Seven seconds. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Goal.
That's how long it took for Christian Benteke to score on Monday night against Gibraltar in the World Cup qualifiers. It is the quickest goal in World Cup competition, and the second-quickest of all time.
âš½ï¸ðŸ’¨ RECORD!@chrisbenteke scores fastest ever #WCQ goal. The Belgium🇧🇪 striker scored in 7 seconds v Gibraltar🇬🇮 (HT @gracenotelive) pic.twitter.com/5a1YNlr0Eq
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) October 10, 2016
The Crystal Palace striker intercepted a misplaced pass from a Gibraltar midfielder to coast past two players and score past the goalkeeper Deren Ibrahim. Benteke would score twice more in the game for his first international hat-trick as the team went on to win 6-0.
WATCH: @chrisbenteke scored the fastest goal in World Cup Qualifying history. More on SS1/RB https://t.co/KV9c0a7BOu https://t.co/lMUdw8cBts
— Sky Sports News HQ (@SkySportsNewsHQ) October 10, 2016
Benteke's strike beat the 11 seconds it took Hakan Sukur to score for Turkey against South Korea in the third place play-off at the 2002 World Cup. The Belgian was a second short though of match Lukas Podolski's record of six seconds.
The German striker set the record in a friendly against Ecuador in 2013, scoring in six seconds.
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