Earlier this week, recognizing the FIFA World Cup fever sweeping the globe, we asked you to tell us how many "own" goals have been scored thus far in World Cup history. We also asked a bonus question – name the only player in World Cup history to score goals for both teams (his own and the competing team) in the same match.
The answers – both of which Shari Gottesman, longtime friend and Legal Bytes reader, got perfectly right – are:
As of today, 41 own goals have been scored in World Cup play.
In 1978, Ernie Brandts (born Ernstus Wilhelmus Johannes Brandts), playing for the Netherlands, scored an own goal in the 18th minute of play and then a "normal" goal for his team in the 50th minute of the match between the Netherlands and Italy. The Netherlands went on to win that match 2-1.
If you want to really immerse yourself in World Cup trivia:
- Manuel Rosas scored the first own goal in World Cup play in 1930 in the match between Mexico and Chile
- In 2002, in Portugal’s match against the USA, the USA’s Jeff Aggos scored an own goal in the USA net, and in the same game Portugal’s Jorge Costa scored in Portugal’s net
- Trinidad and Tobago, in its only appearance, is the only team that has scored more own goals than regular goals in World Cup history. It scored an own goal favoring Paraguay in 2006 and never scored for itself in the match.