David Healy is a retired footballer, who represented the Northern Ireland national football team between 2000 and 2013. During his international career, he played 95 matches in which he scored 36 goals, becoming his country's top scorer. Healy made his international debut in a friendly against Luxembourg at the Stade Josy Barthel in February 2000, scoring two goals in a 3–1 victory. In June 2004, he became Northern Ireland's all-time top scorer, after netting his 14th international goal in a friendly against Trinidad and Tobago; the previous record of 13 goals was held jointly by Billy Gillespie and Colin Clarke. Kyle Lafferty is second to Healy in Northern Ireland's all-time scoring record, with 20 goals. Healy's final goal came in 2012, after a four-year goal drought, when he scored a 95th-minute equaliser against Azerbaijan during the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Healy is the only Northern Ireland player to have scored two international hat-tricks. Both were achieved during UEFA Euro 2008 qualification matches: the first came in a 3–2 win against Spain in September 2006, and the second in a 4–1 away defeat of Liechtenstein, six months later. Overall, Healy scored 13 goals during that qualification campaign, making him the highest-scoring player in a single European Championship qualification tournament. As a result of this record, he was presented with a special award by Michel Platini on behalf of UEFA. Healy held the record alone until October 2015, when Poland's Robert Lewandowski scored against the Republic of Ireland during qualification for UEFA Euro 2016 and matched Healy's feat.

During Healy's career, Northern Ireland failed to qualify for either the FIFA World Cup or UEFA European Championship finals; the majority of his goals came in qualification matches (22), as opposed to friendlies. Healy has scored more goals (five) against Liechtenstein than any other nation, and more than half of his goals (20) were scored at Windsor Park in Belfast. Upon retirement, he was described by national team manager Michael O'Neill as "an iconic player".

List of international goals Home team goals listed first. Northern Ireland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Healy goal.

+ List of international goals scored by David HealyCapDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition11Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg1–03–1Friendly22–132National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta3–03–0Friendly44Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland1–01–2Friendly56Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland1–01–12002 FIFA World Cup qualification610Balgarska Armia Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria3–43–42002 FIFA World Cup qualification714Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland1–03–02002 FIFA World Cup qualification815National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta1–01–02002 FIFA World Cup qualification930Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland1–31–4Friendly1031A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia1–01–0Friendly1133Barbados National Stadium, Bridgetown, Barbados1–11–1Friendly1234Warner Park, Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis1–02–0Friendly1335Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet, Trinidad and Tobago1–03–0Friendly143–01538Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales2–02–22006 FIFA World Cup qualification1639Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland1–13–32006 FIFA World Cup qualification1743Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland1–01–4Friendly1844National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta1–01–1Friendly1946Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland1–01–02006 FIFA World Cup qualification2050Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland1–02–1Friendly2152Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland1–13–2UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying222–2233–22454Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland1–01–0UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying2555Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein1–04–1UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying262–0273–02856Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland1–12–1UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying92–13057Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland1–03–1UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying312–03259Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland1–12–1UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying3361Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland2–12–1UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying3464Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland2–04–1Friendly3569Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland1–04–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification3694Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland1–11–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Hat-tricks Date Venue Opponent Goals Result Competition 1Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland3 – (20', 64', 80')3–2UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying2Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein3 – (52', 74', 83')4–1UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying

Statistics

+ Goals and appearances by yearYearAppsGoals2000752001832002602003802004108200593200665200789200882200990201050201170201231201310Total9536

+ Goals and appearances by competitionCompetitionAppsGoalsFriendlies3414UEFA European Championship qualification2913FIFA World Cup qualification319Nations Cup10Total9536

References