Here are some of the mind-blowing facts of football that may not be known to you.

1. Lionel Messi scored 91 goals in a calendar year

When it comes to facts and stats that would make the reader feel that it has never happened, Messi’s name should always come up. He scored an astounding 91 goals in a single calendar year i.e in the year 2012. No player was remotely close to the player and this record has stood still. It will take something monumental to break this record.

2. Ronaldinho scored all 23 goals in a single match.

Brazilian icon was first noticed by the scouts when he scored all the goals in a U-13 match as his team won a whopping 23-0 and all the goals were scored by him. This was one of the first glimpses of what the player would develop into and what an icon he would be in the game. This is a feat that was not repeated ever in a game.

3. Lewandowski scored 5 goals 9 minutes

It is not very often when a player scores a hat-trick in the match let alone do 5 goals. Scoring 5 goals after coming off the bench that too in 9 minutes is something unheard of.  In the Bundesliga game against Wolfsburg, he scored 5 goals in just 9 minutes and created a record no other player has matched.

4. Zlatan Ibrahimović playing and scoring across 4 decades.

A playing career mainly consists of 2 decades with some going into three. That isn’t the case for Zlatan as the man started his career in 1998 and is still going strong in 2020. Playing across 4 decades is worth mentioning. But there is also the fact that he also scored goals in all the 4 decades making him the first player to do so in the history of the game. This feat only Zlatan could have achieved !.

5. Pele winning the world cup at 17.

At the age of 17, most are preparing for their higher studies and looking up for the future, the great Pele had other ideas as he became the youngest ever to win a Football world cup and the youngest ever to score in a world cup final.

6. Fernando Torres scored in 7 competitions in a season

Fernando Torres made history in 2012 when he scored in 7 different club competitions. He scored in the premier league, champions league, UEFA super cup, Europa League, Community Shield, FA CUP, and the carabao cup breaking the record of Pedro who scored in 6 competitions in 2009/10.

7. Gianfranco Zola sent off on his birthday

Everyone dreams of having a great world cup debut and when it happens on your birthday there isn’t a much better way to celebrate it. But for Zola, the case was a bit different. He came on as a substitute and got sent off within 10 minutes after accruing two yellow cards. Worst was he was shown the first yellow for a foul he didn’t even commit. He didn’t take part in the rest of the world cup. Not a great way to celebrate the birthday.

8. A whole team is killed on the football pitch

It happens at times that a player dies on the football pitch and it is a saddening affair. But when a whole team dies, it is a disaster. It happened in 1998 when the whole team of Congo died when lightning struck them. It was a horrifying scene and a black day in the history of football. It is probably the biggest massacre that has ever happened on the football pitch.

9. Asmir Begovic scoring the longest goal in Football history

We all love to see long-range efforts getting thundering into goals. It is probably one of the best sights to watch as a football fan. But when a goal-keeper hits it and the ball ends at the back of the net, it is something different. In 2013 Asmir Begovic’s goal kick clearance traveled 91.9 meters down to the other side of the goal and ended as a goal. A goalkeeper scoring a goal is a rarity in itself but that being the longest goal ever scored is simply mind-blowing.

10. Just Fontaine scoring 13 goals in a single world cup

The same world cup in which Pele created havoc as a 17-year-old teenager, Just Fontaine created another history. He scored 13 goals in the tournament which is the record for any world cup. He is the 4th highest scorer in world cup history but played only a single world cup. He also has the best goal-scoring ratio in the world cup with a whopping 2.17 goals per match. This feat looks highly unlikely to be broken in any near future.