Following Japan’s 8-0 win over Tajikistan, our look at the highest scoring matches in UFWC history culminates with this 15-goal Victorian classic.

England 13-2 Ireland
18 February 1899
British Home Championships
Roker Park, Sunderland
Scorers: Frank Forman, Fred Forman (2), Athersmith, Smith (4), Bloomer (2), Settle (3) (England); Campbell, McAllen (pen) (Ireland)

Another England versus Ireland UFWC match, another rout, and another brace of goals for the great Steve Bloomer. But Bloomer’s feat was surpassed on the day by the goalscoring achievements of two of his team-mates.

The venue for this defence of the title was Roker Park, with 14,000 spectators turning up. Sunderland full-back Philip Bach was drafted in to play in front of his home crowd for his first and only England international.

Those in attendance could have been forgiven for initially failing to realise how spectacular this match was going to be – a full quarter of an hour was played before the avalanche of goals began.

Frank Forman, then of Sheffield United, got England’s first, and his brother Fred, of Nottingham Forest, netted the second. It was Fred’s debut, and the pair became the first professional footballer brothers to play for England. (Amateurs Arthur and Edward Bambridge played together for England in 1883, and scored in the same England match in 1884). William Athersmith of Aston Villa hit the third goal, before captain Gilbert Smith and striker Bloomer both netted to make the score 5-0 at half-time.

Fred Forman grabbed his second goal of the game in the second half, as did Bloomer. Skipper Smith, the old-school Corinthians forward, ended up with four goals, including three in four mad second-half minutes. (Smith, one of the greatest amateur footballers ever to play for England, scored 11 goals in 20 games for his country, and was also a first class cricketer – a high-scoring right-hand batsman for Oxford University and Surrey.) Debutant James Settle of Bury also hit a second half hat-trick – he ended up scoring six goals in six games for England.

James Campbell and Joseph McAllen, of Cliftonville and Linfield respectively, scored consolation goals for the sorry Irish. The fact that Irish goalkeeper James Lewis only had eight full fingers (he lost two fingertips in an accident) may have had some bearing on the final result, although Lewis did manage to limit the rout by saving a James Crabtree penalty.

This was England’s second biggest victory ever (after a 13-0 non-UFWC triumph over Ireland in 1882) and, taking into account goals for, the biggest ever win in UFWC history. (It was the first of two UFWC games to be won by an 11-goal margin.) 15 goals represents the most ever scored in a UFWC match, and 13 goals is the most ever scored in a UFWC match by one team.

Unsurprisingly, England went on to win the 1899 British Home Championships, beating Wales 4-0 and Scotland 2-1 along the way. The English then took the UFWC title into the 20th century, before losing 4-1 to Scotland in April 1900.

This is an edited extract from the book Unofficial Football World Champions, which tells the full story of the UFWC via more than 100 classic matches.

Classic Matches England, ireland

Following the Japan 8-0 Tajikistan game, we’re taking a look at some of the highest scoring matches in UFWC history, continuing with this Scottish goal-fest.

Scotland 11-0 Ireland
23 February 1901
British Home Championships
Celtic Park, Glasgow
Scorers: McMahon (4), Russell, John Campbell (Celtic) (2), Bob Hamilton (4)

This was Scotland’s biggest ever victory, and the biggest clean-sheet win in UFWC history.

The match was remarkable for several other reasons, one of which was that the Scotland 11 featured two players called John Campbell – one from Rangers, and the other from Celtic. The Glasgow sides were already dominating Scottish football, and the national side overall contained five Rangers players and four from Celtic (Queen’s Park and Kilmarnock provided the other two).

Among the Celtic contingent was Sandy ‘Duke’ McMahon, ‘the prince of dribblers’, and a very handy goalscorer. (The Duke’s nickname was a reference to the then-famous French President Patrice de Mac-Mahon, the Duke of Magenta.) The moustachioed McMahon was said to play football with ‘arms held high, spread out like ostrich wings, head down, back slightly bent forward, enormous feet’.

Despite (or perhaps on account of) his unique playing style, McMahon netted a first half hat-trick, with Celtic club mates Campbell and David Russell also scoring, to give Scotland a 5-0 half-time lead.

There were 15,000 fans inside Celtic Park, and they must have been rubbing their eyes in disbelief. And there was more for Celtic fans in particular to enjoy when McMahon scored his fourth, and Scotland’s sixth, just after half-time.

There was plenty for Rangers fans to cheer as well. Scotland skipper Bob Hamilton was the darling of the ‘Gers, and the Scottish league’s top scorer in 1901. Not to be outdone by Celtic’s McMahon, Hamilton also scored four goals – even quicker than McMahon had managed. Inside-forward Hamilton scored 11 goals in six UFWC title matches, and topped the Scottish league’s goalscorer chart six times.

John Campbell of Celtic’s second goal, squeezed into the middle of Hamilton’s four, brought Scotland’s remarkable tally to 11. So Scotland retained the UFWC title in fine style. But for Ireland it was another crushing UFWC defeat. The Irish had now played 18 UFWC title matches, lost 17 of them, and drawn one, each time failing to take the title. Ireland’s time would eventually come, although they would have to wait another two years for UFWC glory.

This is an edited extract from the book Unofficial Football World Champions, which tells the full story of the UFWC via more than 100 classic matches.

Classic Matches ireland, Scotland

Following Japan’s 8-0 win over Tajikistan, we’re taking a look at some of the highest scoring matches in UFWC history, starting with this euphoric post-war win for Sweden.

Sweden 10-0 Norway
21 October 1945
Friendly
Rasunda Stadium, Solna
Scorers: Nordahl (4), Carlsson (2), Nyberg (2), Persson, Gren

This game was the biggest goal-scoring achievement of a dynamic Swedish UFWC reign. The Swedes had taken the title from Hungary in 1943, before the Second World War finally put a stop to world football. Sweden claimed neutrality during the war, and avoided being invaded. However, neighbouring Denmark and Norway had both been occupied by German forces, effectively cutting Sweden’s trade routes and hampering food and fuel supplies.

After victory in Europe was declared, football and the UFWC resumed in June 1945 with a 2-1 win for Sweden over Denmark. Despite the two-year footballing break, seven of the Swedish side that had played against Hungary in 1943 returned for the match, including Gunnars Nordahl and Gren. The Swedish side was selected by a committee known as the Uttagningskommitten, and was coached by influential former player Putte Kock. Despite the interruption of war, this brilliant team was about to make a major impact on the UFWC.

The match in Solna, in October 1945, was unforgettable. Vincent Persson scored the first goal, in the first minute of his first international appearance for Sweden. Then Gunnar Nordahl hit the first of his four goals. Arne Nyberg and Nils Carlsson, both of whom had scored against the Nazi Germany team in 1942, hit two goals each. Gunnar Gren also got on the scoresheet. It was 4-0 at half-time, 10-0 at full-time, and an almighty victory for the Swedes.

It would be easy to attribute Sweden’s dominance of the UFWC at this time to the war, which undoubtedly had a more profound affect on neighbouring European countries. However, that would do a disservice to a genuinely great team featuring some of international football’s best ever players.

Sweden’s UFWC party was temporarily upset in the next title match, when fellow neutral nation Switzerland won 3-0 in Geneva to take the title. But the Swedes responded with a 7-2 victory in the subsequent return match.

Interestingly, Sweden’s UFWC reign included two instances of simultaneous matches being played against different countries: on 30 September 1945 against Finland and Denmark; and on 15 September 1946 against Finland and Norway. The Swedes won all four games, scoring 20 goals.

This is an edited extract from the book Unofficial Football World Champions, which tells the full story of the UFWC via more than 100 classic matches.

Classic Matches Norway, Sweden