Australia 31–0 American Samoa
On 11 April 2001, the Australian and American Samoan national soccer teams played each other in an Oceanian qualifying match for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The match was played at the International Sports Stadium in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales. Australia set a world record for the biggest win at an international soccer match, winning 31–0. Archie Thompson broke the record of most goals scored in an international soccer match, scoring 13 goals. David Zdrillic scored eight goals, the second-highest number of goals in an international soccer match since World War I.
| Event | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 11 April 2001 | ||||||
| Venue | International Sports Stadium, Coffs Harbour, Australia | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Archie Thompson | ||||||
| Referee | Ronan Leaustic (Tahiti) | ||||||
| Attendance | 3,000 (estimated) | ||||||
The result of the match led to debate about the format of qualification matches. Australian manager Frank Farina, Australian player Archie Thompson and international body FIFA all proposed that there should be preliminary rounds so the matches were fairer. It led to the creation of a preliminary round for Oceanian teams at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and Australia moved from the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 2006. Australia qualified for the 2006 World Cup for the first time since 1974.