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          As England's Harry Kane, France's Olivier Giroud near goal records, which national teams could get new men's top scorers?

          • Chris Wright, Toe Poke writerMar 30, 2022, 12:30 PM

          While some major soccer stars have still been battling for World Cup qualification via the playoffs in this international break, England captain Harry Kane and France striker Olivier Giroud used the relative calm of friendly matches to edge closer to making history for their national teams.

          After tucking away a penalty for England in Saturday's 2-1 win over Switzerland at Wembley, Kane drew joint-level with Sir Bobby Charlton on his country's all-time top goal-scorers list with 49 goals, just four shy of the record held by Wayne Rooney since September 2015.

          Coincidentally, it was also a penalty against Switzerland that saw Rooney score his 50th goal for the Three Lions on his 107th appearance and thus overtake Charlton to become his national team's all-time highest scorer. This after a 22-year-old Kane had already opened the scoring in a 2-0 win with his third international goal in only his fourth cap.

          Aged 29 at the time of his half-century, Rooney went on to add three more goals to his England tally before retiring from international duty in the summer of 2017 in an effort to extend his club career. Kane doesn't turn 29 until July and, with 11 goals scored in his last eight games for England, is well on course to overtake his former teammate.

          Meanwhile, Giroud took a step closer to becoming France's all-time top scorer after scoring two goals in back-to-back victories over the Ivory Coast and South Africa.

          Giroud is now just three goals from drawing level with Les Bleus' all-time top goal scorer, Thierry Henry. Like Henry, Giroud made his name at club level with Arsenal before achieving a Champions League title elsewhere, and both players helped their country to World Cup glory, albeit 20 years apart.

          Here we look at an array of the record top scorers for a selection of major men's international footballing nations as well as the active players who are closest to taking their crowns.

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          England

          Top international men's goal scorer: Wayne Rooney (53 goals in 120 games)
          Highest active goal scorer: Harry Kane (49 goals in 69 games)

          France

          Top international men's goal scorer: Thierry Henry (51 goals in 123 games)
          Highest active goal scorer: Olivier Giroud (48 goals in 112 games)

          Germany

          Top international men's goal scorer: Miroslav Klose (71 goals in 137 games)
          Highest active goal scorer: Thomas Muller (43 goals in 112 games)

          Spain

          Top international men's goal scorer: David Villa (59 goals in 98 games)
          Highest active goal scorer: David Silva (35 goals in 125 games)

          Italy

          Top international men's goal scorer: Luigi "Gigi" Riva (35 goals in 42 caps)
          Highest active goal scorer: Ciro Immobile (15 goals in 55 games)

          Portugal

          Top international/highest active men's goal scorer: Cristiano Ronaldo (115 goals in 186 games)

          Netherlands

          Top international men's goal scorer: Robin van Persie (50 goals in 102 games)
          Highest active goal scorer: Memphis Depay (39 goals in 77 games)

          Belgium

          Top international/highest active men's goal scorer: Romelu Lukaku (68 goals in 101 games)

          Argentina

          Top international/highest active men's goal scorer: Lionel Messi (81 goals in 160 games)

          Brazil

          Top international men's goal scorer: Pele (77 goals in 91 games)
          Highest active goal scorer: Neymar (71 goals in 117 games)

          Uruguay

          Top international/highest active men's goal scorer: Luis Suarez (66 goals in 131 games)

          United States

          Top international men's goal scorers: Clint Dempsey (57 goals in 141 games), Landon Donovan (57 goals in 157 games)
          Highest active goal scorer: Jozy Altidore (42 goals in 115 games)

          Mexico

          Top international/highest active men's goal scorer: Javier Hernandez (52 goals in 109 games)

          Nigeria

          Top international men's goal scorer: Rashidi Yekini (37 goals in 62 games)
          Highest active goal scorers: Odion Ighalo (16 goals in 35 games), Ahmed Musa (16 goals in 105 games)

          Senegal

          Top international/highest active men's goal scorer: Sadio Mane (29 goals in 88 games)

          Egypt

          Top international men's goal scorer: Hossam Hassan (68 goals in 176 games)
          Highest active goal scorer: Mohamed Salah (47 goals in 84 games)

          Australia

          Top international men's goal scorer: Tim Cahill (50 goals in 108 games)
          Highest active goal scorer: Mathew Leckie (13 goals in 69 games)