Five football records that are unlikely to be broken

Five football records that are unlikely to be broken

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It is often said that "records are meant to be broken." The current generation of football fans have lived in an era when Messi and Ronaldo have wreaked havoc on all sorts of records, and it doesn't appear like they are done yet.

But there are some records that are not meant to be broken, and even the greatest footballers playing today or even the ones to come would struggle to get close to.

Here are five records in World football that are unlikely to be broken :

Most goals in a calendar year

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Let's get the most obvious one out of the way first. 91 goals in a year. Just think about that for a second. It took 40 years for someone to get close to Gerd Muller's record of 85 goals in 1972, and it is arguably the greatest player to grace a football field who got there in the end. Lionel Messi 91 goals in 2012.

When all is said and done, Cristiano Ronaldo will go down in history books as one of the greatest goalscorers of all time, but the highest goal tally he reached in a year is 61! It is unlikely that anyone will break this record given the fact that even Messi hasn't been able to come close to that glorious number since.

Most goals in a single world cup

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While Miroslav Klose's record of 16 goals across World Cups looks to be in danger of being wiped out by yet another German, Thomas Muller, there is another record that will live forever in the history books.

The 1958 World Cup was overshadowed by the brilliance of Pele - the 17-year-old proved to be all that he was touted as, winning the World Cup in his first attempt. But, most people might not have even heard of a certain Frenchman called Just Fontaine who created a special place for himself in the record books by scoring an astonishing 13 goals in that World Cup in just 6 matches. He scored in every game he played, including one against Pele's Brazil in the semi-finals that the latter ended up winning 5-2.

Fontaine only played in one World Cup, and in his last match against defending Champions West Germany the Frenchman scored four in a 6-3 hammering. A recurring injury meant that Fontaine was forced into an early retirement at the age of just 28. The closest that anyone came to him was Gerd Muller with 10 in the 1970 edition of the tournament.

Most appearances in football

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When each of Paolo Maldini(1028), Ryan Giggs(1031) and Javier Zanetti (1102) retired, it signaled the end of another era in football. These players were among the very few who had consistently played football at the highest level for over 20 seasons for their respective clubs. But, even these great players would have had to play for at least another half a decade to stand a chance to beat the record set by English goalkeeper Peter Shilton.

Shilton played for an incredible 31 seasons, mostly at the highest level, before hanging up his gloves. During his playing career, he amassed a mind-boggling 1374 senior team appearances for club and country. His honours list includes a league title and a couple European Cups as a part of Brain Clough's all-conquering Forest side.

The only two players who can hope to come close to the former English shot-stopper are Gianluigi Buffon(977) and Iker Casillas (943). At 35, Casillas appears to be the best bet for the record, but based on his recent form, it is highly doubtful that Shilton has had any sleepless nights about his record.

Oldest goalscorer in history

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While most people believe the oldest goalscorer to be Teddy Sheringham, that is a record for the Premier League era. Some might even give a shout-out to Cameroon great Roger Milla, but again that is a record for the World Cup. The holder of the record is a player called Billy Meredith. If you just asked who, I don't blame you.

However, some Manchester United fans will definitely remember his name. The Welsh international signed for City twice with a stint with the red half in between. He started his playing career in 1880 and retired in 1924 playing over 700 games in the process. His final goal came while playing for City in the FA Cup against Brighton & Hove Albion in 1924 when Meredith was 49 years and 208 days old.

He also holds the record for being the oldest player to score an international goal - a feat he achieved when representing Wales at the age of 45 years and 73 days vs England. Considering the style of football that is being played now-a-days, it is a safe bet that Meredith's record is never going to be broken.

Longest unbeaten streak

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Most Arsenal fans usually boast about the fact that their team is one of the very few in the world who have won a league title without the blemish of a loss. Their 49-game unbeaten streak finally came to an end the following season, but when compared to other teams who have had such an incredible run, Arsenal don’t even make the top 10.

The record is held by Romanian club Steaua Bucuresti who went unbeaten for 104 matches in the league for a period of over three years. Yes, you read that right 3 years. The streak started in the June of 1986 and was finally ended in 1989. While some people might point out that playing in an inferior league should not get consideration in such a list, the same people might be surprised to find out that they won a European Cup just before the streak started and lost a final right before it ended.

Gheorghe Hagi rose to fame for his performances for Steaua, and it was the Romanian club that paved the way for his high-profile transfers to Real Madrid and Barcelona. In the modern game, it is unthinkable for a club to even dream of going a century of games unbeaten, and so again this record looks like it is here to stay.

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