28 March 2001 - The Magnificent Manchester Seven

On 28 March 2001, England beat Albania in a World Cup qualifier with almost half their team coming from one club--Manchester United.

It was only the fourth qualifier for the two teams, who were both off to a difficult start. England had four points with a win, loss, and draw, while Albania were one point back after two losses and a win. They met at the Qemal Stafa Stadium in the Albanian capital of Tirana where England fielded their Manchester-based squad.

Five members of the starting eleven--Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, and Andy Cole--were from Manchester United, the defending Premier League champions. Additionally, Red Devils Wes Brown and Teddy Sheringham entered as second-half substitutes, taking the club's total to seven. That matched the previous record for any one club, set by Arsenal in a November 1934 friendly against Italy (though all seven Gunners started that match).

The line-up worked against Albania, with both Scholes (86') and Cole (95') scoring in England's 1-3 win (their other goal came from Liverpool's Michael Owen in the 74th minute, while Altin Rraklli scored for Albania in the 93rd minute).

26 April 2000 - Even A Modest Record Is Still A Record

On 26 April 2000, Andorra got their first win, beating Belarus 2-0 in a friendly. It remains their record margin of victory.

Dating back to 1996, the Andorran national team struggled through the early years, with their very first match being a 1-6 home loss to Estonia. They went on to lose 20 and win none of their first 23 matches, including defeats in all ten of their qualifiers for Euro 1996. Their only non-defeats were scoreless draws with Azerbaijan in 1998 and 2000 and the Faroe Islands in 1999.

But in April 2000, they hosted Belarus in a friendly and took  a 1-0 lead when midfielder Jesús Julián Lucendo scored with a penalty kick in the 57th minute. As if that was not shocking enough, they then extended their lead five minutes later with a goal from striker Juli Sánchez (pictured). It proved to be one more goal than they needed as the match ended 2-0 to give Andorra their first taste of victory.

Unfortunately, they followed that result with a string of eleven straight defeats before getting their second victory, another 2-0 friendly win at home, this time over Albania. To date, their only other win--and only one in a competitive match--is a 1-0 victory over Macedonia in a World Cup qualifier in 2004.

28 March 2001 - The Magnificent Manchester Seven

On 28 March 2001, England beat Albania in a World Cup qualifier with almost half their team coming from one club--Manchester United.

It was only the fourth qualifier for the two teams, who were both off to a difficult start. England had four points with a win, loss, and draw, while Albania were one point back after two losses and a win. They met at the Qemal Stafa Stadium in the Albanian capital of Tirana where England fielded their Manchester-based squad.

Five members of the starting eleven--Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, and Andy Cole--were from Manchester United, the defending Premier League champions. Additionally, Red Devils Wes Brown and Teddy Sheringham entered as second-half substitutes, taking the club's total to seven. That matched the previous record for any one club, set by Arsenal in a November 1934 friendly against Italy (though all seven Gunners started that match).

The line-up worked against Albania, with both Scholes (86') and Cole (95') scoring in England's 1-3 win (their other goal came from Liverpool's Michael Owen in the 74th minute, while Altin Rraklli scored for Albania in the 93rd minute).