Football facts are interesting and fun and sometimes point you in the direction of facts staring at you but you failed to see them for what they are either because you never paid attention or because you missed them somehow. Without a doubt, football or soccer is the most watched and followed sports on the planet and because of its popularity, it has more sporting facts than other sports combined.
With new records broken, new feats achieved, or having players go head-to-head in comparison, football facts have been known to sometimes be informative, educative and sometimes thrill you, which is why we took the time to compile these insane football facts that will leave you entertained and speechless.
Note that these football facts are random and as such, are not necessarily tied to a particular league, football or soccer tournament. In no particular order, here are some of the most insane, yet random football facts that will wow you.
1. Christian Benteke has more Premier League goals than Eric Cantona.
2. Gary Lineker went through his entire career without receiving a booking.
3. Theo Walcott has more Champions League goals than Zidane.
4. Chelsea have been relegated (6) more times than they’ve won the Premier League title (5).
5. Lionel Messi is the only player to have won the Ballon d’Or in 3 different decades (2000’s, 2010’s, 2020’s).
6. Jamie Vardy joined the Premier League at age 27 but still has more Premier League goals then Ronaldo, Cantona and Mo Salah.
7. Despite playing in La Liga for nearly 16 years, Antoine Griezmann has never won the Spanish La Liga with any team.
8. Philipp Lahm went 13 months without committing a foul.
9. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has played for six clubs that have won the UCL but he has never won one himself.
10. Olivier Giroud’s scorpion kick (in 2017) for Arsenal won the FIFA Puskas Award but not goal of the month.
11. Iñaki Williams has not missed a Spanish La Liga match since 2016.
12. Bas dost scored 45 first touch goals in a row in 2018.
13. Buffon has played with Enrico Chiesa and his son, Federico Chiesa.
14. Ryan Bertrand is the only player in history to win the UCL on his debut.
15. The difference between Mess’s age and Ronaldo’s age is 869 days, the same difference between Messi’s son and Ronaldo’s son.
16. Mario Balotelli is the only Italian to ever win the Premier League.
17. All 3 of Antoine Griezmann’s children are born on April the 8th but on different years.
18. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has played professional football in 4 different decades
19. Kingsley Coman at 25 years old and has won 10 league titles.
20. Chelsea are the only team to be holders of the Europa League and Champions League at the same time.
21. Steven Gerrard is the only player to score in The FA Cup final, The League Cup final, UEFA Cup final and The Champions League final.
22. David Beckham and David Moyes played together for Preston in the 1994/95 season.
23. Willian has more UCL goals than Ronaldinho.
24. Trent Alexander Arnold’s grandmother was Sir Alex Ferguson’s first girlfriend.
25. Chelsea have spent €417M on 5 strikers and 4/5 have failed to score more than 8 PL goals in a single season.
26. Gareth Bale’s first trophyless season after leaving Tottenham was the season he went back to Tottenham.
27. John Terry scored more Premier League goals for Chelsea than Andres Iniesta and Xavi scored La Liga goals for Barcelona.
28. AC Milan once won the Serie A by only scoring 36 goals.
29. Salah won the Puskas award in 2018 but that goal didn’t even win the goal of the month or Liverpool goal of the season.
30. Mourinho went 9 years without losing a single home league game (from March 16, 2002—came to an end on April 2, 2011 after Sporting Gijon beat his Real Madrid team 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu).
31. Frank Lampard has more PL goals than Thierry Henry.
32. Harry Maguire has been relegated 4 times in his career. Twice in one season.
33. Roberto Firmino joined Hoffenheim because a scout found out about him on the game Football Manager.
34. Diego Maradona played for Tottenham Hotspur.
35. In 1980, Real Madrid won the Copa Del Rey against their B Team, beating their reserve team 6-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu.
36. An English manager has never won the Premier League.
37. Balotelli’s only Manchester City assist was his pass to Aguero, for the title winning goal.
38. Denmark failed to qualify for the 1992 Euros and they still won it.
39. The last time United won the league Phil Foden was 13 years old. Since then he’s won 12 Trophies including 4 PL titles.
40. Takumi Minamino once held a Guinness World Record for the most high-fives in 1 minute.
41. Motherwell FC is a Scottish team but they have won a Copa Del Rey Final.
42. Ronald Koeman has more goals than Kroos, Modric and Casemiro combined.
43. Lionel Messi scored 91 goals in 2012. Out scoring Chelsea, Man United, Arsenal and PSG that same exact year.
44. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have never scored a World Cup Knockout goal in their career.
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