Along with asking if Stephen Ireland had the best goals per game ratio, we've been asked recently who has the longest scoring streak for the Republic.
This is actually two questions:
- Who scored in the most consecutive Republic of Ireland games
- Who scored in the most consecutive appearances
To illustrate the difference, consider that Stephen Ireland scored in three consecutive international appearances:
- The infamous 5-2 loss to Cyprus in October 2006
- The 2-1 win over San Marino in February 2007
- The 1-0 over Wales in Croke Park the following month
But these were not consecutive games, there were two more games between the Cyprus and San Marino games:
- 7th October 2006 Cyprus 5-2 Republic of Ireland
- 11th October 2006 Republic of Ireland 1-1 Czech Republic
- 15th November 2006 Republic of Ireland 5-0 San Marino
- 7th February 2007 San Marino 1-2 Republic of Ireland
So, let's look at who's scored in the most consecutive games first, with consecutive appearances to come in a later article.
Paddy Moore was the first player to score in three consecutive games for the Republic of Ireland, scoring four times against Belgium in 1934 between two games against the Netherlands in 1932 and 1934. Moore had also scored on his previous international appearance against Spain in 1931, but didn't appear in the subsequent return game against the same opposition.
Jimmy Dunne scored in three consecutive games in 1936, against Switzerland, Hungary and Luxembourg in 1936. The following year the player managed it again, scoring against Norway in consecutive games in 1937, followed by a strike against Czechoslovakia in May 1938.
A decade later, in 1949, Con Martin scored three of his six international goals in successive games against Spain, Finland and England (in their first home defeat to a non British side).
In 1955, hall of fame member Arthur Fitzsimons scored in the first of three consecutive games against Yugoslavia and Spain before going on to score against Netherlands in the following May.
A year later, Dermot Curtis scored against Denmark, before following it up with strikes against Poland and Austria in 1958.
In 1960, Fionan Fagan became the first player to score in four straight games for Ireland when he scored against Germany, Sweden, Wales and Norway.
Two years later Liam Tuohy became the seventh player to score in three successive games, with goals against Austria, and then two games against Iceland.
It would take more than two decades before another Irish player managed three goals in three games when Frank Stapleton scored against Iceland, Spain in 1982 and Malta the following March.
In 2002 Robbie Keane became the second of two players to score in four successive games, with goals against Germany, Saudi Arabia, Spain in the World Cup and a friendly against Finland in the same year. Keane also scored in three consecutive games in a week and a half when he scored against Northern Ireland and Scotland in the Nations Cup and in a qualifier against Macedonia a week later.
Finally, Robbie Brady is the most recent player to manage the feat, scoring against Italy and France in Euro 2016 and against Oman in Robbie Keane's final game.
| Player | Streak | Games |
|---|
| Fionan Fagan | 4 |
| 11th May 1960 | Germany | 0-1 | Republic of Ireland |
| 18th May 1960 | Sweden | 4-1 | Republic of Ireland |
| 28th September 1960 | Republic of Ireland | 2-3 | Wales |
| 6th November 1960 | Republic of Ireland | 3-1 | Norway |
|
| Robbie Keane | 4 |
| 5th June 2002 | Germany | 1-1 | Republic of Ireland |
| 11th June 2002 | Saudi Arabia | 0-3 | Republic of Ireland |
| 16th June 2002 | Spain | 1-1 | Republic of Ireland |
| 21st August 2002 | Finland | 0-3 | Republic of Ireland |
|
| Paddy Moore | 3 |
| 8th May 1932 | Holland | 0-2 | Republic of Ireland |
| 25th February 1934 | Republic of Ireland | 4-4 | Belgium |
| 8th April 1934 | Holland | 5-2 | Republic of Ireland |
|
| Jimmy Dunne | 3 |
| 17th March 1936 | Republic of Ireland | 1-0 | Switzerland |
| 3rd May 1936 | Hungary | 3-3 | Republic of Ireland |
| 9th May 1936 | Luxembourg | 1-5 | Republic of Ireland |
|
| Jimmy Dunne | 3 |
| 10th October 1937 | Norway | 2–3 | Republic of Ireland |
| 7th November 1937 | Republic of Ireland | 3–3 | Norway |
| 18th May 1938 | Czechoslovakia | 2–2 | Republic of Ireland |
|
| Con Martin | 3 |
| 8th September 1949 | Republic of Ireland | 3-0 | Finland |
| 21st September 1949 | England | 0-2 | Republic of Ireland |
| 9th October 1949 | Finland | 1-1 | Republic of Ireland |
|
| Arthur Fitzsimons | 3 |
| 19th October 1955 | Republic of Ireland | 1-4 | Yugoslavia |
| 27th November 1955 | Republic of Ireland | 2-2 | Spain |
| 10th May 1956 | Holland | 1-4 | Republic of Ireland |
|
| Dermot Curtis | 3 |
| 2nd October 1957 | Denmark | 0-2 | Republic of Ireland |
| 11th May 1958 | Poland | 2-2 | Republic of Ireland |
| 14th May 1958 | Austria | 3-1 | Republic of Ireland |
|
| Liam Tuohy | 3 |
| 8th April 1962 | Republic of Ireland | 2-3 | Austria |
| 12th August 1962 | Republic of Ireland | 4-2 | Iceland |
| 2nd September 1962 | Iceland | 1-1 | Republic of Ireland |
|
| Frank Stapleton | 3 |
| 13th October 1982 | Republic of Ireland | 2-0 | Iceland |
| 17th November 1982 | Republic of Ireland | 3-3 | Spain |
| 30th March 1983 | Malta | 0-1 | Republic of Ireland |
|
| Robbie Keane | 3 |
| 24th May 2011 | Republic of Ireland | 5-0 | Northern Ireland |
| 29th May 2011 | Republic of Ireland | 1-0 | Scotland |
| 4th June 2011 | Macedonia | 0-2 | Republic of Ireland |
|
| Robbie Brady | 3 |
| 22nd June 2016 | Italy | 0-1 | Republic of Ireland |
| 26th June 2016 | France | 2-1 | Republic of Ireland |
| 31st August 2016 | Republic of Ireland | 4-0 | Oman |
|
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