Greaves won his first England cap on 17 May 1959 against Peru at the Estadio Nacional, scoring England's only goal in a 4–1 defeat. The tour of the American continents was not considered a success by the British media, as England also lost to Brazil and Mexico, but Greaves mostly escaped criticism in the press as he was still a teenager and showed promise with his performances. He scored consecutive hat-tricks on 8 October 1960 and 19 October, in victories at Northern Ireland and Luxembourg. On 15 April 1961, Greaves scored another hat-trick in a 9–3 victory over Scotland at Wembley, and also had a fourth goal disallowed for offside.