Most players don’t reach their peak until they’re around 28 years old, but as the saying goes, ‘if you’re good enough, you’re old enough’.
The youngest player to score for England is Wayne Rooney, who was aged 17 years and 317 days. Rooney’s goal came in a 2-1 win over Macedonia, in a 2004 European Championship qualifying game.
Wayne Rooney – 17 Years and 317 Days
Wayne Rooney’s first goal for England came in a European Championship qualification game, away to Macedonia.
At the time Rooney had already made his mark for Everton and was now ready for the International stage. Many pundits were already raving at how good Rooney was, I wonder if even they thought he would go on to become England’s leading goal scorer.
As well as getting on the score-sheet the match also went to plan with England picking up 3 vital points as they overcame Macedonia to win 2-1
Wayne Rooney’s England stats
With 53 goals in 120 international caps, Rooney is England’s all-time record goalscorer and second most-capped player, behind Peter Shilton
The ten youngest players to score for the England Senior Team.
| Wayne Rooney 17 years 317 days | Macedonia 1-2 England European Championship Qualifier Gradski Stadion, Karpos, Skopje | 6 Sep 2003 |
| Michael Owen 18 years 164 days | Morocco 0-1 England Coupe Internationale Hassan II de Football Complexe Sportif Mohamed V, Maarif Ancien, Casablanca | 27 May 1998 |
| Marcus Rashford 18 years 209 days | England 2-1 Australia European Championship Warm Up The Stadium Of Light, Sunderland | 27 May 2016 |
| Tommy Lawton 19 years 16 days | Wales 4–2 England Home International Championship Ninian Park, Cardiff | 22 Oct 1938 |
| Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 19 years 58 days | England 5-0 San Marino World Cup Qualifier Wembley | 12 Oct 2012 |
| Micah Richards 19 years 76 days | England 3-0 Israel European Championship Qualifier Wembley | 8 Sep 2007 |
| Jimmy Greaves 19 years 86 days | Peru 4-1 England End of Season Tour of South America Estadio Nacional Coloso de José Díaz, Lima | 17 May 1959 |
| Joe Baker 19 years 124 days | England 2-1 Northern Ireland Home International Championship Wembley | 18 Nov 1959 |
| Jadon Sancho 19 years 169 days | England 5-3 Kosovo European Championship Qualifier St. Mary’s, Southampton | 10 Sep 2019 |
| Theo Walcott 19 years 178 days | Croatia 1-4 England World Cup Qualifier Stadion Maksimir, Maksimir, Zagreb | 10 Sep 2008 |
Michael Owen – 18 years 164 days
Michael Owen scored his first goal for England came on 27 May 1998 in the Coupe Internationale Hassan II de Football, against Morocco in Casablanca, at the Stadium called Complexe Sportif Mohamed V
England won the game with Owen’s goal being the decisive one in a close fought 1-0 win.
Michael Owen first played for the senior England team in 1998, becoming England’s youngest player and youngest goalscorer at the time.
His performance at the 1998 FIFA World Cup brought him to national and international prominence and he went on to score in UEFA Euro 2000, the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004. He is the only player to have scored in four consecutive major tournaments for England.
At the time of his retirement Michael Owen had become England’s 11th most-capped player and had scored a former national record (since overtaken by Wayne Rooney) of 26 competitive goals, with 40 in total from 89 appearances.
Michael Owen England Stats
Caps 89 Goals 40
Marcus Rashford – 18 years 209 days
Rashford scored on his England debut in May 2016, becoming the youngest English player to score in his first senior international match.
Scoring 138 seconds into his debut, he became the youngest player to score on his England debut, aged 18 years, 209 days, as well as breaking the previous record of 22 first team appearances before appearing for the National side, having only appeared in eighteen.
He played at the UEFA Euro 2016 as the tournament’s youngest player, and at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Marcus Rashford England Stats
Caps 38 Goals 10
Tommy Lawton – 19 years 16 days
The youngest England player to score a penalty and up until 2016 was the youngest player to score on his debut.
He scored 22 goals in his 23 England appearances over a ten-year international career from 1938 to 1948, including four against Portugal in May 1947.
He helped England to win two British Home Championship titles outright (1946–47 and 1947–48), and to share the Championship in 1938–39.
Tommy Lawton England Stats
Caps 23 Goals 22
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 19 years 58 days
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored his first England goal, aged 19 years 58 days, against San Marino, in a World Cup qualifier at Wembley on 12 October 2012
Earlier that season he had made his debut for the senior England team on 26 May 2012 in a 1–0 win against Norway in a friendly.
Following this, he received a surprise call-up to the England squad for UEFA Euro 2012, becoming the second youngest player ever to represent England in the European Championships behind Wayne Rooney.
He was also called up for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain England Stats
Caps 35 Goals 7
Micah Richards – 19 years 76 days
Micah Richards scored his only goal for England in a 3-0 win over Israel, in a European Championship qualifier at Wembley on 8 September 2007.
Micah Richards won 13 England caps between 2006 and 2012.
He made his senior international debut aged 18 and remains England’s youngest defender.
Micah Richards England Stats
Caps 13 Goals 1
Jimmy Greaves – 19 years 86 days
Jimmy Greaves scored his first goal for England away to Peru on 17 May 1959. Sadly England lost the game 4-1.
As well as being one of the youngest England goal scorers, Jimmy Greaves also has his name in the record books as the scorer of England’s 1000th goal which came against Wales on the 23 November 1960;
Greaves’ records also extends to many of the milestone goals. He is the youngest player to reach 15 goals, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40. Taking just four years and 187 days to reach thirty goals, the quickest to do so.
Jimmy Greaves England Stats
Caps 57 Goals 44
Joe Baker – 19 years 124 days
Joe Baker’s first goal for England came in a 2-1 win over Northern Ireland at Wembley, in a Home Internationals match on 18 November 1959.
The first player to be capped for England without having ever played for an English club. Owen Hargreaves is the only other player to have done this.
Joe Baker England Stats
Caps 8 Goals 3
Jadon Sancho – 19 years 169 days
The first player born in the 21st Century to be called up and played by England. Tenth youngest player and second youngest to have a competitive debut.
Jadon Sancho scored his first goal for England against kosovo, at Wembley, on 10 September 2019. England won the game 5-3
Jadon Sancho England Stats
Caps 11 Goals 2
Theo Walcott – 19 years 178 days
On 30 May 2006, Theo Walcott became England’s youngest ever senior football player aged 17 years and 75 days
On 6 September 2008, he made his first competitive start in a World Cup qualifier against Andorra, and in the following match against Croatia on 10 September he opened his senior international goals tally and became the youngest player in history to score a hat-trick for England.
Theo Walcott England Stats
He represented England at the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2012 and has 47 caps, scoring eight goals
Caps 47 Goals 8
That concludes the Youngest Player To Score for England
So there you have it, the ten youngest players to have scored a goal for the England Senior National Team.
As more future young England hopefuls try to add their names to this list, we will look forward to seeing what the next generation of stars bring to the great game.
As always, we’ll be hoping it’s coming home.