Plus: more football records that were rapidly broken and Home Nations players from the crown dependencies
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“In September, Lithuania became the lowest Fifa-ranked country (143rd) to score against the Netherlands, who were ranked seventh,” writes Pete Tomlin. “That means a difference of 136 places between the two countries. I have two questions upon hearing this – which is the lowest-ranked team to score against England (since the rankings began in 1992) and what is the biggest difference between teams where the lower-ranked team has scored? I was thinking of the respective rankings at the time the matches took place rather than current rankings.”
The Netherlands, who won that match 3-2 in September, will meet Lithuania in the return fixture on Monday. The respective rankings are now sixth and 146th so the gap will be 140 places if Lithuania manage to score in Amsterdam.
Before we get to that, let’s address the question of good old England and the lowest-ranked teams to which they have conceded. A few of you mentioned David Healy’s winner for Northern Ireland at Windsor Park in 2005. Northern Ireland were ranked 116 in the world on that famous night, which puts them fifth on the list – but they are, as far as we’re aware, the lowest-ranked team to beat England.
