Rooney scores his 50th goal, passes Charlton for England record

Converting a penalty kick in the 84th minute of England’s 2-0 win over Switzerland on Tuesday, Wayne Rooney passed Bobby Charlton on the England men’s national team’s all-time goal-scoring list, becoming the first Three Lions player to reach the 50-goal plateau.

Rooney’s finish high into the left of the Swiss goal broke a tie with Charlton that he forged last week, when his goal against San Marino moved him even with the Manchester United legend’s 45-year-old mark.

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Rooney entered the international break tied for second on England’s all-time list with Gary Linker, who retired from international soccer in 1992 with 48 career goals.

Tuesday’s record-=breaking goal came in Rooney’s 107th international appearance, one more than Charlton made in an England career which ran from 1958 to 1970.

Harry Kane, starting at the top of Roy Hodgson’s formation, opened Tuesday’s scoring with a goal in the 67th minute, his third in four international appearances. Rooney gave England its final margin 17 minutes later after Raheem Sterling was brought down in the penalty box by Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka. Though Yann Sommer guessed correctly by diving to his right post, a near-perfect kick high into the Swiss goal gave Rooney his celebrated mark.

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The victory was England’s second 2-0 win over Switzerland in Euro 2016 qualifying, having opened the campaign with a win by the same score in Basel. The result also maintained the team’s perfect record during qualifying for France 2016.

The Three Lions finish qualifying next month with games against Estonia and Lithuania.