“Uzbekistan are playing Kyrgyzstan in a World Cup qualifier this Thursday,” notes Ben Jones. “Is this fixture the highest combined Scrabble score for a pair of Fifa nations? Bosnia and Herzegovina might have something to say, but I’m looking for a combined score from two teams who have actually played each other.”
Uzbekistan (25 Scrabble points) beat Kyrgyzstan (30) 1-0 to close in on a first-ever World Cup qualification – and Ben’s question inspired a flurry of tile-totting emails. Before we dive in, some ground rules. To try and keep things relatively simple, we’ll stick with the country names in English that are used by Fifa. So no long official names e.g. ‘Kingdom of …’ – and we’re using the English language Scrabble scoring system.
All of which means that, as Steve Hyde points out, Ben’s first suggestion is worth even more. “Fifa call Kyrgyzstan ‘Kyrgyz Republic’, giving them a new Scrabble total of 40, and a total of 65 for their fixture with Uzbekistan (25).” So, where to next? Well, Ben is right to reference the land of Edin Dzeko; as many of you pointed out, Bosnia and Herzegovina would score 39 points, and second place on the list.
David Weaver offers a helpful list of high-scoring nations, including Mozambique (34), Kazakhstan (30 points), Azerbaijan (28) and Zimbabwe (26). But which of those teams have Bosnia faced? “In 1997, they played Zimbabwe in Kuala Lumpur during the Dunhill Cup group stage,” adds David. “That matchup gave us a total Scrabble score of 65, but in 2008, Bosnia and Herzegovina beat Azerbaijan 1-0 in a friendly, giving a total score of 67.”
Pete Tomlin and Dani both nominated a Caribbean fixture – Turks and Caicos Islands (31) v St Vincent and the Grenadines (37), which took place in Concacaf Nations League qualifying in 2018, and scores 68 points. Derrick Cameron points out that Kyrgyz Republic (40) have played Azerbaijan four times previously, each fixture also worth 68 points.
But wait! Here’s Chris Roe: “Bosnia and Herzegovina played Kazakhstan in September 2021, while Central African Republic (35) faced Mozambique in September 2002. Both are worth 69 points.” Can any fixture break the 70-point barrier? Yes. Pete Tomlin suggests Kyrgyz Republic v Kazakhstan (70 points) – the teams met in AFC qualifiers, before the latter joined Uefa. It seems that Fifa have used the name ‘Kyrgyz Republic’ ever since the nation was admitted in 1994, but correct us if you know different.
But one fixture stands alone at the top of the Scrabble tree. Nominated by Alasdair Brookman and others is Bosnia and Herzegovina v Czech Republic (35) in Euro 2000 qualifying, which scores 74. Czech Republic are now called Czechia by Fifa, but that is a recent change which followed the Czech government’s initiative in 2016.
That score may be hard to beat unless Bosnia head to Bishkek for a friendly (as Steve mentions, the two nations are meeting next month – in ice hockey). Thanks to all the contributors mentioned above, plus Ahmad Akmal, Bryn May, Nick Comyns and Richard Wilson for their input. Here are a few more tidbits of information:
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Iran v Laos (last played in 2004) is the lowest Scrabble score for an international fixture, notes Andrew Hastie.
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Pete Tomlin suggests Venezuela v Brazil (38pts) as South America’s highest-scoring fixture, and New Zealand v Papua New Guinea (45pts) for Oceania.
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Chris Roe adds that in English football, Sheffield Wednesday v Wolverhampton Wanderers is worth 75 points, opening a whole new can of worms.
Cancel the parade
“With Gareth Taylor being sacked by Manchester City five days before the Women’s League Cup final, do you know of any managers who have been dismissed any closer to a major final?” asks Matt McBride.
Lee Carney and others suggested the sad tale of José Mourinho’s Tottenham departure – but he was sacked six days before the Carabao Cup final in 2021, so just misses out on this particular accolade. There is another defensive mastermind who does fit the bill, though, as Florian Camphausen explains.
“Otto Rehhagel was sacked by Bayern Munich four days before the first leg of the 1996 Uefa Cup final. Despite having lost at home to Hansa Rostock, Bayern were still second in the Bundesliga on equal points with leaders Borussia Dortmund.”
After 14 years at Werder Bremen, Rehhagel could not complete a single season with Bayern. Franz Beckenbauer stepped in and won the Uefa Cup, beating Bordeaux 5-1 on aggregate, but finishing second to Dortmund in the league. “King Otto” got his revenge two years later, leading promoted Kaiserslautern to the title as they finished two points clear of his former club.
Finally, here’s Tim Postins. “I was sacked by Brentford on the eve of their first-ever FA Cup final, against Manchester United. Granted, I had just got them relegated and this was in a game of Championship Manager some 15 years ago, but it still hurts.”
Lowly goal-getters
“After 28 matches, Spurs were 13th, with a goal difference of +14,” sighs Christopher Zorn. “What’s the lowest in the table a team has ever finished with a goal difference higher than their final league place?”
Chris Roe gets us started. “Tottenham’s 2-0 defeat at Fulham means they have dropped to 14th with a goal difference of +12. The only team in English top-flight history who can beat Spurs’ 28-game record over a whole season are Preston North End. In the 1954-55 season, they finished in 14th place with a goal difference of +19.”
Preston scored 83 goals – more than champions Chelsea – and conceded 64. Back then, goal average (total goals scored divided by total conceded) was used instead of goal difference – and North End’s score of 1.297 was second only to Chelsea.
That season, Preston beat Cardiff 7-1 at home and 5-2 away, Sheffield Wednesday 6-0, both Manchester City and Sheffield United 5-0, and both Charlton and Huddersfield 4-0. Frank Hill’s side also conspired to lose 18 games, nine of those by a single goal; it’s just who they were.
Dave Carbery can offer a couple of recent European examples. “I’ve had a look at the top-tier end-of-season league tables in England, Germany, Italy, France and Spain, from 1995-96 to 2023-24, and found two teams that hold this honour.”
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“Espanyol finished 10th in La Liga in 1997-98 with a goal difference of +13, while Werder Bremen also ended up 10th in the 2008-09 Bundesliga, with a goal difference of +14.” It was a table of two halves in Germany that year – and perhaps Werder’s uneven results can be put down to distractions. Thomas Schaaf’s side won the DFB-Pokal and reached the Uefa Cup final, where they lost to Shakhtar Donetsk.
Knowledge archive
“India (population: 1.460bn) faced the Maldives (529,000) this week in a World Cup qualifier,” writes our own Marcus Christenson in 2025. “Is this the biggest ever difference in population between two sides in an international match?”
In short, yes. India is the world’s most populous country and the difference here is 1,459,471,000 people – more than the entire population of second-placed China. Since overtaking China in April 2023, the smallest country India have played are Vanuatu (321,409, in June 2023) – but India’s population then was a mere 1.438bn.
We looked specifically at victories for population-based underdogs back in 2019, when Bas van Eldonk suggested Curaçao (162,000) defeating India (then 1.367bn) in the King’s Cup. That had a David/Goliath ratio of 1:8438 – as for every person in Curaçao, there are 8,438 in India.
Nobody could beat that at the time, but other notable upsets included Guam beating India in 2015 (D/G ratio 1:8091), the Faroe Islands toppling Canada in 1989 (1:573), Liechtenstein beating Malaysia in 1981 (1:539), the Maldives sinking Pakistan (1:489) and Iceland defeating China in 2017 (1:4037).
Can you help?
“Newcastle’s route to Carabao Cup triumph saw them beat the teams who sat 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 10th in the Premier League on the day of the final. Is this the toughest ever route to a domestic cup win?” asks Dan Kelsall.
“In last weeks Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid game, Conor Gallagher scored the only goal of the game after 27 seconds,” notes Ken Abbott. “Given that the game eventually went to extra time, is this the longest that the score of a game has remained the same (excluding 0-0’s)?”
“Watching Portugal v Denmark in the Nations League, I noticed that five Manchester United players started the game (Dalot, Fernandes, Eriksen, Højlund, Dorgu),” says Dennis Kirkegaard. “What is the record for an English club, in an international game not involving England?”
“Both the new Plough Lane and Kingsmeadow have been renamed the Cherry Red Records Stadium while AFC Wimbledon played there. Have any other clubs carried the same name across multiple grounds?” asks Adam Thoroughgood.
“What’s the record longest VAR check,” asks Eddie Eyers, while tapping his watch.