Romelu Lukaku equalled Brazilian legend Pele on the all-time international goalscorers list after scoring a brace in Belgium’s 5-0 win over Estonia in the Euro 2024 qualifiers at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels on Tuesday.
Al Hilal forward Neymar surpassed the late icon’s tally of 77 goals over the weekend when his brace against Bolivia took him to 79 goals to become Brazil’s all-time top scorer.
Lukaku also replicated that by netting twice in the space of two minutes in the second half against the Estonians to also move on to 77 goals. The Roma forward, on loan from Chelsea, is Belgium’s all-time scorer, a record he has set since 2017 when he surpassed Bernard Voorhoof’s tally of 30 goals.
Only 11 men have scored more international goals than Romelu Lukaku:
◎ 110 caps
◉ 77 goalsAn incredibly impressive record. ???????? https://t.co/MnUSmm0ZjS
— Squawka (@Squawka) September 12, 2023
The 30-year-old of Congolese descent now sits in 12th place on the all-time international goalscorers list, behind notable names like Cristiano Ronaldo (123 goals), Lionel Messi (104 goals), Ferenc Puskas (84 goals) and Robert Lewandowski (81 goals). Lukaku’s next target will be to surpass Zambian legend Godfrey Chitalu (79 goals) which will put him in the top 10.
Jan Vertonghen, Leandro Trossard and Charles de Ketelaere were the other goalscorers for Belgium against Estonia, giving Domenico Tedesco’s side control of Group F in the qualifiers alongside Austria who defeated Sweden 3-1.
