European qualifying's all-time top scorers

There have been thousands of goals registered in UEFA European Championship qualifying down the years but surprisingly few players have managed to dominate the scoring charts over a sustained period. David Healy mustered a record 13 in Northern Ireland's UEFA EURO 2008 campaign, but that is the sum of his efforts in the competition. A few, though, have contributed more goals than most – UEFA.com profiles the top five.

Robbie Keane (Republic of Ireland) – 21 goals, 38 games (1998–)
The new leader following his hat-trick against Gibraltar. Only four European players – Ferenc Puskás, Sándor Kocsis, Gerd Müller and Miroslav Klose – have amassed more international goals than striker Keane's 65. He debuted for Ireland at 17, when a team-mate and inspiration made a prescient remark. "When I first came into the Ireland squad, Niall Quinn said to me I would get 50 goals, so it's probably down to him," Keane said as he passed his half-century of strikes in 2011 during a UEFA EURO 2012 qualifier.

The tournament in Poland and Ukraine remains Keane's sole continental finals, his endeavours coming for a team who often find wins hard to come by – but not goals, nor the acrobatic celebrations that almost always followed.

Jon Dahl Tomasson (Denmark) – 19 goals, 24 games (1998–2007)
Tomasson netted ten times in 31 FIFA World Cup qualifiers but the UEFA European Championship brought the best out of him. A deep-lying forward, he never went more than two qualifiers without a goal and a run of six in five outings hauled Denmark into the lineup for UEFA EURO 2000, including the winner as his side came from 2-0 down to claim a requisite victory against Italy in their final group game.

He also notched five en route to UEFA EURO 2004, though his eight qualifying goals were not enough four years later. "I always had an enormous drive to succeed and I think I got everything possible from my career," he said upon retiring. "I could not have been better."

Hakan Şükür (Turkey) – 19 goals, 31 games (1994–2007)
For over two decades the man known outside Turkey as the 'Bull of the Bosporus' charged around Europe (and beyond), claiming records and national adoration. Such was his popularity, his wedding was televised live. Galatasaray AŞ's all-time leading marksman and the top Turkish scorer in European club competition, he accumulated more goals in the Turkish top flight than any other player and in 2002 hit the fastest goal seen at a World Cup – inside 11 seconds. He was in the team that got to the last eight at UEFA EURO 2000 and was always among the goals, rifling in four, aged 35, in one qualifier against Moldova in 2006.

Raúl González (Spain) – 18 goals, 20 games (1998–2006)
"When he plays, in his mind there is only the goal," Thierry Henry once mused. "It's the essence of his game." The stats certainly back that up. Raúl remains the top scorer in UEFA club competition and is the 323-goal all-time leading marksman at Real Madrid CF, where he won everything on offer several times over. Trophies eluded him at international level but not goals; even by his high standards, 18 in 20 UEFA European Championship qualifiers was prolific. Eleven came in UEFA EURO 2000 qualification as he outgunned his striking peers. However, he managed just one in seven outings at the finals of 2000 and 2004.

Koller celebrates in 2004©Getty Images

Jan Koller (Czech Republic) – 18 goals, 25 games (1999–2007)
Standing 2.02m tall, Koller started out as a goalkeeper before his aerial ability was put to use at the other end – his Czech record haul of 55 national-team goals suggests he made the right decision. The UEFA European Championship seemed to bring the best out of 'Dino' (short for dinosaur, a sobriquet his height earned him as a youth player). His six strikes per qualifying campaign helped the Czech Republic maintain their perfect record in the competition post-independence, progressing to the final tournaments in 2000, 2004 and 2008. All this from a man did not make his international debut until he was 25.

Closing fast …
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – 16 goals, 22 games

*Statistics accurate as of 15 October 2014