12 November 1944 - Gunnar Shoots. And Scores. Seven Times.

On 12 November 1944, striker Gunnar Nordahl matched a Swedish league record by scoring seven goals in one match. And nobody else has done it since.

From the beginning of his professional career, Nordahl was a prolific scorer, with 124 goals in 118 league appearances for with Hörnefors IF (1937-40) and Degerfors IF (1940-44). In 1944, he moved to IFK Norrköping where he proceeded to win four consecutive Allsvenskan titles. En route to the first one, he delivered his record-matching performance against Landskrona BoIS.

The day's first score fell to Eric Holmqvist, who put Norrköping up 1-0 in the 5th minute. Five minutes later, Nordahl started his run, scoring seven straight goals in the 10th, 21st, 24th, 27th, 41st, 46th, and 79th minutes. His brother Knut Nordahl added one in the 89th minute before Landskrona's Gunnar Anderberg took meager consolation with a goal in the 90th minute.

Nordahl's haul matched that of Arne Hjertsson, who had just set the mark in June of the previous year in a match for Malmö FF against Halmstads BK. Since Nordahl, however, nobody else has managed to repeat the feat.

Nordahl eventually moved to AC Milan in 1949 and scored 210 goals from the Rossoneri in 257 league appearances. He scored an additional 15 goals for Roma (1956-58) and is still Serie A's second-top goalscorer of all time, behind Silvio Piola. 

10 May 1947 - Brittania Rules The Pitch

On 10 May 1947, a unified British team defeated a Rest-of-Europe XI in a game billed as the "Match of the Century."

The concept of a British national team dates back to 1908, when a team styled as "Great Britain" won the gold medal at the Summer Olympics. Despite the name, however, the side included only Englishmen. They repeated as champions in 1912, but all four Home Nation associations--England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland--subsequently withdrew from FIFA over disagreements about the role of professionalism in the sport, bringing the united team to an end.

The 1947 match celebrated the return of the Home Nations to the international fold, with the proceeds going to help FIFA recover losses sustained by the interruption of play during World War II. England manager Walter Winterbottom selected the British team, which included five English players, three from Scotland, two from Wales, and one from Northern Ireland. The European team, chosen by Swiss national team manager Karl Rappan, included one player each from France, Switzerland, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, and the Netherlands, as well as two each from Sweden and Denmark.

Played before a crowd of over 130,000 at Glasgow's Hampden Park, Britain (wearing navy blue shirts and socks with white shorts) rolled to an easy 6-1 victory with goals from Englishmen Wilf Mannion (22', 33') and Tommy Lawton (37', 82'), Scotsman Billy Steel (35'), and a 74th-minute own-goal from the Europeans. Sweden's Gunnar Nordahl scored the only goal for the Rest of Europe in the 24th minute.

30 September 1945 - Sweden Manages To Be In Two Places At Once

On 30 September 1945, Sweden played - and won - two separate matches. One was against Denmark in Solna and the other was against Finland in Helsinki.

At the time, Sweden was a rising power in football, having finished fourth at the 1938 World Cup. Unfortunately for the Swedes, however, all of their official competitions had been postponed due to the outbreak of World War II, so they had little opportunity to capitalize on the strength of their side, led by their prolific forward pairing of Gunnar Nordahl (43 goals in 33 appearances between 1942 and 1948) and Gunnar Gren (32 goals in 57 appearances between 1939 and 1958).

In place of the canceled competitions, Sweden played several friendlies during the war years. For some reason, they overbooked for 30 September 1945 and had to send full squads to both matches. As a sign of their dominance, Sweden won the two of them in convincing fashion, beating Denmark 4-1 and Finland 1-6.

Sweden continued their run of success once official competitions resumed after the war, taking the gold medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics, then finishing third at the 1950 World Cup.

12 November 1944 - Gunnar Shoots. And Scores. Seven Times.

On 12 November 1944, striker Gunnar Nordahl matched a Swedish league record by scoring seven goals in one match. And nobody else has done it since.

From the beginning of his professional career, Nordahl was a prolific scorer, with 124 goals in 118 league appearances for with Hörnefors IF (1937-40) and Degerfors IF (1940-44). In 1944, he moved to IFK Norrköping where he proceeded to win four consecutive Allsvenskan titles. En route to the first one, he delivered his record-matching performance against Landskrona BoIS.

The day's first score fell to Eric Holmqvist, who put Norrköping up 1-0 in the 5th minute. Five minutes later, Nordahl started his run, scoring seven straight goals in the 10th, 21st, 24th, 27th, 41st, 46th, and 79th minutes. His brother Knut Nordahl added one in the 89th minute before Landskrona's Gunnar Anderberg took meager consolation with a goal in the 90th minute.

Nordahl's haul matched that of Arne Hjertsson, who had just set the mark in June of the previous year in a match for Malmö FF against Halmstads BK. Since Nordahl, however, nobody else has managed to repeat the feat.

Nordahl eventually moved to AC Milan in 1949 and scored 210 goals from the Rossoneri in 257 league appearances. He scored an additional 15 goals for Roma (1956-58) and is still Serie A's second-top goalscorer of all time, behind Silvio Piola.

10 May 1947 - Brittania Rules The Pitch

On 10 May 1947, a unified British team defeated a Rest-of-Europe XI in a game billed as the "Match of the Century."

The concept of a British national team dates back to 1908, when a team styled as "Great Britain" won the gold medal at the Summer Olympics. Despite the name, however, the side included only Englishmen. They repeated as champions in 1912, but all four Home Nation associations--England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland--subsequently withdrew from FIFA over disagreements about the role of professionalism in the sport, bringing the united team to an end.

The 1947 match celebrated the return of the Home Nations to the international fold, with the proceeds going to help FIFA recover losses sustained by the interruption of play during World War II. England manager Walter Winterbottom selected the British team, which included five English players, three from Scotland, two from Wales, and one from Northern Ireland. The European team, chosen by Swiss national team manager Karl Rappan, included one player each from France, Switzerland, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, and the Netherlands, as well as two each from Sweden and Denmark.

Played before a crowd of over 130,000 at Glasgow's Hampden Park, Britain (wearing navy blue shirts and socks with white shorts) rolled to an easy 6-1 victory with goals from Englishmen Wilf Mannion (22', 33') and Tommy Lawton (37', 82'), Scotsman Billy Steel (35'), and a 74th-minute own-goal from the Europeans. Sweden's Gunnar Nordahl scored the only goal for the Rest of Europe in the 24th minute.

30 September 1945 - Sweden Manages To Be In Two Places At Once

On 30 September 1945, Sweden played - and won - two separate matches. One was against Denmark in Solna and the other was against Finland in Helsinki.

At the time, Sweden was a rising power in football, having finished fourth at the 1938 World Cup. Unfortunately for the Swedes, however, all of their official competitions had been postponed due to the outbreak of World War II, so they had little opportunity to capitalize on the strength of their side, led by their prolific forward pairing of Gunnar Nordahl (43 goals in 33 appearances between 1942 and 1948) and Gunnar Gren (32 goals in 57 appearances between 1939 and 1958).

In place of the canceled competitions, Sweden played several friendlies during the war years. For some reason, they overbooked for 30 September 1945 and had to send full squads to both matches. As a sign of their dominance, Sweden won the two of them in convincing fashion, beating Denmark 4-1 and Finland 1-6.

Sweden continued their run of success once official competitions resumed after the war, taking the gold medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics, then finishing third at the 1950 World Cup.