The match of the week: Iceland - Netherlands

On Saturday, the Netherlands can secure a spot at next year’s World Cup in South Africa if they beat Iceland in Reykjavík. Holland’s eighth away win would also break the record for most consecutive away wins in European World Cup qualification.

Holland’s last WC qualification away match in which they did not win was on 9 October 2004 against FYR Macedonia (2-2).

The Netherlands have conceded only one goal in their last seven WC qualification away matches.

Longest away winning streaks – World Cup qualification UEFA

# Nation Start date Match that ended streak

7 Netherlands 17 Nov 2004 Still running

7 West Germany 28 Mar 1954 Scotland - West Germany (16 Apr 1969) 1-1

7 West Germany 03 Dec 1980 Sweden - West Germany (25 Sep 1985) 2-2

7 Sweden 28 Mar 2001 Croatia - Sweden (08 Oct 2005) 1-0

6 Romania 08 Sep 1993 Republic of Ireland - Romania (11 Oct 1997) 1-1

5 England 15 Oct 1949 Republic of Ireland - England (19 May 1957) 1-1

5 Poland 16 Oct 1976 Belgium - Poland (01 May 1985) 2-0

5 Turkey 11 Oct 2000 Greece - Turkey (08 Sep 2004) 0-0

World Cup qualification away match winning streak Netherlands

Nr. Date Match Result

7 15 Oct 2008 Norway - Netherlands 0-1

6 10 Sep 2008 FYR Macedonia - Netherlands 1-2

5 08 Oct 2005 Czech Republic - Netherlands 0-2

4 03 Sep 2005 Armenia - Netherlands 0-1

3 08 Jun 2005 Finland - Netherlands 0-4

2 26 Mar 2005 Romania - Netherlands 0-2

1 17 Nov 2004 Andorra - Netherlands 0-3

On Tuesday, Germany’s Mario Gomez scored four goals in a friendly against the United Arab Emirates (7-2).

According to Infostrada, Gomez is the third German player to score at least four goals in an international match since 2004. Michael Ballack (2004) and Lukas Podolski (2006) also achieved this feat recently.

Gottfried Fuchs holds the record with 10 goals. That record was set at the 1912 Olympic Games against Russia (16-0).

Gomez is the 12th German player to score at least four goals in a single match.

Most goals in single match for German national team
# Player Match
10 Gottfried Fuchs Germany - Russia (01 Jul 1912) 16-0
6 Wilhelm Hahnemann Germany - Finland (01 Sep 1940) 13-0
4 Julius Hirsch Netherlands - Germany (24 Mar 1912) 5-5
4 Fritz Förderer Germany - Russia (01 Jul 1912) 16-0
4 Georg Frank Germany - Switzerland (10 Feb 1929) 7-1
4 Josef Rasselnberg Luxembourg - Germany (11 Mar 1934) 1-9
4 Edmund Conen Germany - Finland (01 Sep 1940) 13-0
4 Edmund Conen Germany - Bulgaria (20 Oct 1940) 7-3
4 Ernst Willimowski Switzerland - Germany (18 Oct 1942) 3-5
4 Gerd Müller West Germany - Albania (08 Apr 1967) 6-0
4 Gerd Müller West Germany - Cyprus (21 May 1969) 12-0
4 Gerd Müller West Germany - Soviet Union (26 May 1972) 4-1
4 Gerd Müller West Germany - Switzerland (15 Nov 1972) 5-1
4 Michael Ballack Germany - Malta (27 May 2004) 7-0
4 Lukas Podolski San Marino - Germany (06 Sep 2006) 0-13
4 Mario Gomez United Arab Emirates - Germany (02 Jun 2009) 2-7