The beauty of the round leather game is unmatched and it’s arguably the most-watched sport in the world. The skills, last-minute goals, excitement, and agony makes football so desirable. However, those incredible moments of magic will always be remembered whether good or bad, and here are some intriguing & bizarre moments in the world of the beautiful game. Continue reading to discover some interesting Football Facts the will wow you.
Unusual Football Happenings and facts.
1. Australian international, Archie holds the record for the most goals scored in a single match. He scored a jaw-dropping 13 goals in the 31-0 thrashing of minnows American Samoa.
2. In November 1964, Tommy Ross scored the fastest hattrick of all time against Nairn County in just 90 seconds while playing for Ross Country.
3. Former Liverpool and Arsenal midfielder, Yossi Benayoun remains the only player to have scored a hattrick in the FA Cup, Premier League, and Champions League as of 2021.
4. Only the trio of Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Athletic Bilbao are yet to taste relegation in the Spanish La Liga history.
5. Sounds funny but Italian side Sampdoria walked 20 miles to a secluded mountain to thank Virgin Mary for helping them narrowly escaping relegation in 1969.
6. Italian Giants, Inter Milan are the only side yet to be relegated the Serie A.
7. It would intrigue you to find out that a football game has once been postponed 29 times. The game was between Falkirk and Inverness Thistle in 1979 and was continually postponed due to bad weather.
8. Surprisingly, during World War 1, English and German Soldiers reached a Christmas Truce to play a friendly match.
9. Stunning but true, West Ham United legend, Alvin Martin was the first player to score a top-flight hat-trick against three different goalkeepers in an 8-1 demolition of Newcastle. The English defender scored first against Martin Thomas, Chris Hedworth, and lastly Peter Beardsley.
10. Since 1982 till date, at least one Bayern Munich player has always featured in the starting lineup of the FIFA World Cup.
11. Sounds strange but former Barcelona player, Laszlo Kubala is the only FIFA recognized player to play for three countries. He played for Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Spain.
12. Despite enjoying a trophy-laden career and playing for elite clubs that have won the Champions League excluding PSG, Swede Striker Zlatan Ibrahimović has never won the trophy himself.
13. Call it luck or coincidence but fortunately for former Inter Milan defender, Guiseppe Bergomi, he played in four different world cups (1982, 1986, 1990 & 1998) without appearing in a single qualifier.
14. Hard to believe but surprisingly, Mark Hughes once played two games for two teams on the same day in two different countries. He played for Wales in the Euro 1988 qualifier against Czechoslovakia before flying to play for Bayern Munich against Borussia Monchengladbach.
15. The fastest goal ever scored in the history of football was scored at an estimated 2.8 seconds in 1998 by Ricardo Oliveira.
16. Ronaldinho Gaucho remains one of the best ever players to grace the game but just at the age of 13, the Brazilian midfielder announced himself to the world having scored a jaw-dropping 23 goals in a single match.
17. Football is the world’s most played sport with over 210 countries registered and recognized by FIFA.
18. The first-ever international football match was held on the 30th of November 1872 between England and Scotland.
19. With players now commanding huge transfer fees in football nowadays, it would interest you to know that Argentine attacker, Angel Di Maria was once traded between two clubs for a bizarre 35 balls in his homeland.
20. Despite Brazil been one of the powerhouses in football, surprisingly, the five-time World Cup winners remain winless against Norway in all competitions having played 4 times, lost twice, and have drawn twice.
21. Thought you had seen it all? I guess not…. Dutch side NAC Breda stands for, Nooit Opgeven Altijd Doorzetten Aangenaam Door Vermaak En Nuttig Door Ontspanning Combinatie Breda.
22. The highest-scoring game ever in the history of football was the game between A S Adema and SO l’Emyrne in which the game ended by 149-0.
23. Only a few players can boast of longevity in football due to the rigors and demand of the game, but Kazuyoshi Miura of Japan is a 53-year-old footballer who plays for Yokohama FC and holds the record for the oldest professional football player.
24. Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimović hold the record as the only players to have ever scored in every minute of a football game.
25. Brazilian Forward, Neymar, holds the record for the most expensive transfer fee ever paid for a player after moving from Barcelona to Paris Saint Germain for a jaw-dropping sum of £198million pounds.
26. Some goalkeepers go beyond the norm in football and do the unthinkable. The highest goal-scoring goalkeeper of all time is called Ceni. He scored a total of 131 career goals.
27. Unbeaten runs are not that common in football but Romanian side Steaua Bucharesti made it look easy having embarked on an amazing 106 match unbeaten run.
28. Sounds crazy but the most red cards in a football game recorded a total of 36 red cards. Referee Damian Rubino officiated the game between two arch-rivals Claypole and Victoriano Arenas.
29. The longest-ever penalty shoot-out in the history of the game happened in a Namibian Cup game with an astounding total of 48 spot-kicks.
30. Despite been called up to the national team at the age of 17 and arguably the greatest player of all time, Pele scored an unbelievable six goals for Brazil at the 1958 World Cup.
More Unusual Football Happenings and facts.
31. Manchester United legend, Ryan Giggs is the only player to have scored over 100 Premier League goals without scoring a hattrick.
32. It would surprise you to find out that Spanish maestro, Juan Mata is the first player to have moved from Chelsea to Manchester United.
33. Liverpool legend, Steven Gerard has never swapped his jersey with a Manchester United player despite exchanging over 100 shirts with other clubs.
34. Surprisingly, Frenchman Zinedine Zidane was never for once caught In an offside position throughout his career as a professional footballer.
35. The rivalry between Ronaldo and Messi has been nothing short of exceptional over the past decade, but it would amuse you to find out that the difference in age of the duo is 896 likewise the same difference exist between Lionel Messi’s son and Ronaldo’s son.
36. North London side, Arsenal are the only team that has ever been awarded a Gold trophy in the history of the Premier League after going the entire 2003/04 season unbeaten.
37. Brazil legend, Pele scored tons of goals during his career. He scored a bizarre 92 hattricks, 4 goals (31 times), 5 goals (6 times), and 8 goals once.
38. Five times Ballon d’or winner, Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t have a tattoo on his body because he often donates blood.
39. Strange things usually happen in football and it will shock you to learn that Italian side Juventus failed to sell a single shirt of Danish forward Nicklas Bendtner in one season.
40. While on the other hand, Spanish giants Real Madrid sold a whooping 50,000 jerseys in just one day.
41. Ironically, Portugal legend Cristiano Ronaldo was once expelled from school at the age of 14 after a teacher mocked his parent’s financial status.
42. Zlatan Ibrahimovic once came off the bench to score an unbelievable 8 goals in a Youth game after coming off the bench to rescue his despite trailing 4nil.
43. Former Arsenal midfielder, Alex Song surprisingly has a total of 27 siblings (17 sisters and 10 brothers).
44. Barcelona midfield maestro, Xavi was believed to be very close to joining AC Milan at the age of 19. His father agreed to the move but his mother threatened to divorce him if the move happened.
45. In 2001, in a match between Bayern Munich vs Manchester United in the Champions League, unknowingly to the players and match officials, a fan invaded the field in a United kit and pretended to be one of the players. For a while nobody noticed, and he even took photos with the team.
46. Contrary to many beliefs, it would intrigue you to learn that over two-thirds of footballs are made in Pakistan despite not been a top footballing nation.
47. Weird but true, English attacker Gary Lineker never received a booking (Yellow or Red Card) throughout his career.
48. Former Colombian defender, Gerardo Bedoya holds the all-time record for the highest number of Red cards (41) received by a player in history.
49. Football can be cruel at times, it would interest you to know that former Arsenal striker, Nicklas Bendtner has the same number of Serie A titles (1) likewise Roma Legend Francesco Totti despite playing just 9 games for Juventus in the 2012/13 season without scoring a single goal.
50. Funny but true, Portsmouth player Levi Foster once received a yellow card for farting in the referee’s face prior to kick-off.
51. Former Chelsea Striker, Adrian Mutu was once banned from playing for his country Romania in 2013 after posting an image on social media platform Facebook comparing his national team coach Victor Piturca to comedy Legend Mr. Bean.
52. Having suffered from a stomach upset in England’s opener against Ireland in the 1990 Fifa World Cup, Gary Lineker went in for a tackle and surprisingly shit on himself.
53. The fastest sending-off in football history was two seconds. The incredible honor was accredited to an English player named Lee Todd after using foul language towards the referee.
54. Manchester United’s 1977 FA Cup-winning manager Tommy Docherty was sacked just eight weeks after it was revealed the Red Devils manager was sleeping with the wife of one of United’s physiotherapists named Laurie Brown.
55. On average, more than 1 in 20 on-pitch injuries are caused by players celebrating goals.
56. The largest football tournament in the world is the Bangkok League seven aside competition with over 5,098 teams and 35,000 players competing in the tournament.
57. The oldest football club in the world is Sheffield Football Club. The South Yorkshire club was founded on the 24th of October, 1857.
58. The most-watched sporting event in the world so far is the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final between France and Croatia. The game had over 1.12 billion global audiences.
59. Football was believed to be invented around 476 BC in China and was popularly called CUJU.
60. Only two countries call Football Soccer in the world and both countries are America and Canada. It is simply because both countries have their own version of football popularly called American and Canadian Football.
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