Benedict McCarthy is a former South African footballer who represented his country 79 times and scored 31 goals between 1997 and 2012. He played as a forward during the course of his career and is the top scorer in the history of the national team, having broken Shaun Bartlett's previous record of 29 international goals in a friendly win over Paraguay in March 2008.
Having previously represented South Africa at under-23 level, McCarthy made his senior debut on 4 June 1997 against the Netherlands. He scored his first international goals on 16 February 1998, scoring four times in 13 minutes against Namibia at the 1998 African Cup of Nations. He added another goal against Morocco and scored twice more against the Democratic Republic of Congo to lead South Africa to the final. Though the nation were ultimately beaten by Egypt, McCarthy was named Player of the Tournament, and collected the Top Scorer award for his seven goals. Later that year, at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, he scored South Africa's first ever goal at a World Cup finals, netting the equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Denmark that saw the nation earn a point at the competition for the first time. Adding three friendly goals against Iceland and Egypt, McCarthy ended with 11 goals to his name for the year.
He temporarily retired from international football in 1999 following club-versus-country conflicts and missed the 2000 African Cup of Nations as a result. Two years later, he scored at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in a 3–2 loss to Spain.
On 9 September 2007, McCarthy equalled Bartlett's national record when he scored in a 3–1 loss to Zambia. He broke the record the following year against Paraguay and scored one more goal before retiring from football in 2013 at the age of 35. At the time of his retirement, he was South Africa's fourth most-capped player. Of McCarthy's 31 international goals, 15 were scored in friendlies – including 2 at the HKSAR Reunification Cup and 1 at U.S. Cup – 7 at the African Cup of Nations, 4 during African Cup of Nations qualifying, 3 in World Cup qualifying and a further 2 at the World Cup finals.
International goals South Africa score listed first, score column indicates score after each McCarthy goal.
+ International goals scored by Benni McCarthy No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 16 February 1998 Stade Omnisport, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso 1–0 4–1 1998 African Cup of Nations 2 2–0 3 3–0 4 4–0 5 22 February 1998 Stade Municipal, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso 1–0 2–1 6 25 February 1998 1–1 2–1 7 2–1 8 6 June 1998 Baiersbronn Stadion, Baiersbronn, Germany 1–0 1–1 Friendly 9 18 June 1998 Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse, France 1–1 1–1 1998 FIFA World Cup 10 16 December 1998 FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 1–1 2–1 Friendly 11 2–1 12 27 February 1999 Odi Stadium, Mabopane, South Africa 4–1 4–1 2000 African Cup of Nations qualification 13 5 June 1999 ABSA Stadium, Durban, South Africa 2–0 2–0 14 7 June 2000 1–2 2–4 2000 Nike U.S. Cup 15 24 March 2001 Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth, South Africa 1–0 3–0 2002 African Cup of Nations qualification P16 5 May 2001 Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 2–0 2–1 2002 World Cup qualification 17 15 January 2002 Mmabatho Stadium, Mafikeng, South Africa 1–0 1–0 Friendly 18 23 May 2002 Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong 1–0 2–0 HKSAR Reunification Cup 19 2–0 20 12 June 2002 Daejeon World Cup Stadium, Daejeon, South Korea 1–1 2–3 2002 FIFA World Cup 21 22 May 2003 ABSA Stadium, Durban, South Africa 1–1 1–2 Friendly 22 15 November 2003 Cairo International Stadium, Cairo, Egypt 1–0 1–2 Friendly 23 18 August 2004 Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia 2–0 2–0 Friendly 24 10 October 2004 Mandela National Stadium, Kampala, Uganda 1–0 1–0 2006 World Cup qualification 25 9 February 2005 ABSA Stadium, Durban, South Africa 1–0 1–1 Friendly 26 4 June 2005 Estádio da Várzea, Praia, Cape Verde 1–0 2–0 2006 World Cup qualification27 7 September 2005 Weser-Stadion, Bremen, Germany 2–3 2–4 Friendly 28 14 January 2006 Cairo International Stadium, Cairo, Egypt 2–1 2–1 Friendly29 9 September 2007 Newlands Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa 1–3 1–3 2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification 30 26 March 2008 Super Stadium, Atteridgeville, South Africa 2–03–0 Friendly31 15 October 2008 Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein, South Africa 1–1 2–1 Friendly
See also List of South Africa national football team hat-tricks List of top international association football goal scorers by country South African national football team records
References