Teams that won with huge goal margins

It was once said that football is a game of two halves. Unfortunately, that is not always the case and sometimes one team simply takes an absolute hammering at the hands of the opposition. Here, we will take a look at five of the biggest winning goal margins in football.

Brazil 1-7 Germany, 8th July, 2014
In what was one of the most spectacular one-sided games in football history, 2014 FIFA World Cup hosts Brazil welcomed eventual winners Germany to Belo Horizonte. The pre-match build treated the game as if it was Brazil’s Final warm up. They had not suffered a competitive defeat on home soil in over 39 years. As a European side that had failed to fully reach its potential in the tournament prior to this game, Germany were not fancied by many to break that unbeaten record.

However, the twist of fate was not going to let things just go by without a bit of dabbling. Brazil’s poster boy striker Neymar had suffered a broken bone in his back in their 2-1 Quarter Final victory against Colombia and was ruled out for the rest of the tournament. It was a huge blow considering this World Cup was all about him and the host nation’s seemingly destined journey to international glory. Even more devastatingly, Brazil’s commanding centre back Thiago Silva picked up a second yellow card of the tournament in the same game and was suspended for this match.

What happened over the next 90 minutes was nothing short of breath-taking. Germany went 5-0 up in the first half hour of play which ended the game as a contest. Goals from Toni Kroos (2), Andre Schurrle (2), Sami Khedira, Miroslav Klose, and Thomas Muller sealed the emphatic win. Oscar grabbed a 90th minute consolation for the host nation.

The match not only caught fans off guard but also caught the bookmakers on the hop as well. One lucky punter unbelievably predicted the win at odds of 500/1 to win £3,500. A few more punters took the audacious punt of Germany to lead 5-0 at half time in the Semi Final clash at odds of 300/1. Online sports betting is getting increasingly popular, especially with punters being able to do ‘in match’ betting. Casino.org has a guide to gambling for UK players.

It was a result that is unlikely to ever be seen at such a level and on such a stage in a very long time. Records tumbled including Klose becoming the all-time leading World Cup goal scorer, the first time a team had conceded seven goals in a World Cup Semi Final, the first time a team had conceded five or more goals before half time in a World Cup Semi Final, and Brazil’s biggest defeat in World Cup history.

Manchester United 9-0 Ipswich Town, 4th March, 1995
In 1995, the Sir Alex Ferguson era at Manchester United was just about to start getting into its full swing. United had won the the 1992/93 and 1993/94 Premier League titles and were determined to win their third title in a row.

This result had a sense of inevitability but nobody could predict that the scoreline would be so one-sided. United were the reigning champions and Ipswich had only avoided relegation the season before by one place. United were just 3 points behind league leaders Blackburn and needed a win to close the gap.

The performance of the game was stolen by Andy Cole who grabbed a record-breaking five goals. Additional goals from Mark Hughes (2), Roy Keane, and Paul Ince added to Ipswich’s woes to seal a convincing win.

Unfortunately for the Red Devils, this was to be the highlight of an eventually disappointing campaign that ended in United losing out to Kenny Dalglish’s Blackburn Rovers in a dramatic final day of drama. Dalglish commented on the epic result on the day stating “You only get three points whether you win 9-0 or 1-0!”.

AS Adema 149-0 SO l’Emyrne, 31st October, 2002
It stood as the largest ever winning margin in professional football that had previously been in place since 1885 when Arbroath had defeated Bon Accord 36-0 in the Scottish FA Cup. However, the game was not without its controversies.

The game was part of a four team round robin tournament to decide the winners of the national championship title in Madagascar. AS Adema went on to win the title but in this particular game SO l’Emyrne purposely conceded 149 goals in protest at the refereeing decisions being made during the match.

The fallout from the débâcle resulted in the Madagascar Football Federation suspending the SO l’Emyrne coach for three years with extra suspensions being handed out to four of their players that were involved on that day. The referee that day received no punishment for his display.

The result was eventually declared null and void as an official competitive match but the game has still gone down in football folklore as the largest winning margin ever witnessed in a competitive football match.

Australia 31-0 American Samoa, 11th April, 2001
Entering into this match was an Australian side that was simply looking to get the win and progress in the 2002 World Cup Qualifiers in the Oceania section. American Samoa were a tiny populated Pacific island that had no expectations of victory but was keen to use its chance in the spotlight against such a large nation to show the world what they could do.

The end result was Australia recording the largest ever competitive international win at the International Sports Stadium in Coffs Harbour. Striker Archie Thompson scored an incredible record-breaking 13 goals, David Zdrilic bagged 8 goals and five other players contributed to the scoreline.

Australia failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup despite this huge win. They lost to Uruguay in an intercontinental playoff 3-1 on aggregate. Things worked out slightly better for American Samoa. Their defeat became the stuff of legend and their trials and tribulations in the years following the loss was captured in an award-winning documentary called Next Goal Wins that was released in 2014.

FC Infonet 36-0 Virtsu Jalgpalliklubi, 13th June, 2015
Domestic cup competitions can often be a setting for the unfashionable player to become a club hero and cult figure by sealing a giant-killing win for a minnow club against a big team. Sadly, football is not always the romantic game people hope for it to be and sometimes the brutal reality prevails.

In June 2015, the Estonian FA Cup capital city club FC Infonet of Tallinn sealed a massive double figure win against underdogs Virtsu Jalgpalliklubi. The home side were 13-0 up at half time but the away side deserved all the plaudits for failing to give up. Despite conceding 23 goals in the second half they kept going until the end of the game.

The match was noteworthy for Estonia under 21 defender grabbing 10 goals for the Estonian top tier side as they absolutely destroyed their less-prestigious opposition. Just 83 people turned up to watch the game but it has gone down as one of the most one-sided competitive club results in football history.

Teams that won with huge goal margins

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