FIRST INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL GAME IN HISTORY. SEE NIGERIA'S FIRST GAME AS WELL

A rope hanging horizontally over two skinny, wooden goalposts;
the absence of a net or pitch markings; a heavy leather ball; long
trousers tucked into knee-high socks; and the players haphazardly
chasing the ball in their droves like kids on a school playground…
welcome to international football in its infancy!

This illustration is of a March 1875 encounter between England
and Scotland at The Oval in London. The sides had played out a
goalless draw in the world’s first official international 27 months
earlier in Glasgow, and although this, their fourth meeting, also
ended in parity, the 2,000-odd in attendance were treated to four
goals. Solicitor Charles Wollaston, 25, and 32-year-old journalist
Charlie Alcock, who was accustomed to starring at the venue as a
cricketer, scored for the hosts, while Henry McNeil and Peter
Andrews replied for the visitors.
The contest also threw up something for the trivia buffs among
you to remember: Herbert and William Rawson became the first
brothers and joint-third overseas-born players to represent
England. The siblings hailed from Mauritius and South Africa
respectively, but India native William Kenyon-Slaney had already
pulled on the same white jersey against the Scots two years
earlier.

First official meetings between some international rivals:
1872 – Scotland 0-0 England (Glasgow)
1901 – Uruguay 2-3 Argentina (Montevideo)
1905 – Belgium 1-4 Netherlands a.e.t (Antwerp)
1910 – Netherlands 4-2 Germany (Arnhem)
1910 – Italy 6-2 France (Milan)
1913 – Denmark 8-0 Sweden (Copenhagen)
1914 – Argentina 3-0 Brazil (Buenos Aires)
1921 – Spain 3-1 Portugal (Madrid)
1922 – New Zealand 3-1 Australia (Dunedin)
1930 – Germany 3-3 England (Berlin)
1934 – Mexico 2-4 USA (Rome)
1935 – Peru 1-0 Chile (Lima)
1935 – El Salvador 3-4 Honduras (San Salvador)
1948 – Greece 1-3 Turkey (Athens)
1954 – Japan 1-5 Korea Republic (Tokyo)
1962 – Nigeria 3-1 Cameroon (Lagos)
1963 – Algeria 1-1 Egypt (Algiers)

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