The outcome is that despite the Netherlands scoring 47 goals in their recent run as champions, not one of their players has broken into the all-time top 18 – an indication of just how difficult it is for a modern-day player to do so. To reach the list, a player needs a total of 10 UFWC goals. Of the current Dutch squad, Robin van Persie has nine, Dirk Kuyt and Wesley Sneijder eight, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar six, and Arjen Robben and Rafael van der Vaart five.

There have, however, been a couple of very minor changes to the list, both involving the goals totals of 19th-century players. Of course, many goals in that era were disputed, and one will never know for certain who scored them. I have, however, used the best (and most official) sources at my disposal!

Here is the current list (please note some of these players have more in-depth biographies in the UFWC Hall of Fame):

1) Gunnar Nordahl (Sweden) (1921-95)
29 goals in 19 games, 1942-47

The UFWC’s all-time top scorer by a huge margin, he played a total of 33 games for Sweden between 1942 and 1948, scoring 43 goals.

The UFWC games he scored in during this period are listed below (holder in capitals):
04/10/42 SWEDEN beat Denmark 2-1 (scored 1)
12/09/43 Sweden lost to HUNGARY 2-3 (scored 2)
07/11/43 Sweden beat HUNGARY 7-2 (scored 2)
24/06/45 SWEDEN beat Denmark 2-1 (scored 1)
01/07/45 SWEDEN beat Denmark 4-3 (scored 1)
30/09/45 SWEDEN beat Denmark 4-1 (scored 1)
21/10/45 SWEDEN beat Norway 10-0 (scored 4)
07/07/46 Sweden beat SWITZERLAND 7-2 (scored 1)
06/10/46 SWEDEN drew with Denmark 3-3 (scored 1)
15/06/47 SWEDEN beat Denmark 4-1 (scored 2)
26/06/47 SWEDEN beat Denmark 6-1 (scored 1)
28/06/47 SWEDEN beat Norway 5-1 (scored 4)
24/08/47 SWEDEN beat Finland 7-0 (scored 3)
14/09/47 SWEDEN beat Poland 5-4 (scored 2)
05/10/47 SWEDEN beat Norway 4-1 (scored 2)
19/11/47 SWEDEN lost to England 2-4 (scored 1)

As is clear from this list, the vast majority of his games were against Scandinavian nations, all of whom were pretty weak at the time. However, if there was any doubt about the man’s pedigree, his record at AC Milan would put that to rest. Whilst there, he was part of the Swedish Gre-No-Li trio with Nils Liedholm and the aforementioned Gunnar Gren. He won two league titles, and was the top scorer in Serie A five times. Indeed, he still holds the post-war record for most goals in a season in Italy.

Unfortunately, his move to Italy, at the age of just 27, ended his international career, and this, coupled with World War II, denied him the chance to play in a World Cup. He did, however, win an Olympic gold in London in 1948.

It is presumably his failure to appear in a World Cup, along with the fact that his career largely predated TV coverage of football, that has cost him the recognition he deserves. Nordahl is a true legend of the game, and a true legend of UFWC.

2=) Hughie Gallacher (Scotland) (1903-57)
20 goals in 15 games, 1925-35

A contender for the accolade of greatest ever Scottish goalscorer, Gallacher was a star of the ‘Wembley Wizards’ side that thrashed England 5-1 in 1928. In total, he scored 23 goals in 20 internationals. He spent most of his club career south of the border, with Newcastle and Chelsea amongst others. Standing a diminutive 5’5”, his no-nonsense approach often landed him in trouble, both on and off the pitch. In retirement, he struggled to find a niche for himself. He turned to alcohol and, in 1957, committed suicide on a railway line.

2=) Steve Bloomer (England) (1874-1938)
20 goals in 17 games, 1895-1907

Steve Bloomer remains a Derby County legend, more than a century since he made his debut. His goalscoring record was phenomenal for club and country alike. He scored 28 in just 23 games for England, and is the third highest scorer in the English top flight, after Jimmy Greaves and Dixie Dean. In 1906, he moved to Middlesbrough for £750, but returned to Derby four years later. He spent the First World War as a prisoner in Germany. He also played baseball for Derby!

4) Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina) (born 1969)
18 goals in 23 games, 1992-98

Argentina’s all-time top scorer, with 56 goals in total, ‘Batigol’ spent most of his career with Fiorentina, although it was to be Roma that gave him his only Serie A title. On the international front, he won two Copa Americas. In 1998, he became the first player ever to score hat-tricks in two different World Cups. He currently runs a construction company in Argentina.

5) Gunnar Gren (Sweden) (1920-91)
16 goals in 22 games, 1942-58

Most famous as part of AC Milan’s formidable Swedish ‘Gre-No-Li’ trio, Gren’s international career spanned 18 years. He starred in the Swedish teams that won gold at the 1948 Olympics, and reached the World Cup final on home territory ten years later. At club level, he won league titles with IFK Gothenburg and Milan.

6=) Anton Schall (Austria) (1907-47)
15 goals in 11 games, 1931-32

Schall was a star of Austria’s 1934 World Cup ‘Wunderteam’ that lost to hosts Italy in the semi-finals. It remains a highly controversial match, with Mussolini seemingly directly responsible for some strange refereeing decisions from Ivan Eklind (who again appeared to favour Italy in the final). Schall won seven Austrian championships with Admira Vienna. In 1947, he won the Swiss Cup as manager of FC Basel, but died months later.

6=) Pele (Brazil) (born 1940)
15 goals in 14 games, 1957-62

Globally feted as the greatest footballer of all time, Pele has won three World Cups, and scored over 1000 goals in his career (although many of these were in matches of very dubious standing). He only played for two clubs, Santos and New York Cosmos. His nearest rival for the accolade ‘greatest player ever’, Diego Maradona, has scored a mere five UFWC goals.

6=) Michel Platini (France) (born 1955)
15 goals in 18 games, 1976-85

Currently the President of UEFA, Platini was French national captain for eight years, taking his side to two World Cup semi-finals, both ending in defeat to West Germany. In between, his side won Euro 84, Platini himself scoring nine goals in five games. He later had less success as the manager of France. With Juventus, he won the Italian league (twice), the Coppa Italia, the Cup-Winners Cup and the European Cup.

9=) Matthias Sindelar (Austria) (1903-39)
13 goals in 12 games, 1931-32

‘The Mozart of Football’, Sindelar was one of the greatest Austrian players of all time. His international career was ended by the Nazi Anschluss of 1938, and his subsequent refusal to play for the German team. A year later, he died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Recorded officially as an accident, there are plenty who believe it was not.

9=) Oliver Bierhoff (Germany) (born 1968)
13 goals in 19 games, 1996-2001

A German hero following his goals at Wembley that won Euro 96, Bierhoff’s best years were spent in Italy, with Udinese and Milan. He is currently general manager of the German national team.

11=) Robert Hamilton (Scotland) (1877-1948)
11 goals in 6 games, 1899-1911

Hamilton spent most of his long career with Rangers, with whom he won numerous honours. Four of his UFWC goals came in an 11-0 win over Ireland in 1901, which is still Scotland’s record victory.

11=) Vivian Woodward (England) (1879-1954)
11 goals in 11 games, 1904-10

Fiercely determined to remain amateur when all around him were turning professional, Woodward scored 29 goals for England, which remained the national record for over 40 years. That’s not to mention the 57 goals he scored for England Amateurs. He twice captained Great Britain to Olympic football gold.

11=) Stan Mortensen (England) (1921-91)
11 goals in 11 games, 1947-50

Mortensen is the only player since 1894 to score an FA Cup final hat-trick, and still the match in question (the 1953 final) is referred to as the Matthews Final! After that match, Blackpool – the club with which Mortensen remains synonymous – did not reach Wembley again until 1991. Mortensen died that very day.

11=) Antonio Valentin Angelillo (Argentina) (born 1937)
11 goals, 1956-57 (approx 11 games, but I am unable to find exact records for his career)

Like many South American-born players of his era, Angelillo appeared for two different countries. He moved to Inter in 1957, ending his Argentina career. He scored 33 goals in Serie A in 1958-59 (nobody has scored as many since), and subsequently represented Italy. He still works for Inter, as a South American scout.

15=) George Ker (Scotland)
10 goals in 5 games, 1880-82

Ker only represented Scotland five times, yet scored three goals on his debut, twice in each of his next three games, and once on his final appearance. In 1884, he emigrated to North America, and nothing has been heard of him since.

15=) Dixie Dean (England) (1907-80)
10 goals in 7 games, 1927-31

Destined to remain forever as the highest goalscorer in a single English league season (60 goals for Everton in 1931-32), William Ralph Dean scored 18 goals in just 16 internationals. He died of a heart attack, suffered at Goodison Park whilst watching the Merseyside derby.

15=) John Goodall (England) (1863-1942)
10 goals in 11 games, 1888-96

Preston went through the entire 1888-89 season unbeaten in league or FA Cup – the only team ever to achieve this. Goodall was top scorer. He then moved to Derby, where he stayed for over a decade. He later played in France for Roubaix, and also played cricket for Derbyshire.

15=) Igor Chislenko (USSR) (1939-94)
10 goals in 17 games, 1966-67

During his international career, Chislenko helped his nation finish second in the 1964 European Nations Cup, and then fourth in both the 1966 World Cup and the 1968 European Championships. He won two league winners medals in his long association with Dinamo Moscow.

In most cases, UFWC title matches are FIFA ‘A’ accredited matches. According to FIFA, international ‘A’ matches are those that are arranged between two FIFA-affiliated national football associations in which both associations field their first national representative team. That seems clear enough, and, usually, the UFWC counts matches listed on the FIFA.com list of fixtures and results.

However, inconsistencies in historical classification mean it’s not always possible to rely on FIFA’s records. By FIFA’s own admission, its records have been sourced from various third parties, and it cannot vouch for their complete accuracy.

This raises several questions, not least of which is, what has happened to FIFA’s yearbooks recording the ‘A’ matches that each national association was required to register? But the main question facing us at the UFWC is, what do we do when a match’s categorisation is disputed?

For example, take the case of two Scotland matches from 1929: Norway 3-7 Scotland on 26 May 1929; and Netherlands 0-2 Scotland on 4 June 1929. The Scottish FA regards both of these games as ‘A’ matches, and lists them as so on its website. However, their Norwegian and Dutch counterparts don’t agree.

The Norwegian FA consider their game against Scotland in 1929 to have been a ‘test match’. Similarly, the Dutch don’t consider their match to have been official because they were still fielding amateur players at that time, while the Scots were professionals. FIFA has retrospectively removed both games from its records, and from its website.

However, crucially, as the games were regarded as full internationals at the time, they remain in the UFWC record books as full title matches. The fact that one or other of the teams may have been amateurs does not necessarily mean that those teams were not the first representative teams of those nations. Many early UFWC matches involved amateur teams – indeed in the early years of football all teams were amateurs – and almost all of these matches remain in the FIFA record books.

So we can accept that there will be some inconsistency regarding results delving back into football’s formative years, but what happens when disputes occur over more recent matches? Take, for example, two matches from the 1995 Carlsberg Cup Chinese New Year Tournament, played in Hong Kong: Colombia 0-1 South Korea on 31 January 1995; and South Korea 0-1 Yugoslavia on 4 February 1995.

Although at the time these two games were regarded as full internationals, they have subsequently been removed from FIFA’s records because South Korea apparently fielded an under-21 side. However, 10 of the 11 South Korean players fielded by against Colombia played in their country’s next match, against China on 19 February 1995. And that match still stands in the FIFA records. So the under-21 argument doesn’t wash. For UFWC purposes, both of these results stand.

Another major headache for UFWC statisticians is when title-holders play two simultaneous matches in different countries. This curious situation first occurred on 5 March 1892, when UFWC champs England played both Wales and Ireland in separate matches on the same day, with two completely different line-ups. So, England despatched 11 (mostly amateur) players to Wales, and another 11 to Ireland. Both won 2-0, retaining the UFWC title for England, and thankfully alleviating the potential scenario of two different nations having a claim to the title. Both matches stand as A matches, so both stay in the UFWC records.

This situation happened again on 30 September 1945 and on 15 September 1946, both times involving UFWC title holders Sweden. The Swedes played Finland and Denmark, and Finland and Norway respectively. Sweden won all four games, again avoiding potential problems in determining which nation ended up as champions. Again, the matches remain in the UFWC record books.

So we’re not going to retrospectively remove games from the UFWC records due to reclassification. But what about cases where errors are found in the records? Take the case of this match: Wales 2-2 England on 29 March 1904. Only, the match didn’t take place on 29 March 1904. It took place on 29 February, as spotted by UFWC statistical guru Peter Waring. Oops.

On 29 February 1904 Ireland were UFWC champions, so the Wales vs England match was not a title match. The error means this game has been removed from the UFWC record books. As it was a draw, and there was no change of title holder or ranking point award, there is no effect on the UFWC lineage or rankings table.

Will there be further reclassifications and disputes? Probably. (And if you spot any errors in the UFWC records do let us know.) But rather than look back, we prefer to look forward. Thankfully we can be pretty confident about which forthcoming matches will be FIFA ‘A’ matches, and therefore which will be UFWC title matches.

Take, for example, a little match taking place on 11 August between Mexico and Spain. Definitely an ‘A’ match. Definitely a title match. Definitely one to look forward to. what do you reckon?

Hungary, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Norway, Germany, and the Netherlands had all tried and failed to release the British Isles’ grip on the UFWC title. Austria had made two failed attempts, but were hoping to make it third time lucky against current champions Scotland.

The Scottish team was selected by committee, with scant regard for coaching or management. The Austrian team was a somewhat different proposition.

New Austrian coach Dr Hugo Meisl was a bona fide football pioneer, and perhaps the first great football manager. The son of a Jewish banker, Meisl abandoned a promising career in finance to travel around Europe learning everything he could about the game of football. Using his amassed great knowledge of the game, he became a successful club coach, and then began to shape the Austrian national side into his ‘Wunderteam’.

But Meisl didn’t work alone. His head coach was an Englishman who had learnt everything he knew about football from Scottish professionals.

Jimmy Hogan had been a distinctly average inside-right for the likes of Burnley and Fulham, where he learnt the finer points of football tactics from his Scottish teammates, before making his name as a coach on the continent. The Scots played a highly effective ‘scientific’ passing game that relied upon steady, patient play. Hogan was recruited by Meisl to teach the Austrians how to play in the same way.

The style of play Hogan instilled in the Austrians became known as the Vienna School of Football. And what better way to test the Wunderteam’s passing game than against the country that had invented it?

Scotland, captained by Clyde’s Daniel Blair, arrived in Vienna without their contingent of Rangers and Celtic players. They were promptly battered. With Meisl and Hogan orchestrating matters from the sidelines, the Wunderteam passed the Scots to death.

Karl Zischek scored two goals, the great Matthias Sindelar added a third, and Anton Schall and Adolf Vogel completed the turnover. The UFWC trophy left the British Isles for the very first time, as Austria became the first non-British side to win the UFWC title after 59 years of UFWC title matches. Scotland were beaten at their very own game.

As for Jimmy Hogan, he later coached in Hungary, and laid the foundations for that country’s ‘Magnificent Maygars’ side of the 1950s. Sometimes regarded as a traitor in his homeland for taking his football knowledge to the continent, Hogan died in Burnley in 1974 aged 91. Tributes called him a founding father of the modern game.

UFWC champions the Netherlands retained their title with this win against all-time UFWC champs Scotland. The result also effectively ended Scotland’s hopes of qualifying for World Cup 2010, with the Dutch already qualified.

Scotland were without first choice goalkeeper Craig Gordon, with Cardiff City’s David Marshall deputising.

The Scots started brightly, but the Dutch created the first clear chance, with Dirk Kuyt striking a post. But Scotland fought back, and Kenny Miller could have had a penalty after apparently being pulled down by Nigel de Jong. De Jong then moved upfield to force a good save from Marshall.

But again Scotland responded, with Miller’s cross-shot clipping the Dutch crossbar. Then Steven Naismith’s shot was parried onto the post by Netherlands keeper Michel Vorm, and Miller pounced on the rebound with the goal at his mercy, only to strike his follow-up straight at Vorm.

The first half had simmered with tension, with some tasty challenges flying in, and Darren Fletcher and Robin van Persie in particular seemingly keen to continue their Man United versus Arsenal rivalry.

The second period was less exciting, but the Netherlands began to dominate. First Kuyt headed a corner over the bar from close range. The Liverpool striker was later booked for diving.

Miller had another chance for Scotland, seeing a shot squirm out of Vorm’s hands and wide.

Then, on 82 minutes, substitute Eljero Elia latched onto a failed clearance from David Weir and showed great composure to coolly slot the ball past Marshall to give the Dutch a 1-0 lead. Elia, the 22-year-old Hamburg winger, had caught the eye in the Netherlands’ win over Japan on Saturday.

The goal was decisive, and the Scotland team appeared visibly deflated. Having battled well, the Scots had nothing left to offer.

The next UFWC title match, on 10 October, will see the Netherlands travel to Sydney to defend their title against Australia.

NETHERLANDS 1-3 SCOTLAND, 21 May 1938
Friendly, Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam
Scorers: Vente (Netherlands); Black, Murphy, Walker (Scotland)

Scotland had beaten England 1-0 at Wembley in April 1938 to regain the UFWC title. Tommy Walker scored the goal that defeated a brilliant England side, and his teammates that day included a young debutant named Bill Shankly. Shanks missed out on the trip to the Netherlands, although he would return to the Scotland side for subsequent matches.

The Scotland side that travelled was skippered by George Brown of Rangers, and included four Hearts players, three from Rangers, two from Blackpool, one from Celtic, and one from Third Lanark. But Walker, of Hearts, was undoubtedly the star of the show. The 50,000-strong Dutch crowd roared their appreciation as the inside-right produced a series of mazy dribbles that dumbfounded the home defence.

But the Netherlands also produced good attacking moves, which the Scottish defence battled hard to break up. One Dutch shot was blocked by George Brown’s face. ‘His nose bled a good deal,’ reported The Scotsman, ‘but after attention from his trainer he carried on.’

Scotland’s technical superiority began to show as the game wore on, but several missed opportunities meant that the score at half-time was 0-0.

But Scotland found their shooting boots early in the second half. The Netherlands’ defence were appealing for offside as Andrew Black of Hearts drove home a low right-footed shot. Dutch players and fans remonstrated loudly, but English referee Charles Argent waved away their appeals.

Five minutes later Scotland extended their lead, with Francis Murphy of Celtic bursting through from the left wing to find the net.

The victory was sealed in the 69th minute, when Walker deservedly scored, heading the ball home from an Alex Munro corner kick.

To their credit, the Netherlands never gave up, with inside-left Freek van der Veen creating several good chances. Four minutes from time Dutch centre-forward Leen Vente stabbed home a consolation goal.

After the game, Scottish Football Association secretary George Graham commented with remarkable insight, ‘It was a good match and the better team won.’

Despite being unofficial champions, Scotland were not invited to participate in the 1938 World Cup finals, a tournament subsequently won by Italy.

Scotland have won more UFWC title matches than any other nation, and can therefore claim to be the all-time UFWC champions.

The Scots’ history in the tournament goes right back to the very first UFWC title match in 1872. The opponents were England, and the score was 0-0. In the rematch a year later, England won to become the first UFWC champions. But, in 1874, Scotland defeated England 2-1 to take the title for the first of many times.

For almost 60 years, the UFWC title was passed between Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland (latterly Northern Ireland). Then, in 1931, Scotland travelled to Vienna and were thrashed 5-0 by Austria. For the first time the UFWC title left the British Isles. But it would return, and Scotland continued to win the title with regularity.

In 1938, Scotland beat the Netherlands 3-1 in Amsterdam to retain the UFWC title (read a full account of this match tomorrow). However, despite holding the unofficial title, Scotland were not involved in the 1938 World Cup finals, a disorganised shambles in France that eventually saw Italy emerge as official champions.

Scotland lost the title to England in 1939, and so ended the Scots’ dominance of the UFWC competition. They briefly regained the title from England in 1949, but then went 18 full years without even contesting the UFWC.

Then, in 1967, Scotland played undisputed official and unofficial football world champions England at Wembley. Scotland famously won 3-2, in a game that did much to prompt the creation of an unofficial championship.

Scotland lost the next match to the USSR, and embarked on a long 40-year spell in the UFWC wilderness.

Then, in 2007, a 2-1 win over Georgia ended the title drought. But the Scots’ latest reign was short-lived. Four days later they lost 2-0 to Italy.

In March, Scotland took on the Netherlands and lost 3-0. Can they improve on that result on Wednesday?

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When these two sides met in a UFWC clash six months ago, the Netherlands brushed Scotland aside 3-0 in Amsterdam. This rematch promises to be a closer affair.

As well as a UFWC title match, the game is a crucial World Cup qualifier – for the Scots, in any case. The Netherlands have already qualified for the tournament in South Africa next summer, but Scotland are still battling to win second place in their qualifying group. Could this extra incentive give the home side the impetus they need to win this UFWC/WCQ double-header?

Scotland, of course, are famously the all-time UFWC champions, having won 86 UFWC title matches – more than any other nation, ahead of the likes of England, Argentina, Russia – and the Netherlands, who have won 38 title matches and are ranked fifth overall.

Current UFWC rankings by title matches won:

1. Scotland 86
2. England 74
3. Argentina 50
4. Russia 41
5. Netherlands 38

But Scotland have not had an easy time of things in UFWC competition in recent years. The Scots last held the title in March 2007, having ended a 40-year drought by beating Georgia, only then to lose out just four days later to official world champions Italy. We’ll take a look at Scotland’s full UFWC history tomorrow.

And while the Netherlands have already qualified for the World Cup, Saturday’s 3-0 demolition of Japan offered little evidence that the team will take it easy on Wednesday.

Good news for the Dutch is that Wesley Sneijder should have recovered from an injury sustained in the Japan match. Scotland should be able to call upon Scott Brown, who was also injured at the weekend, but will be without the suspended James McFadden.

Scotland beat Macedonia 2-0 on Saturday, and the pre-match talk is that Wednesday night’s result will make or break the nation’s qualifying hopes, with much of the Scottish media treating the game like something of a cup final.

So this UFWC title match is getting the pre-match build-up it deserves. Tomorrow we’ll recap Scotland’s long UFWC history, and on Wednesday we’ll look back at a classic UFWC title match between Scotland and the Netherlands from 1938. Then, on Wednesday evening we’ll have all the action from the big match.

But who will win? Make your prediction below.

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Although he was born in England, in 1847, his only international appearance was for Scotland in the 1873 UFWC match against England.

He played in nine FA Cup finals, won five, and scored in three. He celebrated his fifth FA Cup victory by standing on his head in front of the stands. He played up front and in goal, when the fancy took him, and scored one of the very first recorded own-goals, in the FA Cup final of 1877.

A renowned ‘hacker’, Kinnaird was known to go for the shins. Once, when Kinnaird’s wife worried that he might return home with a broken leg, a friend commented, ‘You must not worry, madam. If he does, it will not be his own.’

Lord Kinnaird was president of the English FA for 33 years until his death in 1923.

This was the second UFWC title match, and the first to produce a winner. The perious match had seen Scotland and England draw 0-0, and this time Scotland travelled to London to face a new-look England side.

A series of trials had apparently unearthed some hot new talent, and only three English players survived from the first match. Scotland also made changes, bringing in star league players Lord Arthur Kinnaird of FA Cup holders Wanderers, and Colonel Henry Waugh Renny-Tailyour of Royal Engineers (also a Scottish rugby international and England cricketer).

Both sides had spent three months in preparation, and expectations were high. The match was played on a glorious day in front of a boisterous crowd of 3-4,000 spectators, including many travelling founder members of the Tartan Army.

England grabbed the opening goal in the first minute of the match, when Captain William Kenyon-Slaney, an India-born Army Officer, scored from an Alexander Bonsor cross. Kenyon-Slaney was the first international and UFWC goalscorer – and he later became the first footballer-turned-MP.

Under football’s early rules the sides changed ends after this and each subsequent goal – and there was no half-time break.

England doubled their lead after a slip by Scottish goalkeeper and captain Robert Gardner allowed Bonsor to score. But Scotland hit back. First a mazy dribble from Kinnaird set up Renny-Tailyour, then William Gibb bundled in an equaliser.

But the Scottish team were tiring, and England took advantage. Kenyon-Slaney grabbed his second goal to restore England’s lead, and Charles Chenery made it 4-2 with five minutes left to play. There was still time for the excited crowd to spill onto the pitch, but there were no more goals.

‘Thus ended a match so pleasant and free from disputes that there was really no appeal to the umpires throughout,’ reflected The Scotsman.

English skipper and goalkeeper Alexander Morton, in his 40s on his international debut, would have been the first man ever to get his hands on the UFWC trophy, had such a trophy ever existed. Having beaten the only other international team in existence, the English could claim to be the best team in the world – the Unofficial Football World Champions. And the entertaining nature of the game gave the new-fangled distraction of international football a huge boost.

‘If any proof were necessary,’ wrote Bell’s Life, ‘there was sufficient evidence on this occasion to convince the most sceptical that football, if only aided by fine weather, is a game that could take its place among the leading pastimes of the day.’ Goodbye shuffleboard, hello football.

Reigning champions the Dutch defeated all-time champions the Scots in tonight’s UFWC/WCQ match to retain the UFWC title. The scoreline might have been harsh on Scotland, who battled well for long periods, but the Netherlands’ extra class shone through.

It was the Scots who created the first good chance of the game, with Kenny Miller beating the offside trap only to delay his shot long enough for Joris Mathijsen to put in a saving tackle.

And after half an hour the Dutch took control, with an unchallenged Klaas-Jan Huntelaar finishing a Mark van Bommel cross. Deep into first half injury time, Robin van Persie headed home a Arjen Robben cross to give the Netherlands a 2-0 half-time lead.

Scotland manager George Burley was unhappy that French referee Laurent Duhamel had not seen an apparent obstruction on keeper Alan McGregor, and was furious in the second half when Duhamel – currently suspended by the French FA – disallowed a Gary Caldwell headed goal that could have been Scotland’s lifeline.

That the ref then awarded the Dutch a penalty further angered the Tartan Army, although replays showed that debutant Christophe Berra had fouled Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Liverpool’s Dirk Kuyt slotted home the penalty to make the score 3-0.

Watch match highlights at bbc.co.uk.

The next UFWC title match will be this Wednesday 1 April when the Netherlands host FYR Macedonia. This will be Macedonia’s first-ever involvement in the UFWC. Will it be first time lucky?