Craziest Real Football Matches In History

There are matches that are memorable because of great team performances. Then there are these matches that are memorable for being completely bizarre.

Craziest Real Football Matches In History

Ask someone which their favourite football matches are and that person will surely talk about times when teams played well, or expensive players lived up to their price tags. But what about the matches that are memorable for a different reason? The ones where things went spectacularly wrong, where something insane happened, or when a player defied all expectations?

Here are some football matches that went crazy. They may not be good matches as far as football clubs are concerned, but they are still certainly worth a look. It really can be a funny old game sometimes.

 Barbados vs Grenada, 1994

This is what happens when the rules aren’t really thought out. In 1994 the Shell Caribbean Cup was well underway, with Barbados needing a 2 clear goal win over Grenada in order to qualify. Only, there were a few things different about the match. FIFA had decided to try and spice thing up with a few new rules. The Golden Goal rule meant that any goal in extra time would be an instant victory. Additionally, much to the confusion of fans, the goal also counted as 2 on the scoreboard.

As the match drew to a close Barbados was ahead by the 2 needed goals. But tragedy; Grenada scored, meaning that Barbados wouldn’t progress, even if winning the match. It then occurred to Barbados players that if they scored an own goal, making the match a tie, they would go into extra time. Then, all they had to do was score a Golden Goal, which counted as 2. Barbados clearly and deliberately scored an own goal.

It then occurred to Grenada that they could also qualify, though realised they needed only to break the tie either way. Before normal time ended. So, in what is perhaps the most bizarre few minutes in football history, Grenada desperately attempted to score a goal on both sides of the field, with Barbados defending both goals. 

For those curious, the game went to extra time and Barbados scored the needed Golden Goal to qualify.

Arsenal vs Dynamo Moscow, 1945

From bizarre to truly bizarre, we have Arsenal versus Dynamo Moscow in 1945. Dynamo Moscow headed to North London in 1945, a big deal given that World War 2 had just concluded. Fans had not seen a match for 6 years, and were truly excited. So much so that a staggering 50,000 fans packed the stadium.

Sadly, the universe has a rather sick sense of humour. It just so happened that a thick fog rolled in, obscuring the field almost entirely. Both players and spectators could see little of anything, making the match virtually pointless. But it was not called off. Not only were 50,000 fans there to see football, but the match was a friendly so any crash games options were most likely on hold. So everyone played on in near complete blindness.

Amongst the bizarre things that occurred; the Russians snuck an extra player on, an English player was sent off only to sneak back on, the linesmen spoke English and the referee Russian, and numerous fouls were inflicted and not seen. 

The match concluded with a Moscow victory, but who really knows?