Socceroos great Mark Schwarzer says long-time teammate Tim Cahill deserves to become Australia's greatest international goalscorer.

The former Everton player is only three goals away from Damian Mori's national record of 29 following his 80th-minute goal in Australia's 2-1 World Cup qualifying win over Iraq in Doha.

The scoring charts for Australia have been skewed because of the number of goals coming against Oceania minnows with former NSL marksman Mori netting 23 times against such opposition.

Schwarzer backed the 32-year-old Cahill to capture the mark with such a record deserving to belong to one of the Socceroos' greatest contributors.

"He's been a phenomenal player for Australia and for whoever he's played for throughout his career, whether it be Millwall, Everton or now New York Red Bulls," Schwarzer said.

"He's a top lad to have around as well.

"His goalscoring record is a very good goalscoring record.

"Records are there to be broken and it would be very fitting if Timmy did break it and I'm sure he will."

Cahill had better keep on scoring with his good mate Archie Thompson hot on his tail.

The A-League player, who netted 13 times in the famous 31-0 win over American Samoa, improved his record to 24 goals in 41 internationals by nodding home the winner against Iraq at Grand Hamad Stadium.