The Highest Scoring Football Games In History
10/16/2023 09:57 AM
A recent win over Manchester United by Liverpool has got a lot of fans talking about high-scoring football matches. Traditionally, football games are not supposed to be filled with goal-scoring moments. In fact, most outside spectators view football as a sport where most games end in a draw without any goals.
However, there are some outliers in football history in the form of high-scoring matches. In case you weren’t aware of these anomalies, here are just some examples of the highest-scoring football games of all time.
Man United Vs Ipswich: 1995
The modern Premier League is not known for huge wins. Most teams manage to secure a healthy one-goal lead against their opponents. The last time it happened in a historically significant way was back in 1995 when Manchester United beat Ipswich Town 9-0.
Forward Andy Cole managed to score five of these goals on his own to overcome the team’s previous 3-2 loss to Ipswich earlier in the same season. Since the 90s were the height of Manchester United’s success, losses like that were uncommon. However, no one expected the team to strike back in such a way.
Liverpool vs Fulham: 1986
The last time that a game was this exciting for the home team came when Liverpool was able to get a 10-0 victory over Fulham in 1986. This historic match for the Reds took place before the Premier League was founded but the game took place in the League Cup. Ian Rush’s team still managed to secure a lofty victory even after they missed a penalty in the first half.
This huge win made Liverpool the firm favorites among sports betting enthusiasts going into the final of the tournament against Arsenal. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be, and the heights of this success did not follow them into the final. Arsenal won the closely matched game 3-2, in the end, to take home the League Cup that year.
Australia Vs American Samoa: 2001
Not every high-scoring football game occurred in the English Football League. In fact, the highest-scoring football match on record was an international game between Australia and American Samoa. You can guess all day, but you would never expect Australia to have won this game 31-0.
The match took place as part of the qualifying round for the 2002 world cup. Even though this match holds the record for the highest-scoring game in footballing history, Australia did not go on to win the world cup that year. Archie Thompson also holds the record for most goals scored in a game by a single player after scoring thirteen of Australia’s goals against American Samoa.
Real Madrid Vs Barcelona
You can always expect a great game when two rivals meet on the pitch. Both Barcelona and Real Madrid have often swapped places when it comes to the best football team in the world, and they regularly duke it out in the final of the Champions League. Barcelona may have started to pull away from their rivals in recent years in terms of success, but the highest-scoring win over the other team still belongs to Real Madrid.
Back in 1943, Real Madrid was able to beat Barcelona 11-1. This victory took place during a Champions League game where Barcelona actually won the first game 3-0. This upset didn’t stop Real Madrid as they were able to come back fighting and won the leg 11-4 on aggregate. The second game probably still stings for some Barcelona fans.
Preston North End Vs Hyde FC: 1887
As mentioned above, English football has never been a sport full of high-scoring matches. That is why it is such a shock when these events yield so many goals. Any modern fans will know that high-scoring football matches are becoming a rarity. That is why the highest-scoring football match in English football history took place over one hundred years ago.
What would come as a shock today was pretty normal back when Preston North End defeated Hyde FC 26-0 back in 1887. This match was a first-round knock-out event for the FA Cup, and what a knock-out it turned out to be. Again, this game is another example of a team doing well but failing to repeat its success where it counts. Preston North End did reach the FA Cup in that year’s tournament, but they eventually lost the trophy when Preston beat them 2-1.
Conclusion
Most football fans are happy enough when their team wins, no matter how large this win turns out to be. However, you cannot deny that it feels good when your team is able to pull off something this chaotic. Just know that these are some of the high-scoring records that your favourite team will need to break in order to make footballing history.
