The world of football is packed full of oddities and quirks, creating a landscape rich with unexpected events and fascinating stories.
Over the years, the beautiful game has often surprised us with weird occurrences, strange statistics, and truly crazy moments. However, some facts about football are harder to believe than others, but they are amazing all the same.
Here Are The 9 Unbelievable Football Facts
9. World Record Transfer Fee
One of the most unbelievable facts in football is that the world record transfer fee has been broken by teams outside of Italy, England or Spain only three times. Paris Saint-Germain most recently broke the record following Neymar’s €222m move from Barcelona.
The other two teams include Falkirk, who spent £5,000 on West Ham United’s Sydney Puddlefoot in 1922 and River Plate, paying Tigre £32,000 for Bernabe Ferreyra in 1932.
8. Di Stefano The Red Devil?
Another amazing football fact involves Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano who was once offered to Manchester United on loan during the late 1950’s. Following the Munich Air Disaster, perhaps the world’s most exciting talent of that time had been lined up for a move to Old Trafford on a short-term deal. Both clubs reportedly agreed to the switch. But the English Football Association blocked the move, believing the transfer would only go on to stunt the progress of British players instead.
7. Two Matches One Day
One of the strangest facts about football involves Welsh striker Mark Hughes, who played two matches on the same day. Incredibly, he featured in two separate games within a few hours back in November 1987.
Firstly, Hughes lined up for Wales against Czechoslovakia at midday before taking a flight to Germany to play for Bayern Munich later that very afternoon. He failed to arrive in time for the first half of the Bundesliga fixture yet did come on as a second-half substitute. It remains the only time this has happened in the modern game’s history!
6. When America Ruled The World (Cup)
Among the fascinating facts in football is that Americans actually kept the very first World Cup clean sheet. United States Goalkeeper Jimmy Douglas prevented the ball from entering his net at the inaugural 1930 tournament during a 3-0 win against Belgium.
Then four days later a U.S. player was also responsible for scoring all three goals in a World Cup match for the first time. American forward Bert Patenaude hit a hat-trick in yet another 3-0 victory versus Paraguay.
5. No Foreign Finalists
One of the best football facts concerns the inclusion of foreign players in European Cup squads. Incredibly, the last time either a European Cup or Champions League finalist fielded no foreign players in their starting line-ups was back in 1967!
Despite overseas players being commonplace in the modern game, if you could travel back to the 1967 contest between Inter Milan and Celtic, you'd discover that neither side featured a foreign player in their respective starting eleven.
4. Prolific John Terry
Amongst the interesting facts about football sits legendary Chelsea defender John Terry and his prolific goal-scoring exploits during a glittering nineteen-year career at the club.
During his time at Stamford Bridge, the English Centre-back scored a mammoth 41 Premier League goals from dead ball situations like corners and free kicks. That’s six more strikes than midfield maestro Andres Iniesta, who netted 35 times in La Liga during his time with La Liga giants Barcelona.
3. Muller’s Euro Misery
One of the most surprising football facts is that German mainstay Thomas Muller has never scored at any European Championship tournament. The playmaker has an outstanding record in World Cups having found the net ten times since his first appearance in 2010’s competition. Yet Muller has failed to score in 14 appearances across Euro 2008, Euro 2016 and Euro 2020.
2. Captain's Choice
Amongst the strangest facts in football is that Arsenal's captain is always responsible for choosing the length of his team’s sleeves ahead of each game. More recently, the Gunners' captain will often opt for a short sleeve with his players wearing long-sleeved ‘skins’ underneath if they so choose. Yet during the early 2000s for example, French skippers Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry tended to demand long sleeves instead.
1. Ronaldo Like A Fine Wine
One of the most interesting facts about football involves Cristiano Ronaldo and his truly unbelievable strike rate into the latter stages of his career. The Portuguese goal machine has scored more goals since turning 30 than former teammate Wayne Rooney has across his entire career. This isn't a put-down of Manchester United's all-time leading goalscorer, but rather a testament to how Ronaldo, like a fine wine, has thrived with age.
Spanning the second half of Real Madrid’s 2014-15 campaign along with moves to Juventus, a return to Manchester United via Juventus and Al Nassr, Ronaldo has struck nearly 390 times. In comparison, Rooney scored 313 times for the likes of Everton, Manchester United, D.C United and Derby.