England captain Wayne Rooney says he will retire from the national team after the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Rooney, 30, has 53 goals in 115 England appearances and needs one more appearance to become the most capped England outfield player of all time, breaking the record held by David Beckham.
"Realistically Russia will be my last opportunity to do anything with England so I’m going to try and enjoy these two years," Rooney said. "Hopefully I can end my time playing for England on a high. I’ve had a fantastic international career so far. I’ve played a lot of games and enjoyed every minute. But at some point it’s going to come to an end, whether that’s [in] two years’ [or] four years’ time."
Rooney has been the English national team captain for the past two years and will continue in that role under new coach Sam Allardyce.
"It’s always nice to captain your country and I’m looking forward to this new regime," Rooney said. "Whether I was captain or not I was still going to be available for selection and I’d still be the same with the players. Of course, it’s a huge honor to captain your country and I’m grateful to Sam for giving me that opportunity.”
Rooney, who also is a striker for Manchester United, said that he is looking forward to getting back out on the pitch.
England is coming off a disappointing appearance in Euro 2016, losing 2–1 to Iceland in the Round of 16. England has not won a tournament knockout match in 10 years.
"Obviously [I’ve got] bad memories of the last time playing for England, so it will be nice to get back out there playing and hopefully [get] a positive result.”
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