Thai striker surpasses Rooney, Giroud in international goals

By Duy Doan   June 21, 2023 | 01:08 am PT
Thai striker surpasses Rooney, Giroud in international goals
Teerasil Dangda celebrates after scoring for Thailand in the friendly match with Hong Kong on June 19, 2023. Photo by Thailand national football team
Teerasil Dangda has surpassed star strikers Wayne Rooney and Olivier Giroud in the number of goals scored for the national team.

The Thai striker has scored 54 goals after 117 games for the national team, the latest of which earned Thailand a 1-0 friendly win against Hong Kong on Monday.

The 63rd minute goal helped Thailand to their first win in three games. The team will take a break until October before playing two friendlies with Georgia and Estonia.

At the age of 35, Dangda’s still the number one striker of the team.

Retired striker Rooney scored 52 goals in 120 games for England, while Giroud netted 53 in 121 games for France, according to stats from football site Transfermarkt.

However, Dangda is not the number one striker in Thai football history. He’s far from Kiatisuk Senamuang, who scored 71 goals in 134 games for the national team.

A feasible goal for Dangda would be surpassing Singapore’s Fandi Ahmad (55 goals in 101 games) and Indonesia’s Iswadi Idris (55 goals in 97 games).

Cristiano Ronaldo is still the all-time leading goalscorer for men’s national teams with 123 goals in 200 games for Portugal, followed by retired Iranian legend Ali Daei with 109 goals in 149 games and Argentina’s Lionel Messi with 103 goals in 175 games.

 
 
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