Countries' first international matches: England, Scotland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and more
Wednesday, November 30, 2022
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On 30 November 1872, Scotland and England played the first official international match. UEFA.com looks back at that and some other notable debuts.
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It was 150 years ago today that international football began as Scotland welcomed England to Partick. To mark the anniversary, UEFA.com looks back at a few equally memorable first matches, some more successful than others.
30 November 1872: Scotland 0-0 England
The first official international was held at the West of Scotland Cricket Club's ground in front of 4,000 spectators. The teams had already played in five unofficial matches – England winning three, with two draws – when a Scotland side made up entirely of players from Queen's Park FC earned a goalless draw at Hamilton Crescent in Partick. Indeed, the hosts had a goal disallowed in the first period and came closest to victory when Robert Leckie's shot struck the tape across the goal, the forerunner of the crossbar. Scotland would have to wait two more years to beat their neighbours for the first time.
12 October 1902: Austria 5-0 Hungary
The first international match involving two non-British teams also marked the birth of an Austrian football hero, Jan Studnicka scoring a hat-trick after Josef Taurer had opened the scoring. Although the teams were representing Vienna and Budapest, both countries' consider this their official international debut, with the game played at the WAC-Plata, a stone's throw from the modern Ernst-Happel-Stadion.
1 May 1904: Belgium 3-3 France
In the year that JM Barrie's Peter Pan was first performed, the south Brussels suburb of Uccle was the stage for the opening scene of another timeless story: Belgium versus France in what was both teams' first game. The Stade du Vivier d'Oie (Goose Breeding Stadium), featuring an innovative concrete roof, welcomed 1,500 spectators who were richly rewarded by an incident-packed draw. It meant that the Evence Copée trophy, named after the Belgian aristocrat who had helped to organise the fixture in conjunction with French journalist and FIFA founder Robert Guérin, was not awarded.
12 February 1905: France 1-0 Switzerland
Switzerland were another side whose international existence got off to a losing start as they went down to France in front of 5,000 spectators in Paris. The Swiss were beaten again in the rematch three years later, although FC Winterthur's Adolf Frenken did score their first goal. Their maiden win would follow against Germany a month later (see below).
30 April 1905: Belgium 1-4 Netherlands
Having met Begium unofficially in April 1901, the Netherlands' visit to Antwerp's 't Kiel Stadium marked the sides' first official fixture. Netherlands coach Cees van Hasselt, whose team played in white shirts with a red-white-and-blue diagonal strip rather than their famous orange, took the lead through Eddy de Neve, but Ben Stom's own goal sent the contest into extra time. There, De Neve hit three more goals to give the Netherlands the Coupe Vanden Abeele, although his international career proved short-lived as he travelled with the army to the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, in 1906.
5 April 1908: Switzerland 5-3 Germany
Switzerland's third international was Germany's first, with the away team selected by a special commission which picked players by regions. In front of 3,500 spectators, Germany took a sixth-minute lead but never recovered from being 3-1 down at half-time. The visitors went on to lose their next three internationals but later established their dominance against their neighbours, winning 35 out of 50 matches to Switzerland's nine. However, when the two sides met in Basel for their most recent friendly in May 2012, Switzerland once again prevailed 5-3.
12 July 1908: Sweden 11-3 Norway
The Football Association of Norway (NFF) was formed in 1902, but their inaugural game did not follow until six years later, when an invitation from neighbours Sweden to travel to Gothenburg led to both teams' maiden international. Nine of the Norwegian players hailed from club side Mercantile FK, who had won the domestic cup in 1907, and the visitors opened the scoring through Minotti Bøhn before any Swedes had touched the ball. Things went rapidly downhill from there, however. Karl Gustafsson equalised with Sweden's first international strike, while Erik Bergström and Erik Börjesson went on to plunder four goals apiece for the hosts.
19 October 1908: Denmark 9-0 France
Denmark's first official match was a quarter-final at the eight-team London Olympics, and their opponents were the B side of France – who were fielding two teams at the tournament. Denmark made light work of them, leading 3-0 at half-time and 9-0 after 90 minutes, with left winger Vilhelm Wolfhagen scoring four goals and centre forward Sophus Nielsen – nicknamed Curly Leg due to his curling shots – getting the last one. That proved to be just a warm-up for the semi-finals, where Nielsen scored no fewer than ten times in a 17-1 defeat of France's A side. For all that, however, Denmark lost 2-0 to Great Britain in the gold medal match.
28 August 1920: Denmark 0-1 Spain
Denmark were the opponents for Spain's first international fixture, which took place in Belgium during the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. Wearing the iconic red shirt, Patricio Arabolaza scored the only goal for a side that featured goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora and Pichichi, the players whose names now adorn the Spanish Liga's annual awards for most clean sheets and most goals. Spain lost to Belgium next time out, but wins against Sweden, Italy and the Netherlands earned them a silver medal.
19 December 1921: Spain 3-1 Portugal
Portugal's first international came in Madrid against their great Iberian rivals. The visitors were captained by Cândido de Oliveira, after whom the Portuguese Super Cup is named, and their first ever goal was scored by Benfica's Alberto Augusto. Portugal were quick learners: seven years later they reached the quarter-finals of the Amsterdam Olympics.
17 September 1992: Georgia 6-3 Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan's first official friendly pitted them against Georgia in the small town of Gurjaani, not far from the countries' border. Five different players scored for the hosts, while Nazim Suleymanov got two in reply for Azerbaijan, although fortunately he had not used up all his energy as he had to run for the train home with the rest of his side. "It was the first match for the Azerbaijan team and we were eager to represent our country at a decent level," he told UEFA.com.
13 October 1993: FYR Macedonia 4-1 Slovenia
The two newly independent states met in Kranj, in the first official game between former Yugoslav republics following that country's break-up. The Macedonian team included some notable players from FK Vardar's 1987 golden generation, including Darko Pancev, Cedomir Janevski and Dragan Kanatlarovski, who all scored that day. Pancev, European Golden Shoe winner in 1990/91, produced a superb performance at Stanko Mlakar Stadium, but Zoran Boskovski stole the spotlight with FYR Macedonia's first international goal.
19 November 2013: Gibraltar 0-0 Slovakia
Six months after being granted full UEFA membership, Gibraltar played their first official game at their temporary home, the Estadio do Algarve in Faro, Portugal. Slovakia dominated from start to finish, creating numerous chances, but could not find a way through a stubborn Gibraltar defence, which held on for a draw against the team then ranked 28th Europe.