How many? Charting San Marino’s heaviest-ever defeats

Seb Sternik
15 November 2021

San Marino players warm up ahead of the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying match at Hampden Park, Glasgow.

England take on the whipping boys of European soccer in their final 2022 World Cup qualifier. Question is, can they match some of these incredible scorelines.

From the time of their first official international outing in 1990, San Marino have only ever won one match.

That sole victory came back in 2004 when La Serenissima beat Liechtenstein 1-0 courtesy of Andy Selva's fifth-minute goal.

That victory has provided the sole high point in a history littered with regular thrashings.

Some of these drubbings have been heavy but six in particular have been utter bloodbaths.

With that in mind, here are the six occasions San Marino lost by double-digit scorelines.

Norway 10-0 San Marino (September 9, 1992)

England fans will have painful memories of the 1994 World Cup - primarily because of their failed attempt to qualify for the tournament.

Graham Taylor's men were drawn in the same qualifying group as Norway and Netherlands who at the time were far stronger than they are today.

Norway in particular had a sublime qualifying campaign as they won seven of their 10 games on their way to topping the group.

Egil Olsen's side picked up victories over England, Netherlands, Poland and Turkey as they dominated proceedings from start to finish.

Speaking of the start, their opening game of the qualifying campaign certainly set the right tone.

Norway welcomed San Marino to Oslo in the group's first match and it's fair to say that the final result was never in doubt.

However, few expected the Scandinavian outfit to put 10 goals past the La Serenissima.

Kjetil Rekdal and Gunnar Halle gave the hosts a two-goal lead inside the opening six minutes. Then, a double from Goran Sorloth saw the Norwegians take a 4-0 lead into the half-time break.

A minute after the restart, Roger Nilsen found the back of the net. He soon scored a second inbetween a Halle brace as the former Leeds United, Bradford City and Wolverhampton right-back completed his hat-trick.

Erik Mykland scored Norway's ninth before Rekdal closed the show with the team's tenth goal.

While this wasn't their biggest ever win, it certainly put the hosts on the right track for World Cup qualification.

Belgium 10-1 San Marino (February 28, 2001)

San Marino were spared the double-digit embarrassment for another nine years until it was Belgium's turn to inflict the damage.

Once again, the defeat was dished out during a World Cup qualifying match - this time for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

Belgium got off to a decent start to their qualifying campaign having drawn 0-0 with Croatia - their biggest group rivals - and earned a 4-0 away win over Latvia.

Next up for the Red Devils was a home clash with San Marino - a fixture which always presents a good opportunity to improve goal difference. However, few expected Belgium to cross into the double-digit territory after a steady opening 45 minutes.

Goals from Yves Vanderhaeghe, Emile Mpenza and Bart Goor gave the Red Devils a respectable 3-0 lead at the interval. But it was in the second half when the floodgates truly did open.

Vanderhaeghe, Goor and Walter Baseggio doubled Belgium's lead just 20 minutes after the restart.

Marc Wilmots added a seventh before a 12-minute hat-trick from Bob Peeters completed Belgium's race to 10.

Despite the seismic lead, the hosts failed to clinch a clean sheet as Andy Selva also stamped his name on the scoresheet with a stoppage-time effort.

San Marino 0-13 Germany (September 6, 2006)

San Marino's biggest ever defeat came at the hands of the Germans in the second game of the Euro 2008 qualifiers.

Joachim Low had just taken charge of the German national team and won his first competitive games when Lukas Podolski scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Ireland.

The former Bayern Munich and Arsenal striker was back among the goals in a big way when Germany travelled away to San Marino just four days later.

Podolski headed the visitors ahead in the 11th minute. The Germans wouldn't score again until the half-hour mark but it was at this point where the German machine properly kicked into gear.

Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack all scored inside a six-minute spell to move the visitors 4-0 ahead.

Then, two further efforts from Klose and Podolski on the brink of half-time saw the Germans go into the interval with a six-goal advantage.

Two minutes after the restart, Schweinsteiger scored from a free-kick as the scoring showed no signs of stopping at the Olimpico di Serravalle.

Podolski and Thomas Hitzsperger quickly scored braces before Manuel Friedrich and Bernd Schneider bagged two more efforts to complete a historic result.

San Marino are used to heavy defeats but this must have been especially painful.

Poland 10-0 San Marino (April 1, 2009)

The 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign is considered a dark period for Polish soccer.

The team finished second-bottom having won just three of their 10 group games. In the end, they were nine points off a play-off spot and 11 points adrift of leaders Slovakia.

Nevertheless, every dark period has at least one or two good moments. For Poland, it was their 10-0 victory over San Marino - the biggest win in their history.

Rafal Boguski opened the scoring in the opening minute before Ebi Smolarek doubled Poland's lead.

Boguski was back on the scoresheet on the half-hour mark and his effort was followed by Robert Lewandowski who made it 4-0 just before the break.

Leo Beenhakker's side continued their dominance in the second half as Ireneusz Jelen, Smolarek and Mariusz Lewandowski - no relation to Robert - scored three more goals in the 18 minutes after the restart.

The final 18 minutes also saw three goals as Smolarek added two more efforts and Marek Saganowski closed out the show by helping the Poles to double digits.

Netherlands 11-0 San Marino (September 2, 2012)

Euro 2012 was an incredibly disappointing tournament for the Netherlands - especially considering they reached the World Cup final two years prior.

Bert van Marwijk's men didn't win a single point as they finished bottom of their group and returned home early.

Their 'pointless' performance at those Championships came as a major surprise as it followed a near flawless qualifying campaign.

The Netherlands cruised to Euro 2012 having won nine of their 10 qualifying fixtures - including one particularly massive win over San Marino.

The two nations clashed in Eindhoven and following a 5-0 win in their earlier meeting, many expected the Netherlands to improve on that scoreline. They duly delivered.

Robin van Persie was the star of the show as he bagged four goals - the first of which being the opener in the seventh minute.

Wesley Sneijder and Johnny Heitinga extended that lead as the hosts went into the break with a 3-0 advantage.

Once again, it was after the interval when the floodgate really opened. Dirk Kuyt and Klaas Jan Huntelaar made it 5-0 before a van Persie brace moved the Netherlands further ahead.

In the final 13 minutes, the hosts showed no mercy as further goals from Huntelaar, van Persie, Sneijder and Georginio Wijnaldum helped the Netherlands to their biggest ever victory.

Croatia 10-0 San Marino (June 4, 2016)

2016 was a good year for Croatia. The team went the entire year without losing a game in 90 minutes and also recorded their biggest ever win.

That victory came against San Marino in Croatia's final friendly before the 2016 European Championships.

Despite the final score, the visitors put up a good fight in the early stages and kept the Croats at bay for 20 minutes.

That, however, was as good as it got. Marko Pjaca eventually opened the scoring and Mario Mandzukic and Darijo Srna added their names to the scoresheet just four minutes later.

San Marino managed to stop the rot but only for 10 minutes. Mandzukic quickly bagged a braced to complete his hat-trick, while Ivan Perisic's effort gave the home side a 6-0 lead at the interval.

Ivan Rakitic got on the act after the break, as did Nikola Kalinic who scored a second-half hat-trick to seal a record-breaking 10-0 win.

Croatia went into the Euros on a high and got as far as the round of 16. It was there where they faced the eventual winners Portugal who prevailed thanks to an extra-time winner.