Watch: Australia 31-0 American Samoa, 20 years on
Two decades have passed since the Socceroos broke a world record.
After defeating Tonga 22-0 just a couple of days earlier, Australia went nine better with a famous 31-0 triumph over American Samoa - a scoreline that is still yet to be matched at international level.
Watch every single goal in the player above or read on to find out a little bit more about the landmark fixture, as Archie Thompson, scorer of 13 goals, caught up with Simon Hill to reminisce.
Socceroos Line Up: Michael Petkovic, Kevin Muscat (c), Craig Moore, Tony Popovic (Fausto deAmicis 46), Tony Vidmar (Scott Miller 46), Simon Colosimo, Aurelio Vidmar, Steve Horvat, Con Boutsianis, Archie Thompson, David Zdrilic
Goals: Boutsianis 10, 50, 84, Thompson 12, 23, 27, 29, 32, 37, 42, 45, 56, 60, 65, 85, 88, Zdrilic 13, 21, 25, 33, 58, 66, 78, 89, A Vidmar 14, 80, Popovic 17, 19, Colosimo 51, 81, deAmicis 55
Thompson and Hill's discussion uncovered several untold stories...
1) American Samoa had 19 players unavailable.
Due to a recent FIFA ruling coming into place just days prior, all players were required to hold American Samoan nationalities. With several players only holding US Citizenship, the only player from their usual squad that played was goalkeeper Nicky Salapu.
2) Their second eleven weren’t even able to help.
You’d think a World Cup qualifier might be a decent excuse to skip school but the Under-20s side unfortunately couldn’t play because of exams.
3) Some of the American Samoan players had apparently never even played a 90-minute game of football.
Mastermind technician and American Samoan manager Tony Langkilde said some of the players struggled because they weren’t used to playing for the full duration of a game.
4) Three of the American Samoan players were were 15 and the average age of the starting team was 18.
When Ajax played Manchester United in the 2017 Europa League Final the average age of the team was 22. The Dutch side performed gallantly, creating chances but ultimately went down 2-0. American Samoa unfortunately only registered one shot on goal, an 86th minute strike from Pati Feagiai. Unfortunately, his side leaked a few more goals then Ajax. 29 to be exact.
5) Some of the players didn’t even own boots.Turning out against players representing elite European clubs might be a calling to wear the appropriate footwear. American Samoa’s players certainly weren’t the ones at fault for this and the FFA recognised it, providing them with some of their own boots.
6) American Samoa’s keeper is still playing football
Nicky Salapu didn’t let the fact that he had to pick the ball out of his net 31 times in the match. In fact, he’s determined to avenge that particular score line with the 39-year-old still rolling out for his national side and played in a World Cup qualifier in 2019.