Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final between England and Norway saw Gunners on either side battling for a spot in the last four, but also proved to be a momentous occasion for the club.
Declan Rice and Noni Madueke were named in the starting XI by Thomas Tuchel, while Bukayo Saka and Ebere Eze added to the mix at half-time as they all helped their nation into the semi-final.
And those appearances in the clash in Miami ensured that we have now had players win over 1,000 caps for the Three Lions during their spells in north London.
Those caps have been earned by 73 different players - the first being goalkeeper Jimmy Ashcroft in 1906, and the latest being Madueke and Eze, who both started the 2-0 win over Andorra in September 2025.
We are the fourth team to hit the 1,000 Three Lions cap mark, with Manchester United and Liverpool way out in front, but we are quickly catching Tottenham Hotspur in third place.
When it comes to representative however, only Spurs, Aston Villa and Liverpool have supplied more players than us:
Our most-capped England international is Kenny Sanson, who represented the Three Lions 87 times during his time as a Gunner. He was selected for the 1982 and 1986 World Cups, playing in the infamous Hand of God game against Argentina in the quarter-finals, while he was still first choice for Euro 88, when he made his final international appearance.
Only David Seaman (72) and Tony Adams (66) have won more caps for England throughout their N5 tenures than Bukayo, who is now up to 55, having surpassed Ashley Cole during the tournament - the only other player to complete a half-century of appearances.
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No player has scored more times on England duty while with us than Saka, with his 14 strikes putting him ahead of Cliff Bastin’s total of 12. In total, 34 of the 73 players we have provided have found the net for their country, combining for 116 goals.
The 13-year span between Adams' first and last caps represents the longest span between England caps in our history, with Seaman (11 years) and Theo Walcott (10 years) also competing a decade of service to the national team whilst plying their trade in N5.
A total of 12 players have won just one England cap whilst a Gunner, the last of which was Eddie Nketiah who featured in a 1-0 win over Australia in October 2023. Brian Marwood holds the shortest England career while in N5, consisting of a nine-minute cameo in a 1-1 draw against Saudi Arabia in 1988.
But just because an international career is fleeting doesn’t mean you can’t make an impact, and Francis Jeffers is the only player to say he’s scored in every appearance he’s made for England as an Arsenal star, netting against Australia in his only cap back in 2003.
However, Ted Drake boasts the best goals-per-game ratio as an England Gunner, netting six times in five games during the 1930s, including a hat-trick against Hungary in a friendly held on his home turf, Highbury.
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