Football is the world’s most popular game with more fans than anything else. People just love watching footballers score incredible goals that no one else could. The best football legends like Messi and Ronaldo are almost like superheroes.
Do you think you know everything about the game of football? Even the biggest soccer fans don’t know the amazing stories this sport has. Get ready to be amazed by these 10 facts about football most people have never heard.
But there’s a lot of strange secrets fans don’t know hidden in football’s long history too. Some go back over 150 years! Hard-core soccer lovers will be shocked to learn these 10 facts about their favorite sport.
These unbelievable things include tragedy, gambling crimes, technology and more. Some football tales sound too odd to be real life! Other hidden stories show why fans go so passionately nuts cheering their team.
READ ALSO: Messi World Cup Shirts Could Shatter Records at Auction
10 Football facts to surprise any fan
Football keeps setting new records and has amazing stories going back over 150 years! Here are 10 unbelievable facts about the world’s favorite game that will surprise any fan.
1. Louis V Goalie Goals
In the 2021-2022 season, Luis Vázquez who plays goalkeeper for Costa Rican club Liga Deportiva Alajuelense scored 3 goals – including directly from his net on a booted clearance!
2. Lightning Tragedy
Tragically, an entire football team of 11 players was killed by a lightning strike during a match in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1998. 30 more people died in the stands. Matches now stop immediately during storms.
3. Shortest Career
In 2017, Italian striker Giuseppe Lorenzo managed to get substituted onto the field in Serie D league but was then immediately red carded and sent off! His entire “career” lasted only 10 seconds.
READ ALSO: Osimhen makes final shortlist for 2023 CAF Player Of The Year (Full List)
4. Club Owners in Battle
The two men who own Manchester United and Liverpool FC teams watched their clubs compete in 2018 like normal fans. But these multi-billionaires had to be separated by police to avoid a physical brawl over the intense rivalry!
5. Cyber Hack Attack
During the opening match of England’s 2022-2023 season, the Crystal Palace stadium scoreboard and screens were hacked, showing inappropriate photos and messages until the system was shut down!
6. Lightning Fast Goal
In 2015, Ricardo Oliveira scored for UAE’s Al Jazira FC just 2.1 seconds after kickoff! It is uncertain if any player has scored faster.
7. Cameroon Own Goal Legend
Cameroon national team player Marc Vivien-Foe is famous for all the wrong reasons – scoring over 18 documented own goals, costing his teams many victories!
8. Multi-Tasking Referee
A Montserrat referee named Osain Cassell in 2019 got injured during a match but had no sub available. He had to tape an icepack to his own face while running the rest of the game with a probable broken cheekbone!
9. Wrong National Anthem
At the 2018 Switzerland vs Albania match, organizers accidentally played the anthem for neighbor country Andorra instead before the game, leading to big embarrassment and player protests!
10. Lightning Scan Science
Today some elite clubs like England’s Liverpool FC use advanced weather radars during training to watch for quick rising lightning strikes and evacuate fields early for player safety based on real-time scans of the sky!
Now you know secrets about football even some truly dedicated fans have never heard! No other sport has so many quirky stats and stories once you dig deeper behind the scenes across many years of history.
