7 Best English Soccer Strikers Of All-Time
English soccer has undoubtedly produced some of the finest strikers the game has ever
witnessed.
Many English forwards have become stars of their domestic leagues, legends in the
international stage, and are now immortalized in soccer history.
Euro 2024 is currently underway England is currently the favorite to win the tournament with
odds of 4/1 at many of the bookmakers recommended by cryptosportsbetting.ltd. And,
English striker Harry Kane, who we’ll cover in more detail later, is currently the second-
favorite to be the tournament’s top scorer, with odds of 7/1, behind only Mbappe at 5/1.
But who are the best English soccer strikers of all time?
7. Tom Finney
Tom Finney is one of the best English Soccer strikers of all time. He predominantly played for Preston North End over the course of two decades and scored an impressive 210 club goals in 474 games. He won the Football League Second Division in 1951 and was named FWA Soccer Player of the Year twice.
Finney made his international debut in 1946, representing his country across a twelve-year period, winning a total of 76 caps and netting 30 goals. He drove England to the British Home Championship ten times from 1947 to 1959. Finney’s finest moment is perhaps his goal in the 1954 FIFA World Cup Quarter-finals as England lost 4-2 to Uruguay in Switzerland.
6. Michael Owen
Michael Owen featured for the likes of Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Newcastle along with spells at Manchester United and Stoke City. He made 482 domestic appearances and scored 222 goals in the process. Owen won the FA Cup, three English League Cups, a UEFA Cup title, and the Premier League in 2011. He snagged the English League Golden Boot twice in 1998 and 1999 along with the Ballon d’Or in 2001.
Amongst the best English Soccer strikers of all time, Owen became a global star with his country and found the net 40 times in 89 caps. He scored important goals at both the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, was voted FIFA World Cup Best Young Player at France 98, and was inducted into the English Soccer Hall of Fame in 2014.
5. Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer is one of the best English soccer strikers of all time. The center-forward played for just three teams including Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, and Newcastle United. He scored a remarkable 379 goals in 734 club appearances and remains the Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer with 260 strikes. Shearer won the Premier League title in 1995 with Blackburn Rovers and also finished third in 1996’s Ballon d’Or.
He made his international debut in 1992, going on to win 63 caps and scoring an impressive 30 international goals – still the joint seventh-highest-ever goalscorer in England’s history. Shearer claimed the European Championship Golden Boot in 1996 and became part of the English Soccer Hall of Fame in 2004.
4. Gary Lineker
Across a wonderful career, clinical finisher Gary Lineker played 573 times for the likes of Everton, Barcelona, and Tottenham Hotspur. He scored 238 goals across a sixteen-year club career, winning the Copa del Rey, the 1989 European Cup Winners’ Cup, and an FA Cup with Spurs. Lineker won the FWA Soccer Player of the Year twice and was named English First Division top scorer on three separate occasions.
As one of the best English soccer strikers of all time, Lineker represented his country 80 times and scored an impressive 48 international goals – England’s fourth-highest-ever goalscorer. He was awarded a Golden Boot as the top scorer at the 1986 World Cup and four years later at Italia 90 struck a famous equalizing goal against West Germany in the Semi-final.
3. Jimmy Greaves
Amongst the best English soccer strikers of all time, Jimmy Greaves made his international debut in 1959, representing the national team for just eight years and scoring an incredible 44 goals in 57 appearances. Yet surprisingly, he remained on the fringes of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning team whilst winning four British Home Championships with his country.
Greaves played 707 times throughout his club career for the likes of Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur with 335 goals to his name. His tally remains the best goals-to-game ratio in English soccer history at 0.69. Greaves also placed third at the 1963 Ballon d’Or and finished as the English League First Division top scorer no less than six times!
2. Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney most notably played for English side Everton and enjoyed a highly successful period at Manchester United. He made 569 club appearances, scoring 253 goals whilst at Old Trafford, and remains United’s leading marksman of all-time having surpassed the late great Bobby Charlton’s long-standing record tally back in 2016.
Rooney is among the best strikers of all time. He made his international debut in 2003, earning 120 caps for the national team and scoring 53 goals. Rooney was awarded the Golden Boy Award in 2004 for his electric performances at that summer’s European Championships and was named England Senior Men’s Player of the Year on four occasions.
1. Harry Kane
Undoubtedly one of the best strikers of the current period, and perhaps ever, is the sensational Harry Kane. He has already played over 300 times for Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich, scoring more than 340 times along the way. He is Spurs’ greatest-ever goalscorer with 280 goals scored during his time there.
Kane has earned nearly 100 caps for his country and beat Wayne Rooney’s tally of 53 goals to become England’s all-time leading scorer last year. Since then, he has scored another 11 times, bringing his current total to 64 goals in his 93 appearances. He has played for England at 5 major tournaments in the last 8 years – will his goal-scoring total break 70 before the end of Euro 2024?
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