The calendar year 2021 was a totally action-full year despite many COVID-19 restrictions. While the fans have slowly returned to the stadiums, the players and teams showed more excitement on the field.
In 2021, we experienced the creation of many new world-class records. Here we are talking about some powerful records in 2021.
Longest scoring range
English goalkeeper Tom King inscribed his name into the Guinness World Records during the first month of 2021 when he recorded the longest goal scored in a competitive football (soccer) match. On 19th January 2021, the Newport County goalie scored an incredible opening goal of the match against the hosts Cheltenham Town in a League Two game. It was his first goal in his career which covered the distance of 96.01 meters (105 yards) as his goal-kick beat everyone to enter the other side net.
Bosnian goalkeeper Asmir Begović was the previous record holder of the longest goal scored in a competitive football (soccer) match according to Guinness World Records. On 2nd November 2013, the Stoke City gloveman stunned with his 91.9 meters (100.50 yards) range goal against Southampton in the English Premier League match.
Most goals in official career
For a long time, Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is maintaining the image of a consistent record-breaker in world football. Now, according to the IFFHS, Ronaldo is holding the record for most goals in official football matches.
According to IFFHS, legendary Brazilian footballer Pele was the previous record holder of most goals in official football matches with 765 goals. Meanwhile, on 27th February 2021, Ronaldo scored his 766th career goal when he was serving for Juventus against the hosts Hellas Verona during the Italian Serie A match.
According to IFFHS, Pele, who played his last official football match on 28th August 1977, owned the most goal-scoring record in official football matches for more than 45 years before Ronaldo created the new history.
However, there is still a lot of confusion in world football about the most goal-scoring records in official football matches. According to RSSSF, there are few names with more than 800+ goals in their football career.
In the meantime, just before the end of 2021, IFFHS recognized Ronaldo as the first player to score 800 goals in official football matches. The Portuguese footballer scored his 800th career goal on 2nd December 2021 when Manchester United faced the visitors Arsenal in a Premier League match.
Fastest and youngest to score first 20 goals in UEFA Champions League history
Due to his incredible goal-scoring ability, young Norwegian footballer Erling Haaland is generally compared with machines. Before even reaching 21-year-old, Haaland finished the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League as the leading goal-scorer with 10 goals.
On 9th March 2021, during the second leg of the Round of 16 in the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League, Haaland became the first player to score 20 UCL goals before his 21st birthday. The Borussia Dortmund youngster scored two goals in that crucial home game against Sevilla as his second goal of the match from a penalty was his 20th goal in his UCL tournament career.
Earlier, French youngster Kylian Mbappé was holding the record of youngest to score the first 20 goals in UCL history. While Mbappé had recorded that at the age of 21 years and 355 days, Haaland became the new record holder after achieving the same feat at the age of just 20 years and 231 days.
Meanwhile, Erling Haaland also became the fastest player to score the first 20 goals in UCL career. Haaland scored his first 20 UCL goals in just 14 games while the previous record-holder English star Harry Kane took 24 UCL games to register his 20th UCL goal.
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Most goals in a Bundesliga season
During the 1971/72 Bundesliga season, legendary German footballer Gerd Müller recorded 40 goals for Bayern Munich. Since then, no other footballers managed to score at least 35 goals in a Bundesliga season. But in the 2020/21 Bundesliga season, Polish striker Robert Lewandowski broke that long-standing record as he finished that season with 41 goals.
On 22nd May 2021, which was also the last day of the 2020/21 Bundesliga season, the hosts Bayern Munich thrashed FC Augsburg by 5-2. In the 90th minute, Lewandowski scored the last goal of the match and created a new Bundesliga history.
Most goals in the history of the UEFA European Championship
Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo was unstoppable in the national team jersey in 2021. While Portugal were defending their trophy in the UEFA Euro 2020, Ronaldo started that tournament as the joint leading goal-scorer in the UEFA European Championship history with former French footballer Michel Platini as both had nine goals in that competition.
On 15th June 2021, the defending champions Portugal started their journey in the UEFA Euro 2020 when they met the home team Hungary. In the 87th minute of that match, Ronaldo made the scoreline 2-0 for his team through a penalty and became the first player to score 10 goals in the UEFA European Championship history. With that goal, CR7 also became the first player to score at least one goal in five different editions of the UEFA European Championship history.
Though Portugal were eliminated from the Round of 16 of the UEFA Euro 2020, Ronaldo won the Top Scorer award in that tournament for finishing with five goals (joint-most goal-scorer in the UEFA Euro 2020 with one more assist). At the end of UEFA Euro 2020, Ronaldo already scored 14 goals in his UEFA European Championship career.
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All-time leading goal-scorer in international football
In 2021, Portuguese football icon Cristiano Ronaldo broke many long-standing world records. One of those was becoming the leading goal-scorer in international football history. Former Iran football Ali Daei, who played international football between 1993 and 2006, was the previous record holder of all-time leading goal-scorer in international football with 109 goals.
On 1st September 2021, when Portugal hosted the Republic of Ireland during the group stage in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA), skipper Ronaldo created history by scoring his 110th international goal during the crucial equalizer moment. While CR7 also scored a match-winning goal in that game, which was his 111th international goal, he ended 2021 with 115 goals in national jersey.
Longest unbeaten run
Italy majorly had a great time in the calendar year 2021, where they widely dominated international football. The Blues won their second UEFA European Championship trophy after 1968 when they beat England in the penalty shootout during the final of the UEFA Euro 2020 on 11th July 2021. They not only won that tournament as the unbeaten side, but they maintained it for around three years to write a new record.
On 5th September 2021, when Italy had a goalless draw against the hosts Switzerland during the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA), they created history by becoming the longest unbeaten side in international football history. It was the 36th unbeaten match for the Azzurri which surpassed the previous joint-record of 35-match unbeaten streaks by Brazil (1993-1996) and Spain (2007-2009).
Italy maintained that unbeaten run to 37 games as the visitors Spain ultimately beat them on 6th October 2021 during the semi-final of the 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals. Despite being unbeaten during the group stage in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA), Italy finished in the second position in Group C and failed to directly qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2022. Now, they will have to maintain the same unbeaten attitude in the upcoming playoffs to make them available for the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
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Most international goals by a South American player
While Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was enjoying breaking legendary records in 2021, Argentine superstar Lionel Messi was also not behind anyway. Legendary Brazilian footballer Pele was previously holding the record of most international goals by a South American player with 77 goals.
On 9th September 2021, Lionel Messi broke Pele’s long-standing record when Argentina had a home battle against Bolivia in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL). Messi scored a hat-trick in that match while his second goal in that game was the record-breaker goal in the list of most international goals by a South American player. Messi has managed to score 80 international goals by the end of 2021.
The fastest goal on Premier League debut
On 11th September 2021, the hosts Crystal Palace thrashed Tottenham Hotspur by 3-0. French youngster Odsonne Edouard made his Premier League debut on that day, who was a new signing for Palace.
During that game, Edouard came on the pitch only in the 84th minute when the hosts were leading by 1-0. He took just 28 seconds to open his goal-scoring account in his Premier League career. It was the fastest goal on Premier League debut as Edouard broke the record of former West Bromwich Albion loanee Thievy Bifouma. In February 2014, Thievy made his Premier League debut against Crystal Palace and scored his first PL goal in just 36 seconds.
Coming back to Edouard’s PL debut, he scored another goal during the injury time as he finished that game with two goals.
Scoring goals in most consecutive UCL matches since competition debut
Ivory Coast footballer Sébastien Haller is currently playing at AFC Ajax. While we are now experiencing the UEFA Champions League 2021/22 season, Haller is playing his first UCL season. In his first six matches of UCL 2021/22, Haller scored an incredible 10 goals and more importantly, he scored in every game of the group stage.
On 7th December 2021, Haller provided an early lead for the hosts against Sporting CP through a successful penalty and became the first player to score in more than five UCL games since competition debut. He has a good chance to extend this record in the forthcoming UCL knockout stages.
Before Haller, Alessandro del Piero, Diego Costa and Erling Haaland were jointly holding the record of scoring goals in most consecutive UCL matches since competition debut. All of those three names managed to score in five consecutive UCL matches since their respective UCL debuts.
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