These ten players wasted no time in seeing their name writ large in lights above the biggest sporting stage of them all.
The watching world barely had time to sit down with a cuppa and some Hobnobs.
10) Florian Albert (Hungary) – 50 seconds (1962)
The incredible Mighty Magyars of the Fifties were now in slight decline but Hungary still comfortably progressed from Group 4 in South America, with England squeaking through as runners-up.
Having beaten England in the opening fixture – with Albert bagging the winner – Hungary faced Bulgaria and flew into a four-goal lead inside 12 minutes.
With the result quickly secured, they then took their foot off the gas, ultimately triumphing 6-1.
The prolific Albert – a striker who fired 256 goals for Ferencvarosi in 351 outings – helped himself to a hat-trick here, his first notched in near-record time.
9) Bernard Lacombe (France) – 37 seconds (1978)
It is commonly accepted now that Argentina’s World Cup success on home soil in 1978 was not entirely on the level.
With a deeply unpopular military junta running the country, who desperately needed success to boost public morale, accusations were plentiful of police intimidation and match fixing.
Late in the competition La Albiceleste had to beat Peru by six clear goals to reach the final. They duly won 6-0 with Peru offering very little resistance.
Nefarious goings on extends to the group stage too, when France – much fancied in the football betting to win the tournament that year – were denied a blatant penalty against the hosts.
The referee reportedly told the offending player, “If you do that again I’m going to have to give it.”
Defeat to Argentina saw Les Bleus exit World Cup ’78 but in truth it was their opening loss to Italy that did for them.
Saint-Etienne striker Lacombe pounced almost from kick-off but the Italians grew into the contest and turned around the deficit.
=7) Arne Nyberg (Sweden) – 35 seconds (1938)
With Austria pulling out of the tournament, Sweden enjoyed a bye in the last 16, before trouncing Cuba 8-0 in the quarters.
Just over half a minute in to their semi-final encounter, striker Nyberg – an IRK Goteborg legend whose son would later play for the same club – notched and the Swedes could have been forgiven at this point for thinking this World Cup lark was easy.
Unfortunately for them, their opponents that day were Hungary, a major player on the footballing scene in this era.
The Hungarians took umbrage at the early show of disrespect and promptly put five past the beleaguered Scandinavians.
=7) Emile Veinante (France) – 35 seconds (1938)
Earlier in the competition, the seasoned striker Veinante also struck on 35 seconds, as tournament hosts France put three past Belgium.
Was there something in the water that summer? It is quite uncanny.
France went on to lose to the eventual champions Italy.
6) Clint Dempsey (USA) – 29 seconds (2014)
A lot of intrigue accompanied both Ghana and the USA going into the tournament.
The former had become a favourite of neutrals everywhere by reaching the last eight in 2010, ultimately robbed courtesy of Luis Suarez’s goal-line exploits.
The latter were intent on kicking on after firmly establishing themselves at this level.
Moreover, with Tim Howard in nets, Michael Bradley in midfield, and Dempsey up front, they had the talent to do so.
To pit both sides against one another in their opening contest therefore prompted a wide audience to tune in.
That audience found itself dumb-founded at the swiftness in which Dempsey made the difference, embarking on a mazy run before drilling home. You can just imagine how the live betting markets responded.
5) Bryan Robson (England) – 27 seconds (1982)
Robson famously was awarded with a gold Rolex watch on scoring the earliest goal at Espana 82.
It was an apt gift given how well ‘Captain Marvel’ used to time his runs into the box, this being a perfect example as he latched on to a flick-on from a throw-in.
Yet for all the curiosity that accompanies this volley it all cedes to its importance.
France would go on to reach the semi-finals in Spain and would be crowned Euro champions two years later. They were a terrific team and extremely tough opening opponents.
Robson’s immediate foray into enemy territory ignited belief back home that something special could be on the cards.
The Three Lions exited soon after, but still.
4) Ernst Lehner (Germany) – 24 seconds (1934)
Can we be absolutely sure that the pacy outside-right converted in the time that is accredited?
There was no accurate stopwatches or any form of technology around back in the early Thirties to properly adjudicate.
Did a spectator just happen to stare at his pocket-watch from kick-off?
Regardless, Lehner definitely struck inside a minute, we know that for sure, and his goal helped Germany prevail in a third-place play-off against Austria.
3) Pak Seung-zin (North Korea) – 23 seconds (1966)
Relations between North Korea and the UK were severely strained ahead of England’s hosting of the World Cup. The latter had fought alongside the South in the Korean War.
Subsequently, their participation caused a bureaucratic meltdown with discussions had about banning national anthems and taking down flags outside stadia.
Yet once again the power of football came to the fore. When North Korea beat Italy at Ayresome Park – one of the biggest shocks ever witnessed in the game – the minnows became the adopted team of the North-East.
People travelled down in their hundreds to Anfield to see them in their next fixture, against the mighty Portugal.
When Pak Seung-zin fired a quick opener from range the world again wobbled on its axis. Remarkably, Chollima then built up a three-goal lead before the break.
That was when the great Eusebio stepped up and orchestrated a dramatic comeback, scoring four in an unforgettable 5-3 thriller.
2) Václav Mašek (Czechoslovakia) – 15 seconds (1962)
The Eastern European giants had already secured their passage from Group 3 alongside Brazil. Little rested therefore on their third and final group outing against Mexico.
Still it’s always nice to win a World Cup game and Sparta Prague forward Masek immediately made that possible from the opening attack.
As it was, Mexican pride prevailed, resulting in an unlikely 3-1 loss for the Czechs who went on to lose to Brazil in the final.
1) Hakan Şükür (Turkey) – 11 seconds (2002)
The fastest goal ever scored at a World Cup finals began when South Korea kicked off in their third-place play-off with Turkey.
The ball was lofted back to the right-back who rolled it across to his centre-back. So far, so normal.
Only then, perhaps still full of nerves in front of a boisterous home crowd, the defender panicked, an alarm that only heightened when he couldn’t get the ball from out of his feet.
A Turkish forward dispossessed him and it fell on Sukur to stroke it past the befuddled keeper, a good few yards too advanced.
South Korea had performed minor miracles to reach the semi-finals. Now sadly their historical zenith would end in farce.
*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Adobe*
