10. Gary Lineker
England’s principle attacking threat in the latter half of the 80s, Gary Lineker has scored more World Cup goals than any other Three Lions player – and he scooped the Golden Boot at the 1986 tournament.
Famously never booked, the long-time Match of the Day anchor’s career took him from boyhood club Leicester City to Everton, Barcelona, Tottenham – with whom he won the FA Cup in 1991 – and Japanese outfit Nagoya Grampus Eight. He finished as First Division top scorer on three occasions and placed second behind Soviet star Igor Belanov for the 1986 Ballon d'Or.
9. Alan Shearer
Unstoppably prolific at his peak, Alan Shearer won three straight Premier League Golden Boots from 1995 to 1997 – firing Blackburn to the title as one half of the famous ‘SAS’ partnership with Chris Sutton in 1994/95.
A legend at Ewood Park and even more so at boyhood club Newcastle – where he spent the last decade of his career, joining for a then world-record £15m in 1996 – he found the net 30 times in 63 games for England, including five to finish as top scorer at Euro 96.
8. David Beckham
For over a decade, David Beckham was the face of the England team – captaining them for six years and making headlines for reasons good (that free-kick against Greece to clinch qualification for the 2002 World Cup) and bad (that red card against Argentina, which precipitated the Three Lions' exit from the 1998 World Cup).
Synonymous with pinpoint crosses and laser-guided set-piece deliveries, Becks turned out almost 400 times for boyhood club Manchester United – where he won the treble in 1998/99 – before spells with Real Madrid, the LA Galaxy, Milan and PSG.
7. Paul Gascoigne
A supremely talented player and an equally brilliant character, Paul Gascoigne was the great entertainer of the England team throughout the 90s – not least when football came home at Euro 96. 'Gazzamania' was a very real phenomenon.
From tears in Turin to that glorious goal against Scotland (followed by one of his various notable celebrations, the ‘dentist’s chair’), his was a career – which at club level saw him turn out for local team Newcastle, Spurs, Lazio, Rangers and more – full of indelible moments. There will never be another player quite like Gazza.
6. Gordon Banks
They said Gordon Banks was as ‘safe as the Banks of England’ – and if you’ve seen his outrageous save from Pele at the 1970 World Cup, you’ll understand why (if, somehow, you haven’t, correct that right away!).
The man between the sticks for England’s finest hour – their 1966 World Cup triumph (what else?) – was named FIFA Goalkeeper of the Year six years in a row between 1966 and 1971, while the IFFHS ranked him as the second-best ‘keeper of the 20th century – behind only the immortal Lev Yashin.
5. Jimmy Greaves
English football will probably never see another striker like Jimmy Greaves; the Spurs and Chelsea legend chalked up a record 357 top-flight goals and finished as First Division top scorer no fewer than six times.
Injury during the group stage meant he lost his place to Geoff Hurst at the 1966 World Cup – not featuring in the final and, rather disgracefully, not even receiving a winners’ medal until a FIFA rule change 2009 – but his scoring record of 44 goals in 57 caps remains one of the most efficient of any Three Lions player.
4. Wayne Rooney
When Wayne Rooney veritably burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old with his now iconic last-minute winner for Everton against Arsenal, it felt as though English football had just been introduced to someone very special indeed.
And so it proved as he went on to become record scorer for Manchester United – bagging some more of the Premier League’s most memorable goals in the process (who could forget his spectacular Manchester-derby winning overhead kick or thumping volley against Newcastle?) – and England, for whom, like United, he wore the captain's armband and broke the all-time goals record.
3. Harry Kane
It might seem excessive to put a player who hasn't retired yet third on the list – but the stats don't lie when it comes to Harry Kane.
England's all-time scorer before the age of 30, surpassing Wayne Rooney in 2023, Kane likely has another couple of major tournaments in him yet and will probably put that goals record out of sight for the next man. Also Spurs' record goalscorer, the now Bayern Munich man is one of just two England players to win the World Cup Golden Boot or captain the Three Lions in a major final, doing the former in 2018 and the latter at Euro 2020.
2. Bobby Moore
England’s inimitable World Cup-winning captain, Bobby Moore was an absolute Rolls-Royce of a player – with his prowess at the back summed up by Pele calling him the greatest defender he ever faced. Praise doesn't come much higher than that in this sport.
The first footballer to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year, the admirably humble Moore's name will forever be etched into the history of the national team and West Ham – with whom he spent the vast majority of his career, captaining them to FA Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup success in 1964 and 1965 respectively.
1. Bobby Charlton
“Nobody embodies the values of Manchester United better than Sir Bobby Charlton,” notes the club’s official website about one of the ‘Busby Babes’ – who, having survived the horror of the Munich Air Disaster, became a legend on the domestic, European and international stages. And such sentiment was reiterated upon his death in 2023.
A winner of three First Division titles, the European Cup (as United became the first English team to triumph in the competition in 1968) and – of course – the 1966 World Cup, the incomparable Charlton's name will forever be synonymous with the English game.
