He scored 48 international goals to leave him only one short of Bobby Charlton’s England record. Lineker’s goals came from 80 appearances, while Charlton won 106 caps.

Lineker’s scoring abilities did, though, make him the only English winner of the World Cup Golden Shoe, when his six goals from five games helped England to the last eight of the Mexico finals, in 1986.

He retained his form at the next World Cup – Italia ’90 – recording four vital strikes en route to the Semi-Finals, including two against Cameroon in the Quarter-Final to set up a clash with West Germany. Lineker played his last game for England against Sweden, in Euro 92, eight years after he had made his international debut against Scotland.

Famously, Lineker was never sent off nor received a yellow card throughout a playing career that started at his hometown club Leicester, in 1976. He scored nearly a hundred goals in just under 200 games for the club he would later return to assist through a period of financial trouble after he had retired.

Following Leicester, Lineker enjoyed similar levels of support and success at Everton, Barcelona and Tottenham before finishing his career playing in Japan for Grampus Eight.

After retiring as a player in 1994, partly due to a persistent toe injury, Lineker moved into the media and has become one of the country’s foremost sports television presenters; heading the BBC’s football and, more recently, golf coverage too.
England A to Z

A is for Argentina
B is for Banks
C is for Charltons
D is for Dead Ball
E is for European Championships
F is for Finney
G is for Germany
H is for Hurst
I is for Italia 90
J is for Jules Rimet
K is for Kevin Keegan