England's Wayne Rooney celebrates scoring and becoming his country's all-time leading scorer in the Euro 2016 qualifying match against Switzerland on Wednesday in London. Photo: CFP

After his penalty against Switzerland on Wednesday night, Wayne Rooney has finally overtaken Sir Bobby Charlton to become England's leading scorer. The record had stood for 45 years, since Charlton decided to call time on his international career after the defending champions were knocked out of the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.

Many other Englishmen attempted to overhaul the Manchester United great, including Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Michael Owen, but it took Rooney, another Manchester United player to go one better. Rooney deserves credit for his achievement, especially given the premature postmortems that inevitably follow his regular goal droughts, but his 50 goals pale in comparison to the top scorers for other countries. Looking past the women's game, where Abby Wambach of the USA with 184 goals leads a field of 14 players who have scored more than 100 international goals, the greatest of them all is none other than Ali Daei of Iran who bagged 109 times for the Persians.

The top 10 international goalscorers in men's football is rounded out by Hungary's Ferenc Puskas (84), Japan's Kunishige Kamamoto (80), Iraq's Hussein Saeed (78), the great Pele (77), Zambia's Godfrey Chitalu (76), Kuwait's Bashar Abdullah (75), Thailand's Kiatisuk Senamung (73), Saudi Arabia's Mejad Abdullah and Germany's Miroslav Klose (both 71). They have all scored more than the celebrated Rooney, who only comes in 31st on the list of top international scorers, but given that the top 10 have all retired time is on the England striker's side to rise up the ranks.

England's qualification for Euro 2016, which was secured when the Liverpudlian hitman equaled Charlton's 49 with a penalty against San Marino last weekend, means that Rooney has extra opportunity to add to his tally. He should certainly stretch his and England's record but he's got a long way to go to make the top 10 and he's not the only player still making history.

These are the 10 highest-ranked ­players, aside from Rooney, in the top 50 record international scorers for their countries who are still playing.

Robbie Keane



The much-travelled Irish striker's 67 goals in 142 games make him the top scorer in international football out of players still currently playing. He's only one goal away from matching Gerd Muller's total for Germany, although Der Bomber notched his in just 62 games. Keane ­remains his country's first choice ­despite being 35 years old and plying his trade for LA Galaxy in the MLS but has struggled to impact games as he once did. Regardless, he remains Ireland's most likely bet to score if they are to beat Poland and Germany to secure qualification for Euro 2016.

Carlos Ruiz



Guatemala's greatest goal getter is not currently in the picture for his national team but, having not retired from international football, the 36-year-old might still get chance to add to his 59 goals. He's the second-highest scorer in World Cup qualifying, after Daei, CONCACAF's highest-ever scorer in qualifying and he's scored the most goals in World Cup qualifying without ever having played in a World Cup Finals.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic



Sweden have struggled in Euro 2016 qualifying but the game's most self-assured player has continued to hit the back of the net. He scored in their loss to Austria to take his total to 57 and, much like his predecessor Henrik Larsson, the 33-year-old is sure to be his country's greatest hope for goals until he hangs up his boots.

Cristiano Ronaldo



One area the Portuguese forward has undoubtedly outshone his great rival Lionel Messi is becoming the top scorer for his country. The Real Madrid man may be just on the wrong side of 30 but his 55 goals for Portugal include a European Championship record of 26, including qualifying games. Seeing as he can't stop scoring for club or country he is the most likely candidate to trouble the top 10.

Robin van Persie



The Fenerbahce forward fell out of favor with Louis van Gaal at Manchester United last season, despite the manager naming him as captain at the 2014 World Cup. Van Persie may have played his last game for the Oranje after a disappointing two goals in their disastrous Euro 2016 qualifying campaign but is unlikely to add many to his 49 goals.

Asamoah Gyan



The Ghanaian recently joined Shanghai SIPG after a couple of seasons with Al Ain in the UAE but has roared to 48 goals for his country despite making unpredictable club choices. Just 29, the Black Stars top scorer will be expected to star through African Cup of Nations 2017 qualifying and beyond.

Sunil Chhetri



India's captain has played for Kansas City Wizards in the MLS and Sporting Lisbon, albeit for the reserves, during his career but is now back in his homeland with Bengaluru FC in the Indian Super League. The 31-year-old will add to his 47 goals for the Blue Tigers but will likely have to do so without playing in the AFC Challenge Cup given their terrible record in qualifying.

Edin Dzeko



The Bosnian frontman will hope that his move to Roma for regular football translates to more goals for the Dragons. They are not going to come at Euro 2016 but there will be more games for their captain to add to his 44 goals especially if he can fire them to another World Cup?

Luis Suarez

Barcelona's Uruguayan tyro has 43 goals in 82 games in his country's ­colors. At 28 years old, Suarez is ­coming into his peak years and was missed at this summer's Copa America thanks to his nine-game international ban for biting Giorgio Chiellini at last summer's World Cup. There will be more goals when he returns.

Ali Ashfaq

The little-known Maldivian captain, who kits out for Malaysia's PDRM FA in club football, has scored 41 in 101 for the national team. As their star player he will continue to extend his record for the Red Snappers.