spectators saw Atletico Madrid-Barcelona in March smash the world attendance record for a women’s club match in what was a monumental year for female football. It had been the 53,000 who watched Dick, Kerr Ladies beat St Helens 99 years ago.

years after India last won an AFC Asian Cup match, they repeated the feat by thumping Thailand 4-1 for their biggest-ever victory in the competition. Despite losing that curtain-raiser and sacking coach Milovan Rajevac afterwards, the Thais reached the knockout phase for the first time since 1972.

goals in 50 appearances for club and country is what Vivianne Miedema scored this year. At the age of just 22, and during the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™, she outranked 59-goal Manon Melis to become the Netherlands’ all-time leading markswoman, while she registered ten combined goals and assists against Bristol City – the previous record for a WSL game was five – as Arsenal won 11-1 to record the biggest victory in the competition’s history.

appearances in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is what Brazil goalkeeper Mao became the first player to reach at Paraguay 2019. Portugal, Italy and Russia ensured the podium was completed by one continent for the first time ever, while the 8.94 goals-per-game ratio equalled the tournament high set in 2006.

goals made Lionel Messi the leading marksman in Europe’s top five leagues in 2019. ‘La Pulga Atomica’ was followed by Robert Lewandowski (31), Kylian Mbappe (31), Jamie Vardy (29) and Karim Benzema (27). Messi outranked Cristiano Ronaldo to become the record six-time recipient of FIFA’s top annual individual award at The Best FIFA Football Awards™ in September.

consecutive competitive victories is what Corinthians women registered between March and September to set a new world record. The previous one belonged to Welsh men’s side The New Saints (27 wins), who took it from the exceptional Ajax side of Johan Cruyff et al. Corinthians will head into 2020 unbeaten in 45 matches.

years had passed since Canada beat USA until Alphonso Davies and Lucas Cavallini secured them a 2-0 win in the Concacaf Nations League in October.

goals in 34 appearances for Lyon in 2019 is what Ada Hegerberg returned. The Norwegian became the first player to score a hat-trick in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final, while in October she made it 53 goals in 50 outings in the competition to outrank Anja Mittag and become its all-time leading markswoman. Lyon exceptionally went unbeaten in all tournaments in 2019, winning 33 and drawing four, collecting all five possible trophies in the process.

goals in 13 appearances is what made United Arab Emirates’ Ali Mabkhout the leading marksmen in men’s international football in 2019. The top ten was as follows:

years and 304 days was the age at which Ansu Fati became the third-youngest scorer in the 90-year history of La Liga. At 17 years and 40 days, the Spain U-21 winger broke the record Peter Ofori-Quaye set in 1997 and became the all-time youngest marksman in the UEFA Champions League.

successive appearances is what Josef Martinez scored in to smash the MLS record belonging to Diego Valeri (nine appearances). Only four men in history have scored in more consecutive top-flight league outings: Teodor Peterek, Gerd Muller (both 16), Josef Bican (19) and Lionel Messi (21).

successive victories and 17 matches unbeaten – both FIFA Women’s World Cup™ records – is what USA made it by beating the Netherlands in the France 2019 Final. Megan Rapinoe averaged a goal or an assist every 48 minutes she played during the competition, which Jill Ellis became the first coach to conquer twice.

wins from 10 matches is what Italy registered in 2019 – their most victories in a calendar year, having thrice managed nine. La Nazionale finished a calendar year with a 100 per cent record for the first time since 1938 (minimum three matches), when they won eight from eight and made it back-to-back FIFA World Cup™ trophies.

times is what Erling Haaland scored against Honduras to shatter the record of Adailton, who netted six in Brazil’s 10-3 win over Korea Republic in 1997, for goals in a FIFA U-20 World Cup game. The son of Alf-Inge Haaland helped Norway win 12-0 to surpass the competition’s previous biggest victory: Brazil’s 10-0 defeat of Belgium in 1997. The Salzburg striker then became the first teenager in European Cup/Champions League history to score in five successive appearances.

points per game is what Liverpool extraordinarily registered in the Premier League in 2019 – comfortably the best ratio a club recorded in one of Europe’s top five leagues. The FIFA Club World Cup™ winners lost just one league game – 2-1 at Manchester City in their first outing of the year – while no other club registered fewer than four defeats.