In our previous article looking at the scoring streaks of Irish internationals, we looked at the scoring records in consecutive games. While researching this, we found there was another way of looking at the question "who has scored in the most consecutive games", what player scored in the most consecutive appearances?
A player can score and miss a game due to suspension, or injury, or just not picked by the manager, or management committee in the early days of the international side, and then score in their next appearance.
With that in mind, we've examined the playing records of all players with three or more international goals, and from that we've found the following players who scored in three or more consecutive appearances.
For the purposes of the article "consecutive games" refers to consecutive games of the Irish national side, and "consecutive appearances" refers to two or more caps by a players, which may not be in consecutive games. Where a record is the same as in the consecutive games article, we'll refer to it, but won't go into any detail.
Paddy Moore scored against Spain on his debut in April 1931, but missed the return
game against the Spanish the following December, and went on to score against the Netherlands in 1932, then scored against Belgium and the Netherlands again in 1934 (there were no international games in 1933) becoming the first international to score in four consecutive appearances in the process.
In 1936 Jimmy Dunne became the second player to score in three consecutive games for Ireland, scoring against Switzerland, Hungary, and Luxembourg. The Dublin born striker had also scored in his previous appearance, his international debut, against Belgium in 1930 and scored again against the Swiss in his next international appearance in 1937. As previously mentioned, the striker also scored in three other consecutive games against Norway twice in late 1937 and Czechoslovakia the following May.
Tom Davis scored on his international debut against Germany in October 1936, and found the back of the net from 12 yards in the following game against Hungary two months later, but had to wait 18 months for his next cap, and goal, against Czechoslovakia, the same game where Jimmy Dunne completed his five appearance scoring streak.
The next player to score in three consecutive appearances was Con Martin, scoring against Spain, Finland and England in 1949.
Six years later, Arthur Fitzsimons scored in the first of his three consecutive international appearances against Yugoslavia, Spain and then the Netherlands in 1956
A year after the final goal of Fitzsimons' triple, Dermot Curtis scored against Denmark before scoring again when the national side faced both Poland and Austria in 1958
Fionan Fagan became the second player to scored in four consecutive appearances for the Republic with his strikes against Germany, Sweden, Wales and Norway in 1960
Two years later, Liam Tuohy scored in three consecutive appearances against Austra in April, and then home and away against Iceland
No player would manage to score in three consecutive appearances again until Frank Stapleton reached double figures for the Republic with a late winner in a Euro 84 qualifier against Malta in 1983, having scored against Iceland and Spain in the two previous qualifiers for the tournament to be held in France.
Tony Cascarino's goals in the last two qualifiers for Euro 1992 against Poland and Turkey were preceded by a strike in his previous appearance for Ireland against the USA in a friendly in June.
As was detailed in Part I, Robbie Keane scored in four consecutive games beginning with his equaliser against Germany in 2002, but Ireland's record striker also scored in four consecutive appearances in 2011 when he scored against Northern Ireland and Scotland in the Nations Cup, bookended by two strikes against Macedonia in home and away qualifiers against the former Yugoslav Republic in March and June.
The research we've conducted into scoring records was inspired by the three consecutive appearances where Stephen Ireland scored, the opener against Cyprus in the 5-2 loss, the last minute winner against San Marino and the first goal scored by and Irish international at Croke Park in the 1-0 win over Wales.
Robbie Brady is the latest player to score in three consecutive games, after scoring against Italy, and France at Euro 2016 and the friendly against Oman which also marked the end of Robbie Keane's international career.
| Player | Streak | Games |
|---|
| Jimmy Dunne | 5 |
| 11th May 1930 | Belgium | 1-3 | Republic of Ireland |
| 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 |
| 17th May 1937 | Switzerland | 0-1 | Republic of Ireland |
|
| Paddy Moore | 4 |
| 26th April 1931 | Spain | 1-1 | Republic of Ireland |
| 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 |
|
| 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 |
|
| Robbie Keane | 4 |
| 26th March 2011 | Republic of Ireland | 2-1 | Macedonia |
| 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 |
|
| Tom Davis | 3 |
| 17th October 1936 | Germany | 5-2 | Republic of Ireland |
| 6th December 1936 | Republic of Ireland | 3–2 | Hungary |
| 18th May 1938 | Czechoslovakia | 2–2 | 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 |
|
| Tony Cascarino | 3 |
| 1st July 1991 | USA | 1-1 | Republic of Ireland |
| 16th October 1991 | Poland | 3-3 | Republic of Ireland |
| 13th November 1991 | Turkey | 1-3 | Republic of Ireland |
|
| Stephen Ireland | 3 |
| 7th October 2006 | Cyptus | 2-5 | Republic of Ireland |
| 2nd February 2007 | San Marino | 1-2 | Republic of Ireland |
| 24th March 2007 | Turkey | 1-3 | 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 |
|