Wednesday, November 9, 2016

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.

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