Tim Cahill is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder or forward for the Australia men's national soccer team (nicknamed the "Socceroos") from 2004 to 2018. During his international career, he scored 50 goals in 108 appearances for the side, making him the nation's men's all-time record goalscorer. He played his final game for Australia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup against Peru, and announced his retirement following the end of the tournament. Cahill was well known for his trademark goal celebration, in which he ran to the corner of the pitch and shadowboxed the corner flag.
Cahill made his debut for Australia in a friendly against South Africa in March 2004. He scored his first two goals for the side in a win over Tahiti at the 2004 OFC Nations Cup. In the next game of the tournament, he scored his first international hat-trick against Fiji. His 12th international goal, and Australia's first in an Asian Cup, was against Oman on 8 July at the 2007 AFC Asian Cup. His 29th international goal against Costa Rica on 19 November 2013 equalled fellow Australian Damian Mori's record, which he surpassed on 5 March 2014 with two goals in a friendly against Ecuador. During a 4–0 win over Bangladesh on 17 November 2015 in a 2018 World Cup second round qualifier, he scored the first three goals of the match, marking his second and final international hat-trick. Excluding those two hat-tricks, Cahill scored twice in an international match on ten occasions.
During his international career, Cahill scored five goals against AFC rivals Japan, more than he scored against any other country. Two of these goals were at the 2006 World Cup, which were also the first goals scored by Australia at any World Cup. He also scored against Serbia at the 2010 World Cup and against both Chile and the Netherlands at the 2014 World Cup. His volleyed goal against the Netherlands was subsequently nominated for the 2014 FIFA Puskás Award, an award given to the player who scored the "most beautiful" goal of the calendar year.
On 10 October 2017, Cahill scored both goals in a 2–1 win over Syria during a 2018 World Cup fourth round qualifier. The second of these was Cahill's 50th and final international goal, making him the 59th man to score 50 international goals. During his career, Cahill scored six goals at three Asian Cups (2007, 2011, 2015) and six goals at one OFC Nations Cup (2004). Thirteen of Cahill's 50 international goals were scored in friendlies, all of them against nations from each of the six confederations.
Goals
- Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Cahill goal.
| No. | Cap | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 31 May 2004 | Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, Australia | Tahiti | 1–0 | 9–0 | 2004 OFC Nations Cup | |
| 2 | 4–0 | |||||||
| 3 | 3 | 2 June 2004 | Marden Sports Complex, Adelaide, Australia | Fiji | 1–1 | 6–1 | 2004 OFC Nations Cup | |
| 4 | 4–1 | |||||||
| 5 | 5–1 | |||||||
| 6 | 4 | 6 June 2004 | Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, Australia | Solomon Islands | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2004 OFC Nations Cup | |
| 7 | 5 | 16 November 2004 | Craven Cottage, London, England | Norway | 2–1 | 2–2 | Friendly | |
| 8 | 11 | 3 September 2005 | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia | Solomon Islands | 4–0 | 7–0 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
| 9 | 15 | 4 June 2006 | Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam, Netherlands | Netherlands | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly | |
| 10 | 17 | 12 June 2006 | Fritz-Walter-Stadion, Kaiserslautern, Germany | Japan | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2006 FIFA World Cup | |
| 11 | 2–1 | |||||||
| 12 | 24 | 8 July 2007 | Rajamangala National Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand | Oman | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2007 AFC Asian Cup | |
| 13 | 28 | 6 February 2008 | Docklands Stadium, Melbourne, Australia | Qatar | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC third round | |
| 14 | 29 | 15 October 2008 | Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia | Qatar | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC fourth round | |
| 15 | 33 | 17 June 2009 | Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia | Japan | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC fourth round | |
| 16 | 2–1 | |||||||
| 17 | 34 | 12 August 2009 | Thomond Park, Limerick, Ireland | Republic of Ireland | 1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly | |
| 18 | 2–0 | |||||||
| 19 | 36 | 14 October 2009 | Docklands Stadium, Melbourne, Australia | Oman | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification | |
| 20 | 40 | 5 June 2010 | Ruimsig Stadium, Roodepoort, South Africa | United States | 1–1 | 1–3 | Friendly | |
| 21 | 42 | 23 June 2010 | Mbombela Stadium, Mbombela, South Africa | Serbia | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2010 FIFA World Cup | |
| 22 | 47 | 11 January 2011 | Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar | India | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2011 AFC Asian Cup | |
| 23 | 4–0 | |||||||
| 24 | 53 | 10 August 2011 | Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales | Wales | 2–1 | 2–1 | Friendly | |
| 25 | 58 | 6 September 2012 | Saida Municipal Stadium, Sidon, Lebanon | Lebanon | 1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly | |
| 26 | 60 | 16 October 2012 | Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar | Iraq | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC fourth round | |
| 27 | 61 | 26 March 2013 | Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia | Oman | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC fourth round | |
| 28 | 63 | 11 June 2013 | Docklands Stadium, Melbourne, Australia | Jordan | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC fourth round | |
| 29 | 66 | 19 November 2013 | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia | Costa Rica | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly | |
| 30 | 67 | 5 March 2014 | The Den, London, England | Ecuador | 1–0 | 3–4 | Friendly | |
| 31 | 3–0 | |||||||
| 32 | 68 | 26 May 2014 | Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia | South Africa | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly | |
| 33 | 70 | 13 June 2014 | Arena Pantanal, Cuiabá, Brazil | Chile | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2014 FIFA World Cup | |
| 34 | 71 | 18 June 2014 | Estádio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre, Brazil | Netherlands | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2014 FIFA World Cup | |
| 35 | 73 | 8 September 2014 | Craven Cottage, London, England | Saudi Arabia | 1–0 | 3–2 | Friendly | |
| 36 | 76 | 18 November 2014 | Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan | Japan | 1–2 | 1–2 | Friendly | |
| 37 | 77 | 9 January 2015 | Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne, Australia | Kuwait | 1–1 | 4–1 | 2015 AFC Asian Cup | |
| 38 | 80 | 22 January 2015 | Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia | China | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2015 AFC Asian Cup | |
| 39 | 2–0 | |||||||
| 40 | 85 | 8 September 2015 | Pamir Stadium, Dushanbe, Tajikistan | Tajikistan | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round | |
| 41 | 3–0 | |||||||
| 42 | 87 | 12 November 2015 | Canberra Stadium, Canberra, Australia | Kyrgyzstan | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round | |
| 43 | 88 | 17 November 2015 | Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh | Bangladesh | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round | |
| 44 | 2–0 | |||||||
| 45 | 3–0 | |||||||
| 46 | 89 | 29 March 2016 | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia | Jordan | 1–0 | 5–1 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round | |
| 47 | 3–0 | |||||||
| 48 | 92 | 6 September 2016 | Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | United Arab Emirates | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC third round | |
| 49 | 103 | 10 October 2017 | Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia | Syria | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC fourth round | |
| 50 | 2–1 |
Statistics
| Competition | Goals |
|---|---|
| FIFA World Cup tournaments | 5 |
| FIFA World Cup qualification | 19 |
| AFC Asian Cup tournaments | 6 |
| AFC Asian Cup qualification | 1 |
| OFC Nations Cup tournaments | 6 |
| Friendlies | 13 |
| Total | 50 |
