Portugal 5-3 North Korea. 19th July 1966
–Just sixteen teams played in the ’66 World Cup and only one place was reserved for Africa, Oceania, and Asia combined. Most countries pulled out of qualifying in disgust. Only Australia and North Korea remained.
A two-leg playoff was to decide who would travel to England and as both countries were technically at war with each other, the neutral venue of Phnom Penh Cambodia was where the matches were played. Over the two games, North Korea won 9-2, a shock which continued to reverberate through tp the final itself.
In the group stages of the ’66 World Cup North Korea had shocked everyone. Improbably – amazingly – they had beaten Italy, and by doing so progressed to the next round.
Against Portugal, a widely fancied side led by the Black Panther Eusebio, Korea stunned everyone with three goals in 22 minutes. Goodison began chanting “easy, easy” and “we want four”. Eusebio answered these calls with a brutal four goal onslaught in just under half an hour. Portugal won 5-3, breaking Korean hearts. It wasn’t until 2011 that another player scored four at Goodison, with Louis Saha’s demolition of Blackpool.
