The Goals of Robbie Keane
Credit: Extratime Team (ETPhotos)
Robbie Keane scored his 63rd, 64th and 65th goals for the Republic of Ireland on Saturday night in the Euro 2016 qualifier win over Gibraltar. Having first shattered Ireland's previous top goalscorer record held by Niall Quinn (21 goals), he became the first man from Britain or Ireland to score over 50 International goals. Now he sits joint 14th on the All Time Goalscorers charts with Didier Drogba. The next European in his sights is West Germany’s Gerd Muller on 68.
Extratime.ie took time out to look at some highlights on the way to 65 and a stats breakdown on how it was achieved.
Goals of Note:
2nd Sept 2000 - Holland 2 - 2 Ireland - Amsterdam
Robbie Keane opened the scoring after 20 minutes getting on the end of a Jason McAteer cross to head past Edwin Van Der Sar. McAteer fired home a tremendous second for Ireland giving the Irish a 2-0 lead. Holland were to fight back and earn a 2-2 draw but the point along with superb 1-0 win over the Dutch in Lansdowne saw Ireland take the play-off spot in Group 2 of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers where they went on to play Iran.
Robbie Keane goal - 0.55mins, Jason McAteer goals - 2.39mins
10th Nov 2001 - Ireland 2 - 0 Iran - Dublin
In the first leg of the 2002 World Cup Qualifier, after taking the lead with a 45th minute penalty by Ian Harte, Robbie Keane scored a vital second goal. Once again a Jason McAteer cross rebounded nicely for Keane and from the edge of the box, he rifled home his 8th goal for Ireland. The Republic went on to lose the away leg 1-0 but qualified for a third World Cup in 12 years on an aggregate score line of 2-1.
Robbie Keane goal - 3.54mins
5th Jun 2002 - Ireland 1 - 1 Germany - Ibaraki
"Where were you when Robbie scored that goal against the Germans?" One of the best moments of Irish International football took place in Kashima Stadium in Ibaraki. After conceding to Miroslav Klose after 19 minutes, Ireland battled to get an equaliser. However as the board went up showing three minutes added time at the end of the 90, hopes began to slip away. That was until Robbie Keane burst onto a Mark Kinsella header and charged into the German box. What followed next left many businesses in Ireland without employees on the Thursday as Keane cut between two defenders and from close range blasted past Oliver Kahn in the German goal. Ireland went on to qualify out of the group, before defeat to Spain on penos ended World Cup 2002 for the Irish.
16th Jun 2002 - Ireland 1 - 1 Spain - Suwon
We won't linger too long on this game for the painful memories it resurfaces. We will point towards one moment of delight however, again in the 90th minute. Spain's Hierro must have thought it was all over, as with a minute left in the game, he decided to swap shirts with Niall Quinn prematurely, and the ref gave Ireland a penalty. Ian Harte had missed earlier in the game, and having not taken a spot kick for a year and a half prior, Keane was the last minute hero again in World Cup 2002 firing home to push the game into Extra Time. Ireland went on to lose 3-2 on penos. Moving on....
Go to 3.12minutes for the foul leading to the peno
1st Apr 2009 - Italy 1 - 1 Ireland - Bari
Continuing on with vital late goals scored by Keane, he was once again there to fire home to equalise on the 87th minute, after Vincenzo Iaquinta gave the Italians a 10th minute lead. Ireland finished second in the World Cup qualifying group which lead to that infamous encounter with France to qualify for the World Cup 2010 in South Africa.
18th Nov 2009 - France 1 - 1 Ireland - Paris
Having lost the first leg in Croke Park to a single Nicolas Anelka goal, Ireland had a tough task to go to Paris and get a result. But that is exactly what they did. In the 32nd minute, Damien Duff cut a ball back from the end line, and Robbie Keane was there to fire home cancelling out Anelka's away goal. Extra time followed and William Gallas's controversial goal, but again Robbie Keane was the man to get the vital goal for Ireland.
Robbie Keane Factfile
Date of Birth: 8th July 1980
Place of Birth: Dublin, Ireland
Number of International Goals: 65
Number of Goals Scored in Dublin: 44
Goals Breakdown
| Competition | Goals Scored |
| Friendlies | 20 |
| Euro Qualifiers | 21 |
| World Cup Qualifiers | 18 |
| World Cup Finals | 3 |
| Carling Nations Cup | 3 |
Most goals against a single country
Country | Scored | Played |
Faroe Islands | 5 | 2 |
Georgia | 5 | 3 |
Gibraltar | 3 | 1 |
San Marino | 3 | 1 |
Denmark | 3 | 2 |
Macedonia | 3 | 2 |
Malta | 3 | 2 |
Cyprus | 3 | 3 |
Goals Breakdown per year
| Year | Goals Scored |
| 1998 | 2 |
| 1999 | 3 |
| 2000 | 2 |
| 2001 | 1 |
| 2002 | 6 |
| 2003 | 4 |
| 2004 | 6 |
| 2005 | 2 |
| 2006 | 3 |
| 2007 | 3 |
| 2008 | 2 |
| 2009 | 7 |
| 2010 | 4 |
| 2011 | 6 |
| 2012 | 1 |
| 2013 | 8 |
| 2014 | 3 |
Random Facts
Keane scored for the first time on his 5th cap, scoring twice against Malta in a European Qualifier
Keane has scored two hattricks, on November 16th against San Marino in a 5-0 win (Euro Qualifier) and against Gibraltar in a Euro Qualifier in Dublin.
On 10 occasions Keane has scored twice in a game.
Robbie Keane's Goals
Caps | Date | Venue | Opposition | Score | Goals | Total | Competition |
5 | 14-Oct-98 | Dublin | Malta | 5-0 | 2 | 2 | Euro Qualifier |
10 | 01-Sep-99 | Dublin | Yugoslavia | 2-1 | 1 | 3 | Euro Qualifier |
11 | 08-Sep-99 | Valetta | Malta | 3-2 | 1 | 4 | Euro Qualifier |
13 | 13-Nov-99 | Dublin | Turkey | 1-1 | 1 | 5 | Euro Qualifier |
14 | 23-Feb-00 | Dublin | Czech Rep | 3-2 | 1 | 6 | Friendly |
19 | 02-Sep-00 | Amsterdam | Holland | 2-2 | 1 | 7 | WC Qualifier |
28 | 10-Nov-01 | Dublin | Iran | 2-0 | 1 | 8 | WC Qualifier |
30 | 13-Feb-02 | Dublin | Russia | 2-0 | 1 | 9 | Friendly |
31 | 27-Mar-02 | Dublin | Denmark | 3-0 | 1 | 10 | Friendly |
35 | 05-Jun-02 | Ibraki | Germany | 1-1 | 1 | 11 | WC Finals |
36 | 11-Jun-02 | Yokohama | Saudi Arabia | 3-0 | 1 | 12 | WC Finals |
37 | 16-Jun-02 | Suwon | Spain | 1-1[1] | 1 | 13 | WC Finals |
38 | 21-Aug-02 | Helsinki | Finland | 3-0 | 1 | 14 | Friendly |
43 | 07-Jun-03 | Dublin | Albania | 2-1 | 1 | 15 | Euro Qualifier |
44 | 11-Jun-03 | Dublin | Georgia | 2-0 | 1 | 16 | Euro Qualifier |
47 | 18-Nov-03 | Dublin | Canada | 3-0 | 2 | 18 | Friendly |
49 | 31-Mar-04 | Dublin | Czech Rep | 2-1 | 1 | 19 | Friendly |
52 | 05-Jun-04 | Amsterdam | Holland | 1-0 | 1 | 20 | Friendly |
53 | 04-Sep-04 | Dublin | Cyprus | 3-0 | 1 | 21 | WC Qualifier |
56 | 13-Oct-04 | Dublin | Faroe Islands | 2-0 | 2 | 23 | WC Qualifier |
57 | 16-Nov-04 | Dublin | Croatia | 1-0 | 1 | 24 | Friendly |
61 | 04-Jun-05 | Dublin | Israel | 2-2 | 1 | 25 | WC Qualifier |
65 | 01-Mar-05 | Dublin | Sweden | 3-0 | 1 | 26 | Friendly |
70 | 15-Nov-06 | Dublin | San Marino | 5-0 | 3 | 29 | Euro Qualifier |
73 | 22-Aug-07 | Aarhus | Denmark | 4-0 | 2 | 31 | Friendly |
78 | 17-Nov-07 | Cardiff | Wales | 2-2 | 1 | 32 | Euro Qualifier |
81 | 29-May-08 | London | Columbia | 1-0 | 1 | 33 | Friendly |
82 | 20-Aug-08 | Oslo | Norway | 1-1 | 1 | 34 | Friendly |
85 | 15-Oct-09 | Dublin | Cyprus | 1-0 | 1 | 35 | WC Qualifier |
86 | 11-Feb-09 | Dublin | Georgia 2-1 | 2-1 | 2 | 37 | WC Qualifier |
88 | 01-Apr-09 | Bari | Italy | 1-1 | 1 | 38 | WC Qualifier |
89 | 29-May-09 | London | Nigeria | 1-1 | 1 | 39 | Friendly |
92 | 05-Sep-09 | Nicosia | Cyprus | 1-2 | 1 | 40 | WC Qualifier |
96 | 18-Nov-09 | Paris | France | 1-1 | 1 | 41 | WC Qualifier |
99 | 28-May-10 | Dublin | Algeria | 3-0 | 2 | 43 | Friendly |
102 | 07-Sep-10 | Dublin | Andorra | 3-1 | 1 | 44 | Euro Qualifier |
103 | 08-Oct-10 | Dublin | Russia | 2-3 | 1 | 45 | Euro Qualifier |
105 | 26-Mar-11 | Dublin | Macedonia | 2-1 | 1 | 46 | Euro Qualifier |
106 | 24-May-11 | Dublin | Northern Ireland | 5-0 | 2 | 48 | Carling Nations Cup |
107 | 29-May-11 | Dublin | Scotland | 1-0 | 1 | 49 | Carling Nations Cup |
108 | 04-Jun-11 | Skopje | Macedonia | 2-0 | 2 | 51 | Euro Qualifier |
| 11-Nov-11 | Tallinn | Estonia | 4-0 | 2 | 53 | Euro Qualifier |
| 09-Sep-12 | Astana | Kazakhstan | 2-1 | 1 | 54 | WC Qualifier |
| 02-Jun-13 | Dublin | Georgia | 4-0 | 2 | 56 | Friendly |
| 07-Jun-13 | Dublin | Faroe Islands | 3-0 | 3 | 59 | WC Qualifier |
| 06-Sep-13 | Dublin | Sweden | 1-2 | 1 | 60 | WC Qualifier |
| 15-Oct-13 | Dublin | Kazakhstan | 3-1 | 1 | 61 | WC Qualifier |
| 15-Nov-13 | Dublin | Latvia | 3-0 | 1 | 62 | Friendly |
| 11-Oct-14 | Dublin | Gibraltar | 3-0 | 3 | 65 | Euro Qualifier |
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