As they attempted to make it through to the 2002 Finals in Japan and South Korea, they faced a round of qualifying matches against opponents whom they would expect to beat comfortably.

On 9th April 2001 the Socceroos crushed Tonga 22-0 - but they were only warming up.

Two days later, at Coff's Harbour in New South Wales, they racked up an unbelievable 31 goals against American Samoa in their Oceania group.

They were 16-0 up at half-time and 31-0 ahead at the finish - both records for the World Cup and, indeed, international football in general.

And there was another record: Australia's Archie Thompson notched 13 goals.

In terms of the World Cup Finals, perhaps surprisingly, no team has scored more than ten in one match.

Hungary did it against El Salvador during the Spain World Cup in 1982, winning 10-1 in Elche. They had only been 3-0 up at the break but Laszlo Kiss grabbed a hat-trick inside eight minutes in the second half as the Hungarians ran riot.

What about England? They have twice scored nine in a World Cup match. The British Championship fixture with Northern Ireland in 1949 counted as a World Cup qualifier and England won 9-2 at Maine Road.

Then Jimmy Greaves and Bobby Charlton weighed in with hat-tricks as Luxembourg were overwhelmed 9-0 in an away qualifier in 1960.