Irish teams set world record for longest five-a-side football match

Two Irish teams have set a world record for the longest five-a-side football match.

The teams, from Sodexo Ireland in Dublin, played a 53-hour non-stop competitive game with a final score of 695 goals to 601 from 10am on Friday, June 21st to 3pm on Sunday, June 23rd in aid of three Irish charities – Barnardos, the Irish Cancer Society and St Vincent de Paul.

The match, which was played at the Nagle Rice Sports Complex in Portlaoise, has now been verified as the longest five-a-side in the world by Guinness World Records, comfortably beating the previous record of 43 hours.

They also beat the unofficial world record of 52 hours set in the UK last year but not verified.

The teams were drawn from a squad of 15 men and one woman. To date they have raised €18,000 for the three charities and hope to hit their target of €20,000.