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Luigi Riva was an Italian professional footballer who represented the Italy national football team as a forward. Since debuting for Italy against Hungary on 27 June 1965, Riva scored 35 goals in 42 appearances, making him the country's all-time top goalscorer. He scored his first international goal in his fourth appearance for his country on 1 November 1967, as part of a hat-trick scored against Cyprus during a UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying match. Riva made his last appearance for Italy on 19 June 1974 in a 1–1 draw against Argentina during the 1974 FIFA World Cup.

Riva scored a second hat-trick for his national team in a 4–1 win against Wales in a 1970 World Cup qualifier. He scored six times in total against Luxembourg, the most against any team. On 31 March 1973, he scored four goals against Luxembourg during a 1974 World Cup qualifier. He also scored a brace (two goals) seven times. Riva scored one goal at the UEFA European Championship, three goals at the World Cup, eight goals in friendly matches, nine goals in European Championship qualifiers and 14 goals in World Cup qualifiers.

Riva's first international tournament was the UEFA Euro 1968, where he scored the opening goal in the replay of the final helping Italy to a 2–0 win against Yugoslavia. Two years later, Riva scored three goals in the 1970 FIFA World Cup, twice against Mexico in a 4–1 victory in the quarter-finals and a goal in the 4–3 win against West Germany in the semi-finals after extra time.

International goals

Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Riva goal.

List of international goals scored by Gigi Riva

No.	Cap	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	4	1 November 1967	Stadio San Vito, Cosenza, Italy	Cyprus	3–0	5–0	UEFA Euro 1968 qualifier
2					4–0
3					5–0
4	5	18 November 1967	Wankdorf Stadium, Bern, Switzerland	Switzerland	1–1	2–2	UEFA Euro 1968 qualifier
5					2–2 ‡
6	6	23 December 1967	Stadio Amsicora, Cagliari, Italy	Switzerland	2–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 1968 qualifier
7	7	10 June 1968	Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy	Yugoslavia	1–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 1968
8	8	23 October 1968	Ninian Park, Cardiff, Wales	Wales	1–0	1–0	1970 FIFA World Cup qualifier
9	9	1 January 1969	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico	Mexico	1–1	3–2	Friendly
10					3–2
11	11	29 March 1969	Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark, East Berlin, East Germany	East Germany	1–1	2–2	1970 FIFA World Cup qualifier
12					2–2
13	13	4 November 1969	Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy	Wales	1–0	4–1	1970 FIFA World Cup qualifier
14					3–1
15					4–1
16	14	22 November 1969	Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy	East Germany	3–0	3–0	1970 FIFA World Cup qualifier
17	15	21 February 1970	Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid, Spain	Spain	2–0	2–2	Friendly
18	16	10 May 1970	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	Portugal	1–0	2–1	Friendly
19					2–0
20	20	14 June 1970	Estadio Nemesio Díez, Toluca, Mexico	Mexico	2–1	4–1	1970 FIFA World Cup
21					4–1
22	21	17 June 1970	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico	West Germany	3–2	4–3	1970 FIFA World Cup
23	26	9 October 1971	San Siro, Milan, Italy	Sweden	1–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 1972 qualifier
24					3–0
25	30	13 May 1972	King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium	Belgium	2–1 ‡	2–1	UEFA Euro 1972 qualifier
26	31	20 September 1972	Stadio Municipale, Turin, Italy	Yugoslavia	1–0	3–1	Friendly
27	32	7 October 1972	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	2–0	4–0	1974 FIFA World Cup qualifier
28					3–0
29	36	31 March 1973	Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa, Italy	Luxembourg	1–0	5–0	1974 FIFA World Cup qualifier
30					2–0
31					4–0
32					5–0
33	37	9 June 1973	Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy	Brazil	1–0	2–0	Friendly
34	38	29 September 1973	San Siro, Milan, Italy	Sweden	2–0	2–0	Friendly
35	39	20 October 1973	Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy	Switzerland	2–0	2–0	1974 FIFA World Cup qualifier

Statistics

References

1. ^ Pierrend, José Luis (11 November 2001). "Luigi Riva – Goals in International Matches". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
2. FIGC (8 May 2020). "Classifica Marcatori". Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (in Italian). Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
3. ^ Mariani, Maurizio (21 April 2011). "Italy – International Matches 1960–1969". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 14 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
4. ^ Mariani, Maurizio (25 May 2002). "Italy – International Matches 1970–1979". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 14 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
5. "Luigi Riva » Internationals". worldfootball.net. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.

• Italy national football team records and statistics
• Lists of association football international goals by player