Australia 31–0 American Samoa

Uncommon card · No. 171947

On 11 April 2001, the Australian and American Samoan national association football teams played each other in an Oceanian qualifying match for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The match was played at the International Sports Stadium in Coffs Harbour, Australia. Australia set a world record for the largest victory in an international football match, winning the game 31–0. Australia's Archie Thompson also broke the record for most goals scored by a player in an international match by scoring 13 goals. David Zdrilic, the scorer of eight goals in the match, scored the second-highest number of goals in an international match since World War I. The outcome of the match led to debates about the format of the qualification tournament, which had previously (in the 1998 qualification) contained a preliminary round to avoid such lopsided matches. Australian manager Frank Farina and Thompson criticised the new format, eventually leading FIFA to reintroduce a preliminary round in the Oceanian zone qualification...

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