List of international goals scored by Benni McCarthy


is a former South African footballer who represented his country 79 times and scored 31 goals between 1997 and 2012. He played as a forward during the course of his career and is the top scorer in the history of the national team, having broken Shaun Bartlett's previous record of 29 international goals in a friendly win over Paraguay in March 2008.
Having previously represented South Africa at under-23 level, McCarthy made his senior debut on 4 June 1997 against the Netherlands. He scored his first international goals on 16 February 1998, scoring four times in 13 minutes against Namibia at the 1998 African Cup of Nations. He added another goal against Morocco and scored twice more against the Democratic Republic of Congo to lead South Africa to the final. Though the nation were ultimately beaten by Egypt, McCarthy was named Player of the Tournament, and collected the Top Scorer award for his seven goals. Later that year, at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, he scored South Africa's first ever goal at a World Cup finals, netting the equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Denmark that saw the nation earn a point at the competition for the first time. Adding three friendly goals against Iceland and Egypt, McCarthy ended with 11 goals to his name for the year.
He temporarily retired from international football in 1999 following club-versus-country conflicts and missed the 2000 African Cup of Nations as a result. Two years later, he scored at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in a 3–2 loss to Spain.
On 9 September 2007, McCarthy equalled Bartlett's national record when he scored in a 3–1 loss to Zambia. He broke the record the following year against Paraguay and scored one more goal before retiring from football in 2013 at the age of 35. At the time of his retirement, he was South Africa's fourth most-capped player. Of McCarthy's 31 international goals, 15 were scored in friendlies – including 2 at the HKSAR Reunification Cup and 1 at U.S. Cup – 7 at the African Cup of Nations, 4 during African Cup of Nations qualifying, 3 in World Cup qualifying and a further 2 at the World Cup finals.

International goals

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
116 February 1998Stade Omnisport, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso1–04–11998 African Cup of Nations
216 February 1998Stade Omnisport, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso2–04–11998 African Cup of Nations
316 February 1998Stade Omnisport, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso3–04–11998 African Cup of Nations
416 February 1998Stade Omnisport, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso4–04–11998 African Cup of Nations
522 February 1998Stade Municipal, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso1–02–11998 African Cup of Nations
625 February 1998Stade Municipal, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso1–12–11998 African Cup of Nations
725 February 1998Stade Municipal, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso2–12–11998 African Cup of Nations
86 June 1998Baiersbronn Stadion, Baiersbronn, Germany1–01–1Friendly
918 June 1998Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse, France1–11–11998 FIFA World Cup
1016 December 1998FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa1–12–1Friendly
1116 December 1998FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa2–12–1Friendly
1227 February 1999Odi Stadium, Mabopane, South Africa4–14–12000 African Cup of Nations qualification
135 June 1999ABSA Stadium, Durban, South Africa2–02–02000 African Cup of Nations qualification
147 June 20001–22–42000 Nike U.S. Cup
1524 March 2001Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth, South Africa1–03–02002 African Cup of Nations qualification
165 May 2001Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa2–02–12002 World Cup qualification
1715 January 2002Mmabatho Stadium, Mafikeng, South Africa1–01–0Friendly
1823 May 2002Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong1–02–0HKSAR Reunification Cup
1923 May 2002Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong2–02–0HKSAR Reunification Cup
2012 June 2002Daejeon World Cup Stadium, Daejeon, South Korea1–12–32002 FIFA World Cup
2122 May 2003ABSA Stadium, Durban, South Africa1–11–2Friendly
2215 November 2003Cairo International Stadium, Cairo, Egypt1–01–2Friendly
2318 August 2004Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia2–02–0Friendly
2410 October 2004Mandela National Stadium, Kampala, Uganda1–01–02006 World Cup qualification
259 February 2005ABSA Stadium, Durban, South Africa1–01–1Friendly
264 June 2005Estádio da Várzea, Praia, Cape Verde1–02–02006 World Cup qualification
277 September 2005Weser-Stadion, Bremen, Germany2–32–4Friendly
2814 January 2006Cairo International Stadium, Cairo, Egypt2–12–1Friendly
299 September 2007Newlands Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa1–31–32008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
3026 March 2008Super Stadium, Atteridgeville, South Africa2–03–0Friendly
3115 October 2008Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein, South Africa1–12–1Friendly