No sport out there can compete with football when it comes to popularity. Football is by far, the most played and watched sport across the globe with tons of leagues and competitions taking place both internationally and locally.
With so many football events, a few strange things are bound to happen during matches. In this text, we’ll tell you more about several football games that are remembered as crazy thanks to the events that occurred during them.
Germany vs. Ecuador, Friendly Match (2013)
If you’ve ever wondered “What is the quickest goal ever?” we’ve got the answer ready for you. The fastest international football goal was scored by Lukas Podolski during a friendly match against Ecuador in 2013.
The legendary striker opened the match by scoring a goal for Germany only 6 seconds into the game. In the end, Germany won the match 4-2, but the game is remembered by this goal from Lukas Podolski who is the third most successful goalscorer in German history.
PAOK vs. AEK (2018)
In football, no matter what the referee’s decision is, someone will feel wronged. During almost every football match, there’s someone dissatisfied with a referee’s decision regarding a questionable situation.
People’s reactions to referees decisions have been highly interesting, but one is widely remembered as the craziest ever. Namely, after a referee took a decision against his team, Ivan Savvidisthe, the Russian owner of PAOK FC decided to sort out the issue in his own way. He took a handgun and stepped into the field to try and change the referee’s decision to disallow PAOK's 89th-minute goal against AEK Athens.
AS Adema vs. SO l'Emyrne (2002)
This match that took place in 2002 is, by far, the one during which most goals were scored. The final result once the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the match was 149 – 0 in favour of the SOE.
However, all these goals were own-goals that SOE players scored on purpose in order to protest against referees and decisions from the previous match that ultimately led them to lose the league title.
Yet, although the match holds the record for the highest number of scored goals in football and is recognized by the Guinness Book of Records, it didn’t end up favourably for SOE. After the match, Zaka Be, the SOE coach, was suspended for three years. Also, four of the team's players got a suspension that lasted until the end of the season, one of which was the captain of the Madagascar national football team, Mamisoa Razafindrakoto.
Australia vs. American Samoa, Qualifying Match for FIFA WC (2002)
When it comes to the highest number of goals scored by an individual, an average football fan would probably automatically assign the title to famous players like Lionel Messi or Christiano Ronaldo. However, the truth is somewhat different.
A qualifying match between Australia and American Samoa for FIFA WC was the football match during which a single individual scored the most goals ever. The guy responsible for the spectacle was Archie Thompson who scored 13 goals for Australia in this match against American Samoa.
Claypole vs. Victoriano Arenas
Can you imagine watching a football match and witnessing the dismissal of all players from both teams? This is exactly what happened during a match in Argentina between Claypole and Victoriano Arenas.
What started as a fight between two players eventually led to a mass brawl. The only way the referee could sort out this issue was to show the red card to every single player from both teams, meaning there were a total of 36 red cards shown. Needless to say, this also meant that the match was over.
