List of international goals scored by Robbie Keane

Robbie Keane playing for the Republic of Ireland in 2013
Robbie Keane (pictured in 2013) is the Republic of Ireland's most prolific scorer.

Robbie Keane, an Irish professional footballer, is the Republic of Ireland national football team's top scorer, with 68 goals in 146 appearances.[1] Keane made his international debut in a 2–1 defeat against the Czech Republic in March 1998,[1] and scored his first international goals on his fifth appearance, a UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying 5–0 victory over Malta.[2] He became Ireland's all-time leading scorer in October 2004, when he scored twice against the Faroe Islands during the qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup,[3] passing Niall Quinn's record of 21 goals in 91 games.[4] In June 2013, Keane also became Ireland's most capped player on his 126th appearance, in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match against the Faroes.[5] He is one of six Republic of Ireland players with 100 or more caps (four of whom are still active),[6] and has also captained his national team over 50 times.[5]

Keane has scored three international hat-tricks, the first coming against San Marino in November 2006. His second hat-trick came in June 2013, against the Faroes, while his third was against Gibraltar in October 2014. The latter made Keane the highest scorer in the history of UEFA European Championship qualifying competitions, with 21 goals, overtaking the previous record holder, Hakan Şükür of Turkey.[7] Keane is also one of twelve players to have scored in three consecutive World Cup matches; he scored one goal each against Germany and Saudi Arabia in the group stage, and against Spain in the knockout stage of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.[8]

Keane has scored more goals against the Faroes and Gibraltar (five) than against any other national team. More than half of his goals (41) were scored in home fixtures, played in three venues: Lansdowne Road, Croke Park and Aviva Stadium.[1]

Keane played his final match for the Republic of Ireland in August 2016, in a 4–0 victory over Oman, in a friendly at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin, scoring once with his 68th and final international goal for his country.[9]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference rsssf was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference firstbrace was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference record was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Niall John Quinn – Goals in International Matches". RSSSF. 22 January 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Robbie Keane". Football Association of Ireland. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  6. ^ "Ireland – Record International Players". RSSSF. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  7. ^ "Keane makes history with Ireland". UEFA. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  8. ^ Fitzmaurice, Aidan (14 October 2014). "Ten things you may not know about Robbie Keane". UEFA. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  9. ^ "Robbie Keane signs off Ireland duty doing what he does best". The Irish Times. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.