All of Clint Dempsey’s USMNT goals

Clint Dempsey has tied Landon Donovan’s all-time United States national team scoring record, scoring his 57th goal on Saturday against Costa Rica in the Gold Cup.

When Donovan last played for the USMNT in late 2014, Dempsey was already 31 years old and had to make up an 18-goal gap. At that point, Dempsey’s most productive calendar year had been the eight goals he scored in 2013 (coincidentally the year Donovan took his sabbatical). Coupled with the seeming likelihood that his involvement with the national team was about to be waning, the prospects of catching Donovan seemed remote at best.

We now know better. Since Donovan last played for the USMNT, Dempsey has been on an absolute tear. He scored nine goals in 2015, followed that up with four goals in 2016 and has already scored five goals in 2017. Those 18 goals have come in 25 matches, a rate of .72 goals per game. Overall, Dempsey’s career mark of .42 goals per match is better than any USMNT player with at least 10 goals.

What’s equally impressive is that so many of Dempsey’s goals have come in competitive matches. Just 16 have been scored in friendlies, a rate of roughly .30 per match. In competitions, Dempsey has basically scored at rate of a goal every other game (.49). He’s the United States’ all-time scoring leader in World Cup qualifying (18), Copa America (three) and Confederations Cup (three). He’s also the only American to score in three separate World Cups. He’s scored 13 goals in the Gold Cup, second only to Donovan’s 18.

Dempsey has spread his scoring around quite a bit, too. His goals have come against 29 different opponents and the only countries he’s faced at least twice and never scored against are Mexico (nine times), Colombia (four) and Argentina (three). Those goals have come in 12 different countries, 16 different American states and on every continent he’s played (he’s never played a game in Asia or Australia). His most common victim is Honduras, against whom he’s scored seven times in nine career appearances.

The goals have come when the United States needed them, too. Thirty-one of his scores have either given the USMNT the lead or equalized and 19 have proven to be game-winners. The USMNT has gone 36-8-5 when he scores, which includes a remarkable 13-0-3 record since Sept. 6, 2013.

Historians will surely debate who was the “best” ever USMNT player, but the record books will leave no doubt as to who was the greatest scorer. We’ve compiled the relevant info on every goal he’s scored in a USMNT uniform: