14 February 2000 - There's No Mercy Rule In Football

On 14 February 2000, Kuwait set a world record by beating Bhutan 20-0 in an Asian Cup qualifier.

Even though they won their first qualifying match 6-1 over Turkmenistan, Kuwait had shown no indication that they were capable of producing such a scoreline. But Bhutan were not the stoutest competition, having recently ended a self-imposed exile from international football to join FIFA earlier that year (they lost their opening game 3-0 to Nepal).

Kuwait took a few minutes to get going, with Jassem Al-Houwaidi scoring the opener in the 17th minute. But  that one opened the floodgates, as Bashir Abdullah scored the second in the 20th minute--it was the first of his eight goals on the day (20', 24', 38', 45' (pen.), 47', 50', 59', 89'). Al-Houwaidi added another four (36' (pen.), 39', 52' (pen.), 57') and Ahmed Al-Mutairi got a hat-trick (21', 51', 63'). The other four were scored by Fawwaz Bakhit (31'), Nohair Al-Shammari (21'), Issam Sakeen (65'), and Ahmed Jassem (77' (pen.)).

The scoreline beat the previous international record of 13-0, which was set about three weeks earlier when China beat Guam 19-0 in the same qualifying series. But it was beaten when Australia beat Tonga 22-0 in 2001.

30 June 2002 - The Worst Team In The World

On 30 June 2002, while Germany and Brazil met in the World Cup Final, Montserrat and Bhutan faced off to determine which one of them was the worst team in the world.

The match, a friendly, was the idea of Dutch filmmaker Johan Kramer. When the Netherlands failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, he decided to make a movie about the world's two worst teams. He chose Montserrat and Bhutan, who, at the time, were the two lowest-placed teams in the FIFA world rankings.

The match was played before a crowd of 25,000 at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan. It wasn't much of a contest--Bhutan won 4-0 with a hat-trick from forward Wangay Dorji (4', 67', 78') and a goal from Dinesh Chetri (76').

Kramer's film, titled The Other Final, went on to win Best Documentary at the 2003 Avignon Film Festival and the Documentary Prize-Special Mention at the 2003 Burmuda International Film Festival.

14 February 2000 - There's No Mercy Rule In Football

On 14 February 2000, Kuwait set a world record by beating Bhutan 20-0 in an Asian Cup qualifier.

Even though they won their first qualifying match 6-1 over Turkmenistan, Kuwait had shown no indication that they were capable of producing such a scoreline. But Bhutan were not the stoutest competition, having recently ended a self-imposed exile from international football to join FIFA earlier that year (they lost their opening game 3-0 to Nepal).

Kuwait took a few minutes to get going, with Jassem Al-Houwaidi scoring the opener in the 17th minute. But  that one opened the floodgates, as Bashir Abdullah scored the second in the 20th minute--it was the first of his eight goals on the day (20', 24', 38', 45' (pen.), 47', 50', 59', 89'). Al-Houwaidi added another four (36' (pen.), 39', 52' (pen.), 57') and Ahmed Al-Mutairi got a hat-trick (21', 51', 63'). The other four were scored by Fawwaz Bakhit (31'), Nohair Al-Shammari (21'), Issam Sakeen (65'), and Ahmed Jassem (77' (pen.)).

The scoreline beat the previous international record of 13-0, which was set about three weeks earlier when China beat Guam 19-0 in the same qualifying series. But it was beaten when Australia beat Tonga 22-0 in 2001.

30 June 2002 - The Worst Team In The World

On 30 June 2002, while Germany and Brazil met in the World Cup Final, Montserrat and Bhutan faced off to determine which one of them was the worst team in the world.

The match, a friendly, was the idea of Dutch filmmaker Johan Kramer. When the Netherlands failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, he decided to make a movie about the world's two worst teams. He chose Montserrat and Bhutan, who, at the time, were the two lowest-placed teams in the FIFA world rankings.

The match was played before a crowd of 25,000 at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan. It wasn't much of a contest--Bhutan won 4-0 with a hat-trick from forward Wangay Dorji (4', 67', 78') and a goal from Dinesh Chetri (76').

Kramer's film, titled The Other Final, went on to win Best Documentary at the 2003 Avignon Film Festival and the Documentary Prize-Special Mention at the 2003 Burmuda International Film Festival.