How many goals did Ian Wright score for England?

24 May 1997: Ian Wright of England celebrates after scoring a goal during the International Friendly against South Africa at Old Trafford in Manchester, England. England won the match 2-1. \ Mandatory Credit: Ben Radford /Allsport
Wright scores for England (Image credit: Getty Images)

Ian Wright is an Arsenal legend, and regularly offers his punditry for England games to champion the latest talent the national team has to offer.

But 30-odd years ago, Wright was a formidable striker celebrating goals for fun in the Premier League, picking up trophies and individual accolades along the way. That didn't quite transfer across into international football, though, with his England goal tally somewhat sparse compared to what he achieved at club level.

So how many goals did Ian Wright score for England? FourFourTwo details all of his finishes below.

How many goals did Ian Wright score for England?

Ian Wright for England, getting between two Polish players to shoot. Picture taken 8th September 1993. England versus Poland at Wembley Stadium, London. World Cup 94 Qualifying Group 2. Final score England (3) v Poland (0) (Photo by Brendan Monks/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)

The first England goal Wright scored (Image credit: Getty Images)

Prolific at club level with Arsenal, Wright didn't have quite the same efficiency in front of goal for England, though he also got fewer chances to make his mark in the team generally.

Overall, though, Wright scored nine times for England - yielding a goals-to-game ratio of 0.27 - for comparison, Gary Lineker managed 0.6 goals a game for the Three Lions, while Wayne Rooney's was 0.44.

Wright's first international goal came against Poland in May 1993, two years after he had made his England debut. Though he played his first games at the beginning of the 90s and finished as the First Division top scorer in 1991/92, Wright still missed out on a spot in the 1992 World Cup squad.

A few months after notching his maiden England goal, the Arsenal legend then bagged four in one game against San Marino, taking his tally for the year to five goals in nine games.

He did have to wait another four years to celebrate his next goal for the Three Lions, however. After being snubbed once more for a major tournament, this time with Terry Venables leaving him out of England's Euro 96 squad, Wright returned to the fold under Glenn Hoddle in 1997 to score in a friendly against South Africa, at the age of 33.

10 Sep 1997: Ian Wright of England celebrates a goal during the World Cup Qualifier against Moldova at Wembley Stadium in London, England. England won the match 4-0. \ Mandatory Credit: Clive Brunskill /Allsport

Wright celebrates the final England goal of his career (Image credit: Getty Images)

Full of confidence, Wright headed to Le Tournoi that summer and got on the score sheet against Italy. A few months later, he celebrated his final England goals, bagging a brace in a 4-0 win over Moldova at Wembley.

While Wright played for England between 1991 and 1998, he only actually scored during the years of 1993 and 1997. That's despite the fact he struck double figure tallies in each of those other years with Arsenal. However, he didn't play at all in 1995, and made just one appearance in 1996.

Ryan Dabbs
Staff writer

Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.