whom he was voted the Player of the Year, while he’s struck 18 times in all competitions for West Brom so far this season. He just needs to sort out his attitude.
2) Raheem Sterling (Liverpool)
The 20-year-old Liverpool prospect has turned himself into a central striker for his club side this season, regularly filling in for the injured Daniel Sturridge, with manager Brendan Rodgers preferring him to the out of sorts Mario Balotelli, Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert. He scored his first goal for the Three Lions against Lithuania, and still has many years ahead of him in a potentially incredible career.
1) Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
The man of the moment. Kane has already scored 29 goals for his club side this season, and his dream campaign continued with a wonderful start to life with the England senior team. Like Berahino, he’s been a regular scorer for the Under-21s in recent seasons, and now looks set to transfer his qualities to the first-team. If he continues to develop how he has done over the last six month, the possibilities are endless.
