Who are international footballs ultimate one-goal wonders?
After a few beers my mates and I wondered if Kieran Trippier is the best one-goal wonder in international football or has a player scored his only international goal in the World Cup final? tweets Andy Brook. Trippiers memorable free-kick against Croatia in the World Cup semi-final is his only goal so far for England in 29 appearances. But hes not quite the ultimate one-goal wonder of international football. First, lets doff the cap to those who scored their only goal for their country in a World Cup semi-final, like Trippier. Alan Archibald writes in to inform us that Clodoaldo, who is best remembered for his laughing policeman dribble in the final, grabbed the equaliser in Brazils 3-1 victory over Uruguay in the semi-finals. That was the only goal of his five-year, 38-match international career. A number of you mentioned the France defender Lilian Thuram, who played 142 games for his country and converted in only one of them: the 1998 World Cup semi-final against Croatia in Saint-Denis. Thuram scored both goals as France came from behind to win 2-1. Not technically a one-goal wonder, then, but we couldnt exactly leave him out, could we. On that note, Jean-Franois Domergue also deserves a mention  he scored the only two goals of his French career in the semi-final win over Portugal at Euro 84.) Talking of technicalities, the final game of the 1950 World Cup wasnt officially the final (the tournament was settled by a second group stage). The last game, Brazil v Uruguay, was a final in all but name, so Albino Friaa Cardoso effectively scored his only goal for Brazil in a World Cup final. Thanks to Seamus McCann for that one. Alas, it is not a moment Friaa remembered too fondly: he gave Brazil the lead, but then the full horror of the Maracanazo unfolded. And so to 1986, and a man cited by literally a few of you. The Argentina defender Jos Luis Brown, a direct descendant of a Scottish labourer, opened the scoring against West Germany in the final at the Azteca, a match that Argentina eventually won 3-2. Although Brown was relatively prolific in club football, that was the only time he scored in 36 appearances for his country. He was famous not only for the goal  Brown played most of the second half with a dislocated shoulder. He died in 2019, aged just 62, with Alzheimers disease. And finally   Others have mentioned Brown and Friaca. I'll shout-out Santos Iriarte from the 1930 Uruguay squad. 5 caps in total, 4 of them at that WC, and 2 goals: 1 in the semi-final, and 1 in the final to put Uruguay into the lead after being down 2-1.  Rob (@gooneruk) June 16, 2021  Not a World Cup but Vctor Diogo's only international goal for Uruguay  came in the 1983 Copa America Final.  James Dixon (@thejamesdixon) June 16, 2021  Non-league representing at major tournaments (2)  In last weeks Knowledge, we looked at non-league teams who had a number of ex-players at a major tournament. And weve had a couple of excellent follow-ups. Yeovil Town can boast four former Glovers at this years tournament  Sam Johnstone of England and the Welsh trio of Wayne Hennessey, Connor Roberts and Kieffer Moore, writes Chris Turner. Tom Lawrence, excluded from the Welsh squad might count himself unlucky not to have brought the total to five.  Keith Lerego can top that total by venturing back to Euro 2016. Sixth-tier Stockport had five ex-players in France, he notes. Oddly, three of them were goalkeepers: Hennessey and Owain Fn Williams of Wales, and Fraser Forster of England. Plus outfield players Ashley Williams (Wales) and Jamie Ward (Northern Ireland).  Goalkeeper captains  The captains in the Euro 2020 France-Germany match were both goalkeepers. Im sure this has happened many times before, but whats the highest profile game where both teams were captained by their keepers? asks Julian Heather. This is an easy one. Theres no bigger game than the World Cup final, and in 1934 both Italy and Czechoslovakia were captained by their goalkeepers. Gianpiero Combis Italy beat Frantiek Plnikas Czechoslovakia 2-1. Since you asked, it also happened in the Euro 2012 final, with Iker Casillas and Gianluigi Buffon wearing the armbands. Casillas kept his gloves clean for the trophy presentation as Spain hammered Italy 4-0. The Euro 2012 final skippers. Photograph: DESK/AFP/Getty Images  Dismal international tournament starters  For a (supposedly) top-ranked side, Englands record in the opening game of major tournaments is pretty dismal. Of 24 performances at Euros and World Cups, theyve won six, drawn 11 and lost seven. Of countries that have qualified for more than 20 tournaments, who has a worse win percentage than Englands 25%? wonders Jeremy Orbell. Vincent Lacey has gone above and beyond on this one. I had a hunch South America would be a good place to look, as every Conmebol member automatically qualifies for the Copa Amrica and there are a number of big sharks in that particular part of the world. Sure enough, I wasnt disappointed. Ecuador: Two wins from 29 Copa Amricas, one win from three World Cups and no wins from one in the Pan-American tournament, which was open to senior mens teams across the Americas until 1995. Thats a win percentage of 9.09%. Ecuadors Piero Hincapie after their opening game against Colombia at the current Copa Amrica. Yes, they lost 1-0. Photograph: Sebastio Moreira/EPA  Bolivia: Five wins from 28 in the Copa Amrica, none from three in the World Cup, none from one in the Confederations Cup and none from one in the Pan-American, for 15.15%. Venezuela: Two wins from 19 Copa Amricas, none from one in the Olympics and none from three Pan-Americans, for 8.7%. However, with no World Cup qualifications, and only 19 Copa Amrica appearances since debuting in 1967, Venezuela dont quite meet the 20-tournament minimum for Jeremys question, so give them a break!  Knowledge archive  When Klaus Fischer scored 24 goals for Schalke in the 1976-77 Bundesliga season, an amazing 75% (18 goals) were from headers, pointed out Graham Clayton in 2016. Has any other player scored so many headed goals in a top-flight domestic league season?  No official figures Im afraid, but in his last season in Scotland Alan Gilzean scored 52 goals in all competitions for Dundee, wrote David Warriston. Gillie was an outstanding header of a ball (he outjumped Gordon Banks to score the Scotland winner that year at Hampden) and since usually over half of his goals came from headers, it is almost certainly the case that he scored more than 18 headers in all. In fact of his 32 league goals it is likely that more than 18 were headers. A similar case can be made for Alan Gordon, a player not known much outside Scotland but who played in a similar style to Gilzean. In the 1972-73 season he scored 42 goals for Hibernian, 27 of them in the league. Watching Uruguay v Chile in the Copa Amrica, I noticed that the manager of Chile, Martin Lasarte, was himself Uruguayan. How many times have England played teams managed by an Englishman? wonders Thom Walsh. I have just noticed that the balls used in MLS feature the signature of commissioner, Don Garber, on one of the panels. Is it seen as giving the ball extra legitimacy? muses Stephen Birch. Italy's Palermo FC are infamous for being trigger-happy with managers - the longest stint a manager has served is 4 years (Carmelo Di Bella, 1967-71).  Ben Janeson (@BenJaneson) June 22, 2021  Which is the highest-ranked team England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have never played? asks Geraint Morgan. @TheKnowledge_GU 1/2 Ten of the 42 (23.8%) senior Scottish clubs have names that bear no relation to the official name of the city/town/suburb in which they play (or used to play for those who've moved grounds).  MSJM (@MSJM71223419) June 16, 2021  Email your questions and answers to knowledge@theguardian.com or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU.