Iran’s top scorer has 19 more international goals than all England forwards combined

Daily Star – LONDON, Harry Kane & Raheem Sterling’s combined tally of 70 England goals sit a full 39 behind Iran’s record goalscorer – who once managed 20 across just one calendar year.

Harry Kane may be only three goals away from being England’s standalone record goalscorer – but he’d need to more than double his tally to match Ali Daei of their World Cup opponents, Iran.

Daei smashed home a total of 109 goals for his country between 1993 and 2006 across his 149 appearances, hitting home 20 in just 12 months in 2000 and another 17 in 2004.

The iconic Iranian forward was the world’s top international goalscorer following his retirement and only toppled last year by a surging Cristiano Ronaldo – who needed 31 more appearances to do so.

With Kane scoring 51 times in an England shirt, Sterling is second in England’s current squad with 19, before Marcus Rashford on 12, Bukayo Saka has four with Phil Foden on two and both Callum Wilson and Jack Grealish on one.

That brings the tally for England forwards up to 90, 19 behind Daei. England’s squad as a whole does have more with 118, thanks in part to Harry Maguire’s seven goals.

England’s current midfield has a combined tally of just nine goals, with five for Mason Mount and two each for Declan Rice and Jordan Henderson.

Of the current Iran set-up, Sardar Azmoun tops the scoring charts on 41 across his 65 caps, with Karim Ansarifard on 29 from 94 and Mehdi Taremi on 13 from 64.

Carlos Queiroz and his team face England on Monday (November 21) in their Group B opener, with the former Real Madrid boss saying of the fixture last week: “I’m glad to play England, as we are glad in Iranian football to play Portugal or Spain.

“We are happy to play the best teams in the world because this is our life. We work to be among the best teams in the world, among the best players.

“So to be there for us, it’s a moment of happiness. We work all our lives to be in the World Cup. And when we reach World Cup, we go there as minor players, but we are among the best 32 national teams in the world in this moment, so let’s enjoy it.”

Then added: “England are a top team.

“There is no doubt that in the last few years, in international football, that England is growing up with better preparation and a clear vision. It is clear with the results on the pitch.”