28 April 2004 - You Know Clash Of The Titans? This Was Nothing Like That

On 28 April 2004, San Marino recorded their first win in 65 attempts, beating Liechtenstein 1-0 in a friendly.

Although founded in 1931, the football federation of San Marino--situated on the northeastern part of the Italian peninsula--did not enter a team into an official FIFA competition until 1990. Their early years were ones of frustration, as the small nation went up to their fourteenth match before avoiding defeat, finally earning a draw  with Turkey in a qualifier for the 1994 World Cup.

By 2004, San Marino had suffered defeat in 61 of their 64 matches, earning additional draws at Latvia in 2001 and at Liechtenstein in 2002. When they hosted Liechtenstein in 2004 for the pair's second meeting, San Marino was ranked 164 by FIFA, twenty-two spots behind the visitors.

A meager crowd of only 700 people turned out at the Stadio Olimpico for the match. But they were rewarded with a goal from San Marino striker Andy Selva (pictured) in the fifth minute. It was his fourth international goal and only the eleventh in the history of the national team. San Marino managed to hold the slender lead until the end, finishing the day as 1-0 winners to taste victory for the first time.

Unfortunately for San Marino, it remains their only win, giving them an overall record of 1 win, 4 draws, and 136 losses.

26 March 2008 - The Mighty Minnows Of Malta

On 26 March 2008, Malta secured their record win, beating Liechtenstein 7-1 with 5 goals from Michael Mifsud.

Ever since their first match, a 2-3 loss to Austria in 1957, Malta struggled to find wins, failing to qualify for a single World Cup or European Championship. Losses were easy to come by, however, including crushing defeats to Spain (12-1 in 1983), Austria (9-0 in 1977), the Netherlands (8-0 in 1990), and Germany (7-0) in 2004).

They had met Liechtenstein only once before, playing to a 1-1 home draw in 1981. So, even though their matches starting getting more competitive in the 2000s, their dominating performance in the 2008 friendly came as a surprise.

Playing at the Ta' Qali national Stadium in the center of Malta, Mifsud (pictured)--a striker who played his club ball for Coventry City--scored the opening goal in the second minute with a penalty. He completed a hat-trick within the first 21 minutes, with his third goal also coming from the spot--the foul prompting the second penalty kick led to a red card for Liechtenstein's Fabio d'Elia for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. Helped by the man advantage, Malta were up 4-0 by the break.

Franz Burgmeier closed the gap to 4-1 in the 51st minute, but Mifsud scored twice more (60', 69') to extend the lead. It was the first time any Maltese player scored five times in an international. A final Malta goal four minutes from time ended the day at 7-1.

9 November 1996 - Just When You Think It Can't Get Any Worse, It Does

On 9 November 1996, Liechtenstein hosted Macedonia in a World Cup qualifier that ended up setting a record for both teams.

It was the fourth match of the campaign for both of them, including a previous meeting that resulted in a 3-0 win for Macedonia in Skopje. But a 1-1 draw with Iceland and a 3-0 loss to Ireland left Macedonia struggling for points, while Liechtenstein had lost their other two matches to Ireland (0-5) and Lithuania (2-1).

Playing before a crowd of 2,700 at the Sportpark Eschen-Mauren, it took only eight minutes for Macedonia to open the scoring with a goal from forward Dejvi Glavevski (pictured). He doubled the lead four minutes later and by the break, the visitors were up by six. They stretched the lead to nine (including a third goal from Glavevski) before Liechtenstein finally got a goal from midfielder Franz Schädler in the 78th minute, then Macedonia added two more in the 87th and 90th minutes. The final scoreline of 1-11 remains Macedonia's record victory and Liechtenstein's record defeat.

Liechtenstein went on to lose all 10 of their qualification matches, finishing at the bottom of the group with no points and a goal differential of -49. Macedonia fared slightly better, with a record of four wins, one draw, and five losses, but also failed to qualify for the World Cup.

26 March 2008 - The Mighty Minnows Of Malta

On 26 March 2008, Malta secured their record win, beating Liechtenstein 7-1 with 5 goals from Michael Mifsud.

Ever since their first match, a 2-3 loss to Austria in 1957, Malta struggled to find wins, failing to qualify for a single World Cup or European Championship. Losses were easy to come by, however, including crushing defeats to Spain (12-1 in 1983), Austria (9-0 in 1977), the Netherlands (8-0 in 1990), and Germany (7-0) in 2004).

They had met Liechtenstein only once before, playing to a 1-1 home draw in 1981. So, even though their matches starting getting more competitive in the 2000s, their dominating performance in the 2008 friendly came as a surprise.

Playing at the Ta' Qali national Stadium in the center of Malta, Mifsud (pictured)--a striker who played his club ball for Coventry City--scored the opening goal in the second minute with a penalty. He completed a hat-trick within the first 21 minutes, with his third goal also coming from the spot--the foul prompting the second penalty kick led to a red card for Liechtenstein's Fabio d'Elia for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. Helped by the man advantage, Malta were up 4-0 by the break.

Franz Burgmeier closed the gap to 4-1 in the 51st minute, but Mifsud scored twice more (60', 69') to extend the lead. It was the first time any Maltese player scored five times in an international. A final Malta goal four minutes from time ended the day at 7-1.

28 April 2004 - You Know Clash Of The Titans? This Was Nothing Like That

On 28 April 2004, San Marino recorded their first win in 65 attempts, beating Liechtenstein 1-0 in a friendly.

Although founded in 1931, the football federation of San Marino--situated on the northeastern part of the Italian peninsula--did not enter a team into an official FIFA competition until 1990. Their early years were ones of frustration, as the small nation went up to their fourteenth match before avoiding defeat, finally earning a draw  with Turkey in a qualifier for the 1994 World Cup.

By 2004, San Marino had suffered defeat in 61 of their 64 matches, earning additional draws at Latvia in 2001 and at Liechtenstein in 2002. When they hosted Liechtenstein in 2004 for the pair's second meeting, San Marino was ranked 164 by FIFA, twenty-two spots behind the visitors.

A meager crowd of only 700 people turned out at the Stadio Olimpico for the match. But they were rewarded with a goal from San Marino striker Andy Selva (pictured) in the fifth minute. It was his fourth international goal and only the eleventh in the history of the national team. San Marino managed to hold the slender lead until the end, finishing the day as 1-0 winners to taste victory for the first time.

Unfortunately for San Marino, they quickly returned to their previous level of futility, having lost all forty-five subsequent matches for an overall record of 1 win, 3 draws, and 105 losses.

9 November 1996 - Just When You Think It Can't Get Any Worse, It Does

On 9 November 1996, Liechtenstein hosted Macedonia in a World Cup qualifier that ended up setting a record for both teams.

It was the fourth match of the campaign for both of them, including a previous meeting that resulted in a 3-0 win for Macedonia in Skopje. But a 1-1 draw with Iceland and a 3-0 loss to Ireland left Macedonia struggling for points, while Liechtenstein had lost their other two matches to Ireland (0-5) and Lithuania (2-1).

Playing before a crowd of 2,700 at the Sportpark Eschen-Mauren, it took only eight minutes for Macedonia to open the scoring with a goal from forward Dejvi Glavevski (pictured). He doubled the lead four minutes later and by the break, the visitors were up by six. They stretched the lead to nine (including a third goal from Glavevski) before Liechtenstein finally got a goal from midfielder Franz Schädler in the 78th minute, then Macedonia added two more in the 87th and 90th minutes. The final scoreline of 1-11 remains Macedonia's record victory and Liechtenstein's record defeat.

Liechtenstein went on to lose all 10 of their qualification matches, finishing at the bottom of the group with no points and a goal differential of -49. Macedonia fared slightly better, with a record of four wins, one draw, and five losses, but also failed to qualify for the World Cup.