New Zealand: kings of 2010

We asked our Twitter and Facebook followers to tell us their favourite hard- to- believe football facts – here are some of the best

France went to the 2002 World Cup with that campaign’s top scorer in the Premier League ( Thierry Henry), Serie A ( David Trezeguet) and Ligue 1 ( Djibril Cissé), but were knocked out at the group stage without netting a goal.

Unai Emery’s grandad, goalkeeper Antonio Emery, conceded the first goal in La Liga history, back in 1928.

Between them, Gianluigi Buffon, Peter Shilton and Stanley Matthews have made at least one appearance in every season since 1931- 32.

New Zealand were the only unbeaten team at the 2010 World Cup after drawing all three group matches, while Scotland were the solitary outfit to go undefeated at the 1974 tournament.

The 1980 Copa del Rey Final was between Real Madrid and Real Madrid Castilla, held at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu. Real Madrid triumphed 6- 1.

Hertha Berlin’s reserve team have reached the final of the German Cup more recently than their first team – Hertha BSC Amateure lost to Bayer Leverkusen in the 1993 showpiece.

Manchester United haven’t tasted defeat in a home league match when leading at half- time since 1984.

Norway are the only international side to have played Brazil more than once and not been beaten.

Don Revie is still the last permanent England boss to have won the English league championship.

England made no substitutions in their Euro 96 semi- final against Germany – it has never happened in the 25 years since then.

The windscreen wiper was invented by a Newcastle fan – he’d kept having to clear snow off his car during the drive back from the Magpies’ 1908 FA Cup Final loss to Wolves.

Dejan Stankovic featured in three World Cups for countries with three different names: Yugoslavia, Serbia & Montenegro, and Serbia.

Frank Lampard has had the most shots at World Cup finals since 1966 without actually scoring a goal. The

England man’s effort famously crossed the line against Germany in 2010 ( below), but it wasn’t given.

John Collins was the first player to score a goal in a competitive professional match while wearing Adidas Predators, for Celtic against Rangers in 1994.

Manchester City became the only reigning English league champions to be relegated in 1937- 38 – despite being the top scorers that season, notching 80 goals and conceding 77.

Giuseppe Bergomi played in four World Cups without ever appearing in a single World Cup qualifying match. He broke into the starting line- up for the first time at the 1982 tournament, and Italy were holders in 1986, then hosts in 1990, so didn’t have to qualify. The defender made a comeback for the 1998 World Cup.

Brighton are the only club to have won the Charity Shield without ever winning the league title or FA Cup. The Seagulls were invited to take part as Southern League champions in 1910, sinking Football League conquerors Aston Villa 1- 0 at Stamford Bridge.

USA were the first team to win a World Cup match, beating Belgium 3- 0 in 1930 – although France share the record after overcoming Mexico 4- 1 in a fixture that took place at exactly the same time.

Barbados intentionally scored an own goal to secure qualification for the 1994 Caribbean Cup. In the final game, they needed to defeat Grenada by two clear goals to progress from their group on goal difference. Rules decreed that drawn matches went to extra time, where a golden goal was bizarrely worth two goals – Barbados led 2- 1 with three minutes left and were struggling to score a third, so netted an own goal, then defended both ends to ensure the tie finished 2- 2. In extra time, they bagged the golden goal ( at the right end), giving them a 4- 2 victory.

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