Australia 31–0 American Samoa
Event | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||||||
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Date | 11 April 2001 | ||||||
Venue | Coffs Harbour, Australia | ||||||
Man of the Match | Archie Thompson | ||||||
Referee | Ronan Leaustic (Tahiti) | ||||||
Attendance | 3,000 (estimated) |
On April 11, 2001, the
The outcome of the match led to debates about the format of qualification tournaments, with the Australian manager Frank Farina and Thompson feeling that preliminary rounds should be introduced to avoid such unbalanced matches, views shared by the international footballing body FIFA. It eventually led to the introduction of a preliminary round in the Oceanian zone qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The unbalanced level of opponents was also addressed by Australia's move to the Asian Football Confederation in 2006.
Background
The
Australia and
Two days before the match, Australia recorded a 22–0 win over Tonga, breaking the previous record for the largest winning margin in an international match, held by Kuwait who won 20–0 against Bhutan in 2000.[4] American Samoa had suffered two losses before the match, a 13–0 loss to Fiji and an 8–0 loss to Samoa.[2]
Match summary
Australia fielded a team with several rarely used players as many regulars were either rested or omitted from the team. Strikers John Aloisi and Damian Mori who combined for 10 goals in the 22–0 win over Tonga were also omitted for this match. The American Samoa team were troubled by passport issues, with only one member of their original 20-man senior team, 20-year-old goalkeeper Nicky Salapu, eligible to play. He was named captain for the match. American Samoa was also unable to call their under-20 players because most of them were involved in high school exams at the time. They were forced to draft in youth players, including three 15-year-old players, to put together a makeshift team with an average age of 18.[5][6] According to team manager and Football Federation American Samoa vice-president Tony Langkilde, some of the team's players had never played a full 90-minute match before the match with Australia.[7]
American Samoa held Australia scoreless for the first ten minutes of play until Con Boutsianis scored Australia's first goal from a corner kick. Archie Thompson scored his first goal in the 12th minute. His strike partner David Zdrilic added his first goal a minute later. Tony Popovic added two successive goals in the 17th and 19th minutes to extend Australia's lead to 6–0. In the 25th minute, Zdrilic achieved a hat-trick, making the score 9–0 for Australia. Thompson then scored 6 of the next 7 goals as Australia led 16–0 at half-time. Thompson led Australia in scoring with 8 goals at half-time and Zdrilic had 4 goals.[8][9]
Boutsianis, who scored the first goal of the first half, scored the first goal of the second half in the 50th minute. Boutsianis later added another goal to complete his hat-trick. Thompson and Zdrilic added 5 and 4 goals to finish with 13 and 8 goals, respectively. Boutsianis finished with 3 goals, while Popovic, Aurelio Vidmar and Simon Colosimo scored 2 goals each and substitute Fausto De Amicis netting once.[8][9] In the 86th minute, despite being down by 29 goals, American Samoa managed to launch an attack towards Australia's goal when Pati Feagiai had a shot, which was saved by Michael Petkovic. That was American Samoa's only shot on goal.[10]
The large number of goals created confusion over the correct scoreline. At the end of the match, the scoreboard at the stadium showed 32–0 and Thompson was credited with 14 goals.[11] After the statistician did a recount, the 31–0 scoreline was announced and Thompson's total goal count was reduced to 13.[8] After the match, FIFA went on to release the official statistics after receiving the official report from the referee and match officials, which confirmed the 31–0 scoreline and Thompson's 13 goals.[12]
Details
Australia | 31–0 | American Samoa |
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Boutsianis 10', 50', 84' Thompson 12', 23', 27', 29', 32', 37', 42', 45', 56', 60' Zdrilic 13', 21', 25', 33', 58', 66', 78', 89' A. Vidmar 14', 80' Popovic 17', 19' Colosimo 51', 81' De Amicis 55' |
Report |
Australia
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American Samoa
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|
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Records
Australia's 31–0 win broke their own record for the largest winning margin in an international match, a 22–0 win over Tonga recorded two days earlier in the same competition at the same stadium. Both wins surpassed the previous record held by Kuwait in a 20–0 win over Bhutan in the 2000 Asian Cup qualification.[4][13] The match also broke the record for the largest margin in a World Cup qualification match. The previous record was held by Iran in a 19–0 win over Guam also in the 2002 World Cup qualification.[1]
Apart from team records, individual records were also broken in the match. Australia's Thompson, who only had two international
Match reactions
Australia's manager Frank Farina criticised the qualification format and questioned the need for these kinds of matches. Thompson, who scored a record-setting 13 goals, was delighted with his record, but he also agreed with Farina's comments. FIFA spokesman Keith Cooper agreed with both comments and suggested a change in the qualification format, with the smaller teams entering a preliminary round. However, Oceania Football Confederation chairman Basil Scarsella opposed both comments and claimed that the smaller teams have the right to face Australia and New Zealand, similar to Australia having the right to face stronger opponents such as Brazil and France.[1][10]
"Breaking the world record is a dream come true for me; that sort of thing doesn't come along every day. But you have to look at the teams we are playing and start asking questions. We don't need to play these games."[10]
This match and the other lopsided victories in the qualification partially contributed towards the reintroduction of a preliminary round for smaller teams in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers to avoid these one-sided matches.[16] The significant gap between Australia, New Zealand and the rest of the teams in the Oceanian zone was one of the reasons behind Australia leaving the OFC in mid of 2006 to join the more competitive Asian Football Confederation (AFC).[17][18] From the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers onwards, Australia participated in the Asian zone qualification phase.[19]
The American Samoan team did not feel down-hearted and even embraced and sang to the audience as the match finished. Salapu declared that he enjoyed the match and "wasn't embarrassed because we all learned something from it. If we had all our players, maybe it would have been only five or six goals, because I was without my best defenders and there was nothing I could do."[5] Tony Langkilde also defended the goalkeeper, saying that he "kept the score down with a magnificent display". He also stated that "now we are recognised by FIFA, it has really helped spark an interest in football on the islands."[7] Samoan manager Tunoa Lui commented that football was being played in the Samoan elementary and high schools and "in five years, we will be competitive."[5]
Post-match
American Samoa closed their qualification campaign with a 5–0 loss to Tonga, finishing bottom of the group with a −57 goal difference in four matches without scoring.[2] Australia continued their qualification campaign with a 2–0 win over Fiji and an 11–0 win over Samoa, winning the group with a +66 goal difference in four matches without conceding a single goal.[2]
Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 0 | +66 | 12 |
Fiji | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 4 | +23 | 9 |
Tonga | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 30 | −23 | 6 |
Samoa | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 18 | −9 | 3 |
American Samoa | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 57 | −57 | 0 |
Australia then defeated New Zealand, the other group winners, with an aggregate score of 6–1.[2] By winning the Oceanian zone, they advanced to the inter-continental play-off round against Uruguay, the fifth best team in the South American zone, where they were defeated with an aggregate score of 1–3, therefore failing to qualify for the 2002 World Cup.[20]
See also
- Next Goal Wins, a 2014 documentary film about the match and American Samoa's attempt to be better[21]
- Next Goal Wins, a 2023 dramatisation directed by Taika Waititi based on the above documentary
- The Federated States of Micronesia national under-23 football team, who conceded an average of 38 goals a match without scoring themselves at the 2015 Pacific Games
- AS Adema 149–0 SO l'Emyrne
- Arbroath 36–0 Bon Accord
- England 20–0 Latvia
- Running up the score
References
- ^ a b c Davies, Christopher (11 April 2001). "Australia score 31 without loss in record win". The Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
- ^ a b c d e "2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan Preliminaries; Results, Oceanian Zone". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
- ^ a b Rookwood, Dan (11 April 2001). "Aussie Rules as Socceroos smash world record again". The Guardian. London: Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
- ^ a b Harris, Nick (10 April 2001). "Football: 'Exposed' Tonga lose 22–0". The Independent. London: Independent News and Media Limited.
- ^ a b c Jeffreys, Mark (14 April 2001). "FIFA ruling which left Samoans singing the blues". The Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
- ^ "Australia 31-0 American Samoa: The loneliest game in history". FourFourTwo. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ a b "Give us Samoa goals". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 11 April 2001. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ a b c Johnson, Dale (11 April 2001). "Australia smash two world records". ESPN.com Soccernet. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
- ^ a b "Aussie footballers smash world record". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 11 April 2001. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
- ^ a b c "Australians set World Cup soccer scoring record". CBCSports.ca. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 11 April 2001. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
- ^ "Was It 31–0 or 32–0?; Australia Wins". The New York Times. 12 April 2001. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
- ^ "Match Report: Australia – American Samoa". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 11 April 2001. Archived from the original on 18 October 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
- ^ "The story behind an unlikely world record". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
- ^ Lynch, Michael (12 December 2004). "The all-important Cole difference". The Age. Melbourne: The Age Company Ltd. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
- ^ "Iran fanatics keep close eye on the Valley". The Guardian. London: Guardian News and Media Limited. 30 December 2000. Archived from the original on 24 June 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
- ^ "Road to SA 2010 starts in Samoa". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 21 June 2007. Archived from the original on 24 June 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
- ^ "Goal at last: Australia joining Asia". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. 11 March 2005. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
- ^ Collett, Mike (1 July 2005). "Australia completes move from Oceania to Asia". The Age. Reuters. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ^ "FIFA World Cup 2010: The draw in full". The Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group Limited. 26 November 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
- ^ Gatti, Juan (25 November 2001). "World Cup Qualifier: Australian hopes sunk by Morales". The Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
- ^ Geoghegan, Kev (6 May 2014). "Next Goal Wins for 'world's worst football team'". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 May 2014.