“Matvey Safonov made zero saves in the Champions League final through regular time, extra time and penalties yet still lifted the trophy,” observes Philip Cornwall. “Records may be incomplete but has this occurred previously in a major final?”

Three additional Champions League finals emerge where the victorious goalkeeper recorded no official saves though none faced penalty shootouts. When Jose Mourinho’s Porto defeated Monaco 3-0 in 2004 Vitor Baia registered no saves yet produced one notable stop on Fernando Morientes despite an incorrect offside flag.

Wayne Rooney’s leveller for Manchester United versus Barcelona at Wembley in 2011 arguably should have been disallowed for offside involving Ryan Giggs during the build-up. The goal stood but failed to disrupt dominant Barcelona who regained command after the interval and triumphed 3-1. Their keeper Victor Valdes made no saves throughout.

Lyon overcame Wolfsburg by the identical margin in the 2020 Women’s Champions League final. Alexandra Popp’s strike that reduced the deficit to 2-1 and offered Wolfsburg fleeting optimism represented their sole shot on target leaving Lyon custodian Sarah Bouhaddi in football’s counterpart to cricket’s TFC group.

Arsenal’s Wojciech Szczesny achieved the same when his side overwhelmed Aston Villa 4-0 in the 2015 FA Cup final. The most prominent instance identified involves Nery Pumpido in the 1986 World Cup final as Argentina edged West Germany 3-2 in a dramatic Azteca encounter. West Germany’s goals both from corners constituted their only efforts on target.

“Salford secured the highest number of victories in their division this campaign (25) but missed promotion,” notes Nick Orton. “Which side has recorded the most league wins in a season without earning promotion?”

Salford ended the regular League Two campaign with 46 matches played 25 wins six draws 15 defeats and 81 points. Their reluctance for draws placed them fourth just behind Cambridge (22 wins 16 draws eight defeats 82 points) and denied automatic promotion. Bromley and MK Dons each secured 24 wins to advance automatically. Salford defeated Grimsby in the playoff semis before falling to Notts County.

Nick’s query carried some ambiguity regarding the most wins in that specific season or historically. Focus remained on the latter though Michael Haughey notes Salford became the first Football League side since Chelsea in 1979-80 to win more matches than any other team in the division without promotion. (Recent cases exist of teams tying for most wins including Reading in the First Division during 1994-95.)

Appreciation goes to Michael Tom Reed Andy Carswell and Michael Haughey for input on this partial list of sides winning over 25 games in a season without promotion. Such occurrences appear frequently in the National League formerly the Conference where only one team gains automatic promotion. The same applied to the former Third Division North and South.

Victory counts cover only the regular league season excluding playoff matches.

26

Reading Third Division South 1935-36
Portsmouth First Division 1992-93
Sunderland First Division 1997-98
Torquay United Conference 2007-08
Forest Green Rovers National League 2015-16
Dagenham and Redbridge National League 2016-17
Wrexham National League 2021-22
Barnsley League One 2022-23
Barnet National League 2023-24

27

Rochdale Third Division North 1925-26
Leeds United Championship 2023-24

28

Stockport County Third Division North 1928-29 and 1929-30
Rotherham United Third Division North 1948-49
Hereford Conference 2003-04
Kidderminster Harriers Conference 2012-13

29

Rotherham United Third Division North 1946-47
Tranmere Rovers National League 2016-17
York City National League 2024-25

30

Wrexham Conference 2011-12
Kings Lynn Town Kettering Town and Weymouth Southern League 2017-18

The standout case involves an exceptional Southern League campaign where five teams claimed at least 30 wins from 46 league fixtures. Only two earned promotion.

Can Anyone Equal Sancho European Final Appearances?

“Jadon Sancho featured in finals across all three European competitions over the past three years,” remarks Glenn Coburn. “Has any other player achieved this or were there similar near-misses like Emerson Palmieri (2019 2021 2023)?”

Peter Tomlin leads responses. “Only one additional player has appeared in all three finals since the Conference League began. Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored in the 2017 Europa League final for Manchester United in their 2-0 victory over Ajax. He then made a 17-minute appearance in Roma’s 1-0 win against Feyenoord in the 2022 Conference League final. He started the 2025 Champions League final for Inter versus PSG. Previously numerous players reached three distinct European finals yet not within Sancho’s compressed timeframe.” Dirk Maas notes Nicola Zalewski as another near match. “Zalewski appeared in the 2025 Champions League final with Inter the 2023 Europa League final and the 2022 Europa Conference League final with Roma. Contact us regarding any player competing in three separate European finals across three years.

Knowledge Archive

“An earlier Knowledge column proposed two Swedish towns Uddevalla and Sandviken (populations 40 000 and 29 000) as the smallest World Cup host towns. Surely no smaller example exists” the query ran in July 2002.

Daniel Wilson suggests otherwise. Lugano in Switzerland hosted Italy versus Belgium on June 20 1954. Current town population stands at 29 000 per the Swiss tourist board and was likely smaller 48 years prior.

Can You Assist?

“Qatar’s record scorer Almoez Ali entered as a second-half substitute in the recent friendly versus Ireland only to receive a red card 21 minutes later for violent conduct in an off-ball incident with Jason Molumby. Should Qatar exit the group stage and Ali receive a three-match ban this dismissal would sideline him for Qatar’s full World Cup. Has any player previously missed an entire World Cup due to a red card in a pre-tournament friendly?” asks Eoin Jones.

“Last week Auckland FC claimed the A-League Men title defeating Sydney FC in Auckland. The following day Auckland FC’s OFC side captured the first OFC Pro League crown also in Auckland. Does this mark the initial instance of one club securing titles in two confederations during a single season?” wonders Michael Wood.

“New Zealand selected Tommy Smith for their World Cup squad. He featured for Braintree Town last season in the fifth-tier National League. Has a player from a lower division previously received a call-up for a World Cup or continental championship?” asks Paul Wilson.

“On Friday 15 May the McLeman Cup final penalty shootout halted midway after floodlights failed at Cove Rangers’ ground” says Andrew Wilson. “The shootout continued on Thursday 28 May 13 days later. Has a longer penalty shootout occurred?”

The first World Cup specials appear next week. Submit questions and answers to knowledge@theguardian.com