Finding the net for a club side for the first time is enough to leave a lasting impression on any player, but notching your maiden goal for your country is an even more unforgettable milestone. The indescribable thrill of opening your national-team account at the FIFA World Cup™ undoubtedly tops any of the many great emotions that football serves up, with the unique feeling one that has been enjoyed by an impressive line-up of players, including some of the sport’s standout stars.
While the late Paolo Rossi’s goalscoring feats are widely celebrated, his initial foray onto the global stage is a lesser-known story. The sharpshooter fired Italy to World Cup glory in Spain in 1982, with his six-goal haul propelling him to the top of the tournament’s goal charts. Yet, not many know that his maiden strike for Italy came four years earlier at the 1978 tournament in Argentina. The Prato native broke his national-team duck in the side’s curtain-raiser against France, which ended in a 2-1 victory.
Rossi rallies from a famine to a golden feast
The World Cup is rife with stories like Rossi’s. Although the increasing number of international fixtures since the 1990s has given players far more opportunities to get their national-team tallies up and running on stages other than the greatest of them all, many of the game’s leading lights donned their scoring boots for the first time at the global showpiece.
At the 1998 FIFA World Cup France™, a duo who would go on to become international icons made their mark in the goal stakes. When the hosts kicked off their campaign against South Africa, a fresh-faced Thierry Henry was just starting out on his journey to becoming a household name. Aime Jacquet had fielded the 21-year-old in three friendly matches at that point, but nonetheless felt that the youngster was ready to be thrown in at the deep end against Bafana Bafana. The jet-heeled attacker repaid that faith by rounding off the scoring in a 3-0 triumph with a delightfully deft chipped finish. He followed that goal up with a brace in Les Bleus’ next outing, against Saudi Arabia, which yielded a 4-0 success.
When David Beckham lined up at France 1998 – a tournament campaign that ended for him with a sending-off in the last-16 contest against Argentina that got him into hot water with the press back home as England crashed out – unlike Henry, he was already a battle-hardened pro. The Manchester United man had been part of the Three Lions’ set-up for almost two years, during which time he had racked up 16 caps. To say that the Londoner picked the perfect moment to get his national-team account up and running would be quite the understatement. With Glenn Hoddle’s troops needing at least a draw against Colombia in the sides’ group-stage curtain-closer, the flanker sealed a 2-0 win with a breathtaking free-kick that English fans still remember fondly to this day.
Franck Ribery was another player who knew all about striking at just the right moment. The attacking livewire, who was a new face in the French ranks at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™, displayed his goalscoring prowess in a French shirt for the first time in his country’s hour of need. With France trailing 1-0 to Spain in the teams’ round-of-16 tussle, the then Marseille maestro exchanged passes with Patrick Vieira before rounding Iker Casillas and slotting home to inspire the eventual runners-up to a 3-1 comeback win. Ribery’s passionate celebration, in which he sprinted along the touchline to the dugout before being mobbed by team-mates and members of the backroom staff, remains one of the tournament’s most enduring moments.
In addition, Xabi Alonso, who took his place in the Spanish side that Ribery and Co conquered in that match, set La Roja on their way to a 4-0 success in their tournament opener against Ukraine with his first international strike.
At the next edition of FIFA’s flagship men’s event, Germany’s Thomas Muller was making just his third appearance for the national team when he drilled home their third goal in the 4-0 opening victory over Australia. Little did anyone know that the strike would prove to be the first of 45 he would plunder for his country. His goal haul included ten in World Cup action, earning him a place among the top scorers in the history of the competition.
In 2014, Dutch fans witnessed the breakthrough of the man who is now the national team’s all-time top scorer on 55 goals: Memphis Depay. Despite competing for the attacking limelight with the likes of Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben, PSV Eindhoven’s hot prospect grabbed his share of the headlines by opening his account for the Oranje in their 3-2 victory over Australia, before bagging another goal in the 2-0 win over Chile.
At Qatar 2022, English starlet Jude Bellingham followed in Beckham’s footsteps and experienced the rush of scoring his maiden goal for England on the global stage, getting his name on the scoresheet as the Three Lions roared to a 6-2 win over IR Iran in their tournament opener. Like Beckham, the then Borussia Dortmund ace had already been shining brightly for his country for two years at that point, but it was performing under the World Cup lights that inspired him to net his first international goal.
The global extravaganza is brimming with other stories of even more interesting goalscoring firsts. While Brazilian defender David Luiz opened his international tally with two goals for the Seleção on home turf in 2014, a pair of World Cup winners in Marco Materazzi and Lilian Thuram went one better. The duo both scored only twice in their national-team careers, with all of those goals coming in the World Cup. While the imposing Italian stopper’s strikes came in two matches at the 2006 edition, the French defender wrote his name into footballing folklore by scoring an unlikely brace in the 2-1 win over Croatia in the semi-finals of the 1998 instalment. Despite starring for Les Bleus for ten years after winning the World Cup on home soil, the Guadeloupean never managed to find the back of the net again.
The ten aforementioned aces are not alone in having found their goalscoring form on the World Cup stage. Others to have done so include Jean-Pierre Papin, Luis Enrique, Benjamin Pavard, Harry Maguire, Divock Origi, Marcos Rojo and Denis Cheryshev.
However, perhaps the most eye-catching example is that involving the late Salvatore Schillaci. The Italian not only broke his duck for his country at the 1990 FIFA World Cup™ on home soil, but also managed to score six of his seven international goals at the tournament.
It just goes to show that there is something magical about lining up at the World Cup that brings out the goalscoring best in those who grace the tournament.
