It was on this day back in 2001 when Australia set a new world record for the number of goals scored in an international game. They defeated American Samoa 31-0 in a WC qualifier in Coffs Harbour. Another record was achieved in the same match when Archie Thompson scored 13 of those goals - a record that’s unlikely to be beaten, especially since Australia no longer play in the Oceania section of WC qualifying. In all four new records were set this day.
Ironically, it was only two days previously that the Australians had beaten Tonga 22-0, which in itself was a new record.
Here’s a link to a brief match report of the game. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, which I think adds to the surreal nature of this famous occasion. Especially when you consider that Thompson was dropped to the bench for the next game against Fiji!
Australia 31 v 0 AS
Maybe FIFA should consider honouring the American Samoans for their part in creating football history. Just fulfilling this fixture was a Herculean effort on their part, and it’s good for us to remember the smaller nations of world football and how much duller the game would be without them. Despite what some of the bigger nations may say, the underdogs should always have the right to compete for a place at the table, in my opinion.
In hindsight, all this goal scoring did the Aussies very few favours. When they faced their biggest test of all - a play-off against Uruguay for a place in the 2002 WC, they were found seriously wanting and lost 3-1 on aggregate.
As we know, the Australians are now in the Asian section of the WC qualifiers, having decided that Oceania and the Earth’s largest ocean were just too small for them. So when they qualified for Germany 2006 there were no doubts over the quality of the opposition that they were facing. Still, as the old football cliché goes, ‘you can only beat the team that’s put in front of you’, and the men from down under did what was asked of them on this day in 2001.
Just one more odd piece of trivia. Below is a link to the Wikipedia proile of Archie Thompson. I was amazed to discover that he was actually born in New Zealand! The perfect trick quiz question has been born:
"In which country was the record holder for the most number of goals in one international match born?"
Archie Thompson
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