It’s been over 10 years and the record for the fastest goal in the history of football still stands.
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Who scored the fastest goal ever?
We are of course talking about one of the most well-known goals in one of the least known leagues, which was scored in a match between Al-Hilal v Al-Shoalah in 2009 by Nawaf Al Abed. On that day Nawaf Al Abed needed exactly 2 seconds to get his team into a lead. Since then, there have been many attempts to break the record, however, no one managed to do so in 2s or less, rising a question if it is even possible to break the 10-year-old record.
The fastest goals scored in Premier League
Looking at the top 5 fastest goals in the history of football, all came from some lesser known leagues, where, we can expect to see goals we would otherwise not witness in one of the top 4 European leagues. Knowing that seeing a goal being scored only seconds into a match is a rather rare occurrence in the top tier football, we still got to see our fair share of “fast” goals even in the strongest leagues in the world.
In this list, we will look at the 5 fastest goals in Premier League history, the fastest of which was scored in 2018/19 season, breaking a 19-year old record from the year 2000.
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Mark Viduka: March 2001 (11.90s)
The year was 2001 and it was quite a successful season for Leeds United, who finished in the top 4 in the Premier League, but just narrowly missed the top 3, which would get them into Champions League qualifications. Still, their season was filled with some memorable moments, one of which stood out and is still standing out. We are talking about the goal against Charlton Athletic, which was produced by Mark Viduka who needed only 11.90s to do so. By no means, a hall of fame player, Mark “The Duke” Viduka was still and still is one of the rare Australian players who left a mark in the EPL.
An 11.90s goal, which even after 18 years still holds the no.5 spot sadly has no video posted online, however, with the Premier League officially making it one of the fastest goals in the league’s history we will believe it did happen.
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Christian Eriksen; January 2018 (10.54s)
Moving down our list, we have got a goal from Christian Eriksen, who got his name in the history books with a 10.54s goal in 2018 against Manchester United. On that day, it did not take Tottenham Hotspur long to put Manchester United 1 down, as they managed to get the ball into the opponent’s half only seconds after the match started. Followed a long pass, it was Harry Kane who managed to flick the ball into the penalty box, where Christian Eriksen was left with an easy task of simply showing the ball into the net, leaving United players in shock and Jose Mourinho in silence.
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Alan Shearer; January 2003 (10.52s)
Only 0.02s slower than the 4th fastest goal, we have got a goal from a now retired Alan Shearer, which he scored in January 2003 against Manchester City. Widely considered as one of the best strikers in Premier League history, he has scored a total of 206 goals, however, there this one stood out from the rest. Scoring one of the fastest goals EPL has ever seen, Alan Shearer showcased his vision and fast thinking as a striker, which got his team in a lead only 10.52s into the game against Manchester City.
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Ledley King; December 2000 (9.82s)
The first goal to break the 10s mark was scored in December of 2000 in a match between Bradford City and Tottenham. The man who produced the historic goal was no other than infamous Ledley King, who is not only known for being a one-club man, but also his incidents off the pitch. Nonetheless, the now-retired Tottenham Hotspur legend made history on that night by scoring a goal in only 9.82s from a rather long range. Did I forget to mention Ledley King was a defender?
(the goal can be seen in the first 28 seconds of the video)
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Shane Long; April 2019 (7.69s)
It took 19 years for Ledley King’s record to be beaten, however, we finally witnessed a goal which is now 36th fastest goal in football history and the fastest goal in the history of Premier League.
Who scored the fastest goal in the history of Premier League?
The historic goal was scored by Shane Long in April of 2019 when he completely shattered King’s record, setting the time of 7.69s. Following his successful block of Craig Cathcart clearance, Shane Long took his opportunity and scored the goal, leaving Watford players and all the world in shock, as they have witnessed the new fastest goal in EPL history.
Shattering King’s record which stood for 19 years by 2 seconds, we can only guess how long this one will stand.
Sports journalist, content writer and passionate football lover.