5 of the best debut goals in football history

#5: Zlatan Ibrahimovic – MLS debut for Los Angeles Galaxy, 2018

If anyone thought Swedish legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s recent move to Major League Soccer with LA Galaxy was a signal that his amazing career was finally about to come to an end, his debut for the side probably made them change their mind.

No stranger to debut goals – Zlatan had scored on his Serie A debut for Inter Milan, his La Liga debut with Barcelona, his Ligue 1 debut with Paris St. Germain and in the Charity Shield on his debut for Manchester United – his first for Galaxy topped them all.

Galaxy were trailing local rivals LAFC by 3 goals to 1 when he was introduced in the 71st minute, and immediately he had an impact, helping to set up a goal to make the score 3-2. Around five minutes later the ball bounced in front of him around 40 yards out, and he hit a ridiculous right-footed half-volley that flew over LAFC’s goalkeeper and into the roof of the net, evening the score at 3-3.

Even by his lofty standards, this was a special goal – up there with his absolute best. When he scored the winner from a header during injury time, it simply felt like it was meant to be. Ibrahimovic had arrived in the USA with the biggest possible bang – and one of the all-time great debut goals.