Footballers do incredible things every week but sometimes they surprise even the most devoted fans who thought they’d seen it all. These are ten of the top world records in the sport, from the highest sums for a player transfer to some outstanding feats of physical skill that have yet to be beaten to this day, but tips for today are available online.
- Longest Goal Ever Scored – Asmir Begovich earned the record of longest goal ever scored in 2013, when the ball travelled 97.5 yards into the net, giving Stoke City their lead over Southampton.
- Fastest Hat-Trick – Hat-tricks are scored often in football and at various levels, but it’s agreed that Magnus Arvidsson scored the quickest hat-trick ever in professional football. In 1995, when he was with IFK Hassleholm, he scored a hat-trick in an impressive 1 minute 29 seconds.
- Six Titles in a Calendar Year – Pep Guardiola may have only been with Barcelona four seasons, but he made sure that the time wasn’t wasted. In his first two seasons with the club, they produced the amazing feat of six title wins, starting with the La Liga, Copa del Rey and the Champions League. These wins gave them the opportunity to play for the Spanish and European Super Cups and the FIFA World Cup.
- Five Consecutive European Cups – Real Madrid maintained an enviable standard over five years during the mid-50s and early ‘60s, winning five European Cups and staking their claim in the history books.
- Longest Penalty Shootout – In 2005, during the Namibian Cup, KK Palace and Civics drew 2-2 and had to go to penalty kicks. 48 kicks later, Palace prevailed, making it the longest shootout in history.
- Most Consecutive Hat-Tricks – In 1998, Masashi Makayama scored hat-tricks in four consecutive games, tallying 16 goals over the course of the four matches. Along with this achievement, he was also the first Japanese player in history to score for his country in a World Cup that year.
- Longest Unbeaten Run – Between 2003 and 2004, Arsenal managed to secure 49 unbeaten games consecutively, including each and every one of the 38 games of the Premier League season in 2003. In fact, the run spanned three seasons, as it included two of the games from the end of the 2002-03 season as well as the first ten games of the 2004-05 season.
- Most Goals Scored by a Goalkeeper – Sao Paolo goalkeeper wins the record for most goals scored, scoring 128 throughout his career.
- Longest Headed Goal – In 2011, Jone Samuelsen scored with a header that spanned just over 58 meters.
- Highest Transfer Fee – The most expensive player transfer in history was for Neymar in 2017, for the hefty sum of €308.2 million. Paris-Saint Germain made a statement signing when they secured the Brazilian forward from Barcelona. The activated the €222 million release clause in his contract which made him the most expensive footballer in history and also the most expensive in combined transfer fees as well.