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Top Ten Biggest Defeats In Football History

One of the major traits of a passionate football fan is the ability never to forget historic goals scored by their favourite teams, especially when witnessed live.

However, there are two sides of every coin and therefore in the history of football, besides the resounding victories, there is the opposite fanbase that witnessed so many forgettable games that they just wished didn’t happen.

Even if not witnessed live, a simple online research of a thrashing of your favourite team can send you into utter embarrassment.

In football there are ups and downs, you win some you lose some, and one way or the other defeat is inevitable in the beautiful game. The fun of it is why fanatics make predictions, place bets, view and wait for results…

Interesting is in the front. You can view the soccer house odds and odds for all leagues with the fb88 bookies. Register and download now to play betting and other online games. 

Let’s review the top 10 biggest defeats in football history. 

1. A.S Adema 149-0 Stade Olympique L’Emyrne (2002)

The match took place on October 31, 2002, in the Madagascar National Football Championship which ended with a score of 149-0 in favour of the home team. It was the match with the most number of goals in world football history recognised by the Guinness Book of Records. 

AS Adema, one of the biggest football clubs in Madagascar, headquartered in Antananarivo, defeated their great rival Stade Olympique de l’Emyrne (SOE).

However, many implicit decisions against l’Emyrne led to Adema’s championship. Stade Olympique L’Emyrne players kept kicking their net home in protest of the referee’s decision to create one of the craziest games. 

After that incident, some members of this Madagascar team were fined. The Madagascar Football Federation decided to ban Stade Olympique de L’Emyrne (SOE) coach Ratsarazaka for three years.

He was also not allowed to appear in the stadiums during that time. Four SOE players directly involved in “burning the home net” 149 times, were suspended until the end of the season.

Goalkeeper Razafindrakoto, captain of Madagascar national team, SOE captain Andrianiaina and two players Rakotoarimanana and Rakotonandrasana were also not allowed to attend the country’s stadiums during the penalty period.

2. Plateau United Feeders 79-0 Akurba (2013)

This was a vast and horrible scandal that happened in Nigerian football. In Nigeria’s Nationwide League Division third qualification play-off round, four teams including Plateau United Feeders, Akubra FC, Police Machine, and Babayaro FC cheated when making the match.

According to Sports Buddy, after scoring seven goals against Akurba in the first half, Nigerian club Plateau United Feeders ended up shaking Akurba’s net 72 times after full-time. This unbelievable result left the player on both sides permanently suspended for contempt for the audience.

3. Police Machine 67-0 Babayaro (2013)

This was a match that took place at the same time as the match between Plateau United Feeders and Akubra in the same playoff division.

When Babayaro loses so heavily, it’s not difficult to understand that their players, as well as Police Machine’s colleagues, were permanently suspended as a match-fixing scandal was suspected by the governing football federation.

4.  Brazil 1-7 Germany (2014)

Brazil’s 1-7 defeat to Germany in the 2014 World Cup semi-final is one of the most memorable football games in the history of the World Cup and is considered till date as the most humiliating in the football history of the Samba country. The 20th World Cup finals were held in Brazil from June 13 to July 14, 2014, with 32 teams participating.

The match between Brazil and Germany was the first semi-final of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which took place on July 8 at Mineirão Stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Germany’s 7–1 win over Brazil in this match holds the record for the highest winning margin in a World Cup semi-final game in all its history and also the worst loss by a host country. 

This match was also the biggest defeat of the Brazilian team in history. Although the host Brazil did not have enough strong force, in any World Cup finals, Brazilian football fans still have great expectations for the home team and definitely not to concede seven times in a semifinal match.

Germany was a great team, arguably the best team in the world at that time and they went on to win the competition, but Brazil losing 7-1 to anyone, in the knockout of a world cup they hosted will shock every human.

5. Australia 31–0 American Samoa (2001)

Australia, along with New Zealand, were considered the two strongest teams in the continent of Oceania. Both teams were the only two teams that have ever won the Oceania Cup, and also the only two teams to ever make it to the World Cup finals: Australia in 1974 and New Zealand, 1982.

Meanwhile, American Samoa was among the weakest teams in the world, losing all international matches since they joined FIFA in 1998. Before the match, Australia ranked 75th and American Samoa ranked 203rd, the lowest on the FIFA ranking at the time.

This was understandable when the Australian team set the world record for the greatest victory in an international football match, with the final score of 31–0. The unbalanced proficiency of their opponents was also part of the reason that Australia wanted to move to the Asian Football Confederation in 2006.

6. Barcelona 6-1 Paris Saint-Germain (2017)

One of the greatest comebacks in the history of the UEFA Champions League. After losing 4-0 in the first leg, Barcelona’s chance of progressing to the next round seemed to be zero as no team had ever turned around a 4-0 first-leg deficit in the knockouts of the UCL.

But, Lionel Messi and his teammates shocked the world in the second leg with Neymar being the star man as the Blaugranas secured an incredible 6-1 victory in the reverse fixture at Camp Nou to progress 6-5 on aggregate. Under the passionate cheers of the home audience and with the mentality of having nothing to lose, the host players made the most surprising comeback ever witnessed at Camp Nou.

Barça got a 3-0 lead before Edinson Cavani pulled one back for the visitors, killing every foreseeable chance of the hosts making a comeback. But a miracle happened as Barça scored three goals in the final ten minutes to win the tie 6-1 with Sergi Roberto netting the winner late in injury time.

7. Manchester United 8-2 Arsenal (2011)

The one-way match started with Danny Welbeck’s first goal for Man United in the 22nd minute. Then, Robin Van Persie had the opportunity to equalise on the penalty spot but missed, and then Arsenal conceded two goals. At the end of the first half,  the gunners were able to keep the score at 1-3.

But the second half was a horror show for the North Londoners. Goals from Nani, Park Ji Sung, Ashley Young and Wayne Rooney (scored two more goals) drowned Arsene Wenger’s men in the deep blue sea before Van Persie got a consolation goal. At the end of the match, 8-2 was the final score, the Old Trafford experiencing sheer masterclass while their rivals wallow in pain, agony and shame.

8. Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona (2019)

Another memorable UCL nights. Barça never remained the same since the 6-1 comeback, and it was their turn to taste the sour part of the meal in the 2018/2019 season.

Winning 3-0 at home in the first leg of the semi-finals, Barça went to a field needing just a goal to force their opponents to need to score five, but they had the worst nightmare of their lives when Jürgen Klopp’s men put four past them without conceding a single goal.

Liverpool played with high determination despite missing key man Salah in the game through injury, and an early goal from Origi spurred the team to a memorable win. Liverpool’s 4-0 victory was considered a remarkable feat in the Champions League arena.

9. Spain 1-5 Netherlands (2014)

The 2014 World Cup was one with a lot of memorable clashes and Netherlands 5-1 thrashing of defending Champions Spain was one of them.

Spain, who defeated the orange whirlwind in the final of the biggest tournament in the previous edition in 2010, saw revenge in the eye four years later.

It was the opening game of the tournament for Spain and losing 5-1 made it their worst opening day defeat in 64 years (losing 1-6 at the 1950 World Cup against Brazil was the previous record).

10. USA 13-0 Thailand (2019)

The US Women’s National team beat Thailand 13-0, scoring ten goals in the second half in a match at Reims on June 12, 2019, to set the record of the most significant winning margin in women’s World Cup history following Germany’s 11-0 win over Argentina in 2007. In which, star striker Alex Morgan has scored five goals.

However, the US team has faced criticism for the way the girls celebrate each goal, even the 13-0 score in a match that did not receive praise from many people.

Above are the most unforgettable defeats in history. The losing result of a match in the past does not confirm that they will still lose in the future.

Don’t give up, always cheer, follow and bet on your favourite team with fb88 at the link https://dangkynhacai247.com. Hopefully, from the failures, the football teams can learn from the past and find out reasonable tactics to go further.

This post was last modified on July 27, 2024 10:56 am

SoccerNet Editor

Our editorial team at Soccernet.ng boasts over a decade of combined experience in covering Nigerian football, delivering timely news, expert analysis, and engaging content. With a passion for the game and a commitment to excellence, we connect fans to the heart of Nigerian and global football stories.

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  • France - vs Gibraltar which ended 14-0 in favor of France should definitely be on this list. Abi na for my dream dem play that match?

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