what is the highest scoring football game

The highest-scoring American football game was Washington 72–41 New York Giants in the NFL on November 27, 1966, for a combined 113 points. In soccer (association football), the highest-scoring official match on record is AS Adema 149–0 SO l’Emyrne in Madagascar, recognized by Guinness World Records.

What do you mean by “football”?

Because “football” can mean different sports depending on where you live, “what is the highest scoring football game” has a few answers.

• If you mean American football (NFL): Washington vs New York Giants, 72–41 (113 total points) in 1966.

• If you mean soccer: AS Adema 149–0 SO l’Emyrne in 2002, with 149 own goals as a protest.

• There are also extreme scorelines in other contexts (college football, regional leagues, etc.), but these two are the most cited modern records.

Quick mini-story: the 149–0 “protest” match

In Madagascar’s top division, SO l’Emyrne protested refereeing decisions by deliberately scoring own goals against themselves, leading to the 149–0 scoreline for AS Adema. The absurd result caused outrage and heavy sanctions but still stands in record lists as the official highest-scoring football match.

A match so lopsided that one team barely touched the ball in the “right” direction—and yet it’s in the record books forever.

American football’s wildest scoreboard

In the NFL, the 1966 shootout between Washington and the New York Giants finished 72–41, totaling 113 points, and is still cited as the league’s highest combined score. Modern high-scoring games like Rams 54–51 Chiefs (105 points) in 2018 have come close but not surpassed it.

Simple HTML table of key records

html

<table>
  <tr>
    <th>Sport / Context</th>
    <th>Match</th>
    <th>Score</th>
    <th>Year</th>
    <th>Why it’s notable</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Soccer (club)</td>
    <td>AS Adema vs SO l’Emyrne[web:5][web:8]</td>
    <td>149–0[web:5][web:8]</td>
    <td>2002[web:5][web:8]</td>
    <td>Recognized as highest-scoring official football match; protest via deliberate own goals.[web:5][web:8]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>American football (NFL)</td>
    <td>Washington vs New York Giants[web:1][web:3]</td>
    <td>72–41 (113 total)[web:1][web:3]</td>
    <td>1966[web:1][web:3]</td>
    <td>Highest combined score in an NFL game.[web:1][web:3]</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>International soccer</td>
    <td>Australia vs American Samoa[web:7][web:8]</td>
    <td>31–0[web:7][web:8]</td>
    <td>2001[web:7][web:8]</td>
    <td>Often cited as highest-scoring international football match.[web:7][web:8]</td>
  </tr>
</table>

Trending and “latest news” angle

The 149–0 match still goes viral in forum threads, YouTube explainers, and 2020s blog posts because of how bizarre the protest was and how unlikely it is under today’s scrutiny. High-scoring American football games also resurface whenever an NFL shootout nears the 100-point mark, sparking debates on whether offense-heavy eras are “ruining” or “improving” the game.

TL;DR:

• Highest-scoring soccer game (official): AS Adema 149–0 SO l’Emyrne.

• Highest-scoring NFL game: Washington 72–41 Giants (113 points).

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.