14 October 2009 - Beckham Takes His Bow

On 14 October 2009, David Beckham made his last England appearance, setting a slew of records in the process.

The occasion was England's last qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup, hosting Belarus at Wembley. They had already secured their place in the tournament with a record of eight wins and one loss, so their final game gave manager Fabio Capello the opportunity to experiment with some players who had seen little time up to that point, as well as one who had seen more time that any other outfield player in the team's history.

Beckham earned his first cap for England in September 1996 and went on to captain the team for several years. By the time Belarus came to London, he had made a total of 114 appearances, second only to goalkeeper Peter Shilton's 125.

Against Belarus, Capello extended Beckham's total by bringing him on in the 58th minute. England were already up 1-0, but a Beckham quickly helped extend the lead with an assist from a corner kick in the 59th minute. A 76th-minute goal from Peter Crouch set the final margin at 3-0.

In addition to extending his total appearances record for an outfield player, the game also set the current records for most appearances in a competitive match (68) and most appearances for a player outside the English league system (55).

5 October 1996 - That's An Anniversary Nobody Wants To Reach

On 5 October 1996, Estonia ended a near three-year winless streak when they beat Belarus in a World Cup qualifier.

Their prior win was a 2-0 victory over Liechtenstein in a friendly on 14 October 1993, which they then followed with twelve straight defeats. The winless streak extended to 34 games, including only six draws. The last of those 34 was a 1-0 away loss to Belarus in a qualifier for the 1998 World Cup in August 1996.

Two months later, Estonia hosted Belarus in Tallinn for the return fixture. It was a physcial game, with injuries forcing both sides to make first-half substitutions, but a clean one, with only three yellow cards. The highlight for Estonia came in the 52nd minute when central defender Sergei Hohlov-Simson put the ball past the Belarus goalkeeper. It was the day's only goal, giving Estonia their first win in almost three years.

Unfortunately for Estonia, the win did not signal a significant shift in fortune. Although they went on to get wins against Indonesia, Andorra, and Cyprus over the next five months, they failed to qualify for the World Cup, finishing next to last in their group, with Belarus as the only team below them.

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.