“England qualified for the World Cup in perfect style, winning all eight games without conceding a goal,” writes Charlie Wilson. “How many teams have done this?”
This isn’t the first time England have qualified for a World Cup without conceding a goal. They did the same ahead of Italia 90 – but three of their six group games were 0-0 draws and they might not have qualified had Poland’s Rysard Tarasiewicz scored in the last minute of their final game in Chorzow. Instead his heatseeker hit the crossbar and England were through.
There are dozens of examples of perfect campaigns across the men’s and women’s games, especially in the early days when qualification groups were smaller. In 1934, for example, Italy qualified after beating Greece 4-0 in their only game. Greece chose not to play the return match and Italy went on to win the whole tournament. With that – and research time – in mind, we’ve restricted the answer to a) European qualification only and b) teams who played at least five games.
We think England are the first men’s team from Europe to achieve this particular definition of World Cup perfection. Four women’s teams have done it, including the Lionesses during qualification for the 2023 tournament. In 10 games they scored 80 (e-i-g-h-t-y) goals and conceded none.
Plenty of other sides have won all their games while conceding the odd goal, including Erling Haaland’s Norway en route to the men’s finals tournament next year.
Possibly the most spectacular performance came from Germany Women before the 1995 World Cup, a campaign that doubled up as qualification for Euro 95. These were their results:
-
Switzerland (A) 5-0
-
Wales (H) 12-0
-
Wales (A) 12-0
-
Croatia (A) 7-0
-
Croatia (H) 8-0
-
Switzerland (H) 11-0
Germany eventually lost the 1995 World Cup final against Norway, but they went all the way in 2003 and 2007 after qualification with a 100% record and the cleanest of sheets. The other teams to achieve that feat are Spain’s men (2010) and Spain’s women (2023).
Here’s a (hopefully) comprehensive list of European teams who qualified with a 100% record (minimum five games). Oddly, three of the four men’s teams went on to lose their first game at the World Cup proper. Then again, West Germany (1982), the Netherlands and Spain (both 2010) all went on to reach the final.
Men’s World Cup
1982 West Germany Played 8, Goals For 33, Goals Against 3
2010 Netherlands P8 F17 A2 and Spain P10 F28 A5
2018 Germany P10 F43 A4
2026 England P8 F22 A0 and Norway P8 F37 A5
Women’s World Cup
1995 Germany P6 F55 A0
1999 Denmark P6 F22 A3 and Sweden P6 F18 A5
2003 Germany P6 F30 A1
2007 Germany P8 F31 A3
2011 France P10 F50 A0
2015 England P10 F52 A1France P10 F54 A3Germany P10 F62 A4 and Sweden P10 F32 A1
2019 Spain P8 F25 A2
2023 England P10 F80 A0Denmark P8 F40 A2France P10 F54 A4 and Spain P8 F53 A0
Sing song
“Commentating on Manchester City v Liverpool (in the US), Jon Champion observed that the City fans were chanting about Steven Gerrard’s slip of 10 years earlier and commented: ‘Long memories.’ As a football fan, 10 years (actually 11) doesn’t seem like a particularly long time to me. So which football chants display the longest memories?” asks Chris Taylor.
Football fans have longer memories than most, for richer and poorer, so there are plenty of answers from the 20th century. We’ve excluded general chants about individual players (“Ooh, Aah, Cantona”) and focused on those that reference specific incidents or seasons. Here they are in reverse chronological order.
Sheffield Wednesday v Sheffield United, Division Three, 1979-80
“On Boxing Day 1979 there was a Sheffield derby at Hillsborough,” writes Darren White. It was the first league meeting between the clubs in eight years and attracted a still record third-tier crowd of over 49,000 people. Wednesday won 4-0 and it became known as the Boxing Day Massacre. To this day, both sets of fans sing the same song to the tune of Boney M’s Mary’s Boy Child:
Hark now hear United (or Wednesday) sing
The Wednesday (or United) ran away
And we will fight for evermore
Because of Boxing Day
“One might think it curious that United fans sing about an embarrassing defeat, but in the true style of the era, it’s a celebration of the abilities of the club’s hooligan element rather than their players.”
On a similar note, this from Ed Parkinson: “In the run-up to Christmas, some Hartlepool fans like to commemorate early 1970s festive fisticuffs with old rivals Darlington by promising to ‘fight for forevermore because of Boxing Day’.”
Bayern Munich v Leeds United, European Cup final, 1974-75
“Leeds fans cause some confusion with the ‘We are the champions, champions of Europe’ chant, given we’ve never actually won the European Cup/Champions League,” writes Adam Brewer. “The chant originates from the 1975 final where we were [redacted – Legal Ed] out of it against Bayern Munich. Fifty years later it’s still being sung – and passed down the generations. You should ask my 10-year-old about the foul on Allan Clarke that wasn’t given as a penalty.”
Sheffield United, 1970-71
It seems Yorkshire football supporters have longer memories than most. Our own John Ashdown writes in with a chant that pays tribute to the 1970-71 promotion squad and specifically three players: Eddie Colquhoun, Tony Currie and Alan Woodward.
We ain’t got a barrel of money,
But we’ve got Woodward and Currie,
And with Eddie Colquhoun,
Promotion is soon,
U-ni-ted,
All together now …
Rangers v Motherwell, Scottish Cup third-round replay, 1960-61
“Motherwell fans sing a song which begins As I was walking down the Copeland Road, I heard a might roar’,” writes Gary Tait. “This references The Well beating Rangers 5-2 in a Scottish Cup replay in March 1961, one of Ian St John’s last games before moving to Liverpool. The family-friendly version continues:
For the boys in blue got beat 5-2 by the boys in claret and amber
“‘Beat’ is usually substituted for something far more industrial.”
He’s a keeper
In last week’s Knowledge we looked at players born in the crown dependencies (Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey) who have played for the Home Nations. There’s another name to add to the list. “Walsall goalkeeper Trevor Wood was from Jersey and, despite no obvious connection, played one game for Northern Ireland,” writes Robert Davies. “He was recommended by his club manager Chris Nicholl, who had played for Northern Ireland in the 1970s and 1980s.”
San Marino: an apology
In last week’s Knowledge we referred to San Marino as a “principality” when in fact is a republic. We apologise for the mistake.
Knowledge archive
“Has a footballer ever had a haircut at half-time?” pondered Darren McVeigh in 2013.
Although we’ve not been able to turn up any tales of half-time barnet-trimming, there have been a couple of reports of a half-time face-fuzz buzz, although as yet the reasons remain a mystery. “Although it technically isn’t a haircut, Sweden and former Celtic defender Daniel Majstorovic had his beard shaved at half-time, while playing for AEK Athens,” writes Yiannis Tsaousis. “The match was Levadiakos v AEK on 30 November 2008. The fun fact is that he didn’t shave it clean, but he came out on the pitch for the second half with a Genghis Khan-like thick moustache.”
And there’s a similarly hairy tale concerning one of the all-time greats. “In all his bearded glory, George Best starred in an indie film festival here in Wellington about six or eight years ago which devoted 90 minutes and a single camera fixed on him throughout a match, on and off the ball,” writes Ian Rogers. “It was for Manchester United, against the powerhouse of Coventry City, and the vice-like boredom of the entire cinematic experience was broken only by George scoring early in the second half. There may have been a second goal, who knows or cares really. However, at half-time, clearly they had to do an off-scene retake and fill in shot, and so a non-sweating, fully kitted out, and clean shaven George gazed dolefully at the camera. Cue start of the second half, and he’s back on, beard and all.”
The film in question is the East German director Hellmuth Costard’s Fußball wie noch nie, or “Football as never before”, and the game in question was United’s home fixture against the Sky Blues on 12 September 1970. Ian’s memory is slightly off as the beard in question actually appears only at half-time, and to be fair to the filmmaker it’s not entirely clear that the half-time segment is supposed to be in real time – as well as gaining a beard, Best has lost the No 11 from his back. But, thanks to the wonder of YouTubereaders can make up their own minds:
Can you help?
“How does Troy Parrott’s amazing performance for Ireland – five goals in two games against Portugal and Hungary – compare to the great individual performances in a single international window? I’m sure other players have scored more goals but who else has had such a dramatic impact?” asks Richie Tuohy [Let’s limit any answers to players whose goals were decisive in every game of a single window – Knowledge Ed]
“In the current under-17 World Cup, Morocco beat New Caledonia 16-0 with no player scoring two goals. Is this the highest score without a hat-trick?” asks Paul Gage.
“Ross Sykes (Union Saint-Gilloise) and Conor Gallagher (Atlético Madrid) both scored when their teams faced each other in the Champions League. Have two English players scored in the same match for opposing foreign teams before?” asks Liam Corbett.
“My beloved team/lifelong affliction York City just scored four goals in a fourth consecutive league game. Three was already a record for us, but I’m sure there have been some swashbuckling teams that have done even better. What is the record in modern times for a team in the top five English divisions for scoring four or more in consecutive games?” wonders Ross Duggleby.
