While many will tell you otherwise, winning is the most important thing in sport. And in football, to win, you have to score goals. The more the merrier.
In certain situations, teams come up against oppositions that are completely inferior to them. Sometimes the superior team will take it easy on the field, score three goals and then relax, while at other times, they will pile on the misery and plunder in goal after goal.
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Also read: 5 biggest wins in the English Premier League
On that note, take a look at five one-sided matches in which teams showed their opposition no mercy whatsoever.
#5 Australia 31–0 American Samoa (2001)
Back in 2001, international football was reduced to a farce as Australia set a world record when they beat American Samoa 31-0 in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales. A crowd of 15,000 was left in awe at the bizarre number of goals let in by the Samoans in the match.
In fact, so many goals were scored in the closing stages that confusion arose over the final score. The scoreboard operator apparently flashed an extra goal as well. Early reports suggested that the score had been 32-0 but later on it was confirmed to be 31-0.
However, it is important to note that the Samoan team were deprived of their senior squad due to a passport mix-up and could not even draft in their under-20 players because many were involved in their end-of-term exams. Consequently, it was the youth team of the bottom-ranked country of the FIFA rankings, who were brought in.
They held up until eight minutes when Nicky Salapu, their goalkeeper, made his first – and last – save of the match. Archie Thompson scored a record 13 goals, eight before half-time.
#4 Arbroath 36-0 Bon Accord (1885), Infonet FC 36-0 Virtsu Jalgpalliklubi (2015)
This result, in a Scottish Cup game in 1885, is the largest validated winning margin in a professional football match. Yes, Bon Accord were newbies and they even reportedly arrived at the match without proper kits, but 36-0 is still a ridiculous scoreline. And yet, it could have been worse had five goals not been disallowed.
The referee Dave Stormont later clarified that he had actually disallowed seven goals. Jim Milne Sr, Arbroath’s goalkeeper, even spent some time sheltered from the rain under a spectator’s umbrella. By half-time, Arbroath were up 15-0 and plundered in another 21 in the second half. John Petrie scored 13 goals – a record that he now shares with Archie Thompson of Australia.
Flash forward 130 years when Estonian team FC Infonet handed out a drubbing to Virtsu Jalgpalliklubi as they defeated the team from a town with a population of about 500 by the same margin. By half-time, the score read 13-0 and Virtsu still did not resort to damage control as they leaked in 23 goals in the 2nd half.
#3 Fiji 38-0 Micronesia (2015)
In July 2015, Fiji thrashed the Federated States of Micronesia 38-0 at the 15th Pacific Games. Heading into the game, Micronesia were already reeling from a humiliating 30-0 loss that they had suffered at the hands of Tahiti in the previous match.
However, their hopes of drawing some positives from the tournament were quashed within the first 45 minutes. Fiji led 21-0 at half-time and plundered 17 more past the hapless opposition in the second half. Antonio Tuivuna, alone, hammered in 10 goals in the huge win.
The Pacific Games organisers did claim that this was a new world record. However, every nation had sent in their U-23 teams for the Games and as a result, FIFA never recognised the win. Otherwise, they would have broken the world record for the biggest win in international football, which is currently held by Australia.
#2 Plateau United Feeders 79-0 Akurba FC, Police Machine FC 67-0 Babayaro FC (2013)
Back in 2013, something ridiculous happened in Nigeria’s football league. Two lower league clubs, Plateau United Feeders and Police Machine won their respective matches 79-0 and 67-0 against Akurba FC and Babayaro FC.
Now, the story goes that these two clubs were chasing promotion and needed a massive boost in their goal differences for the same. While Plateau United Feeders netted 72 times in the second half itself to beat Akurba FC 79-0, Police Machine plonked in 61 goals in the second half to beat Babayaro FC 67-0.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) went on to call it “a mind-boggling show of shame” and suspended the four teams which were involved in the “scandalous scorelines”. Consequently, the four teams were handed a 10-year ban while each official, player and coach involved in the two matches were handed life bans.
#1 AS Adema 149–0 SO l'Emyrne (2002)
Yes, you read that right.
149-0 was the scoreline of a match played over 90 minutes between Madagascan clubs AS Adema and Stade Olympique l’Emyrne back in 2002. And it now holds the world record for the highest scoreline in a football match, recognised by the Guinness Book of Records. Strangely, though, SOE were no part-timers – they were the Malagasy champions in 2001.
Farcical scenes led to a basketball-like score as AS Adema won the match without gaining possession even once between the first goal and the 149th. Their opponents had complete control over the league game, deliberately plonking the ball in the back of their own net.
Adema’s players, who were understandably bemused, did nothing to stop the self-destruction. SOE were, in fact, protesting over a referee’s decision that had knocked them out of the title race in the previous match. With Adema having already secured the Malagasy title, SOE decided to protest and thus the outrageous scoreline.
