Worst Individual Performances Ever

We all know that footballers are prone to dropping the occasional poor performance but some of these stinkers are far worse than others, with millions of eyes watching your every move on the pitch, waiting for the smallest slip-up, being a professional at the top level is far from easy.

These performances are few and far between but when they do happen, they have potential to stain a players entire career, changing fans opinions of them forever.

Below is a list of what I believe to be the worst individual performances in football ever.

8. Steven Gerrard vs Manchester United, 2015

Steven Gerrard’s last game against his boyhood club's fiercest rivals, time to go out with a bang surely?

Kind of anyway, subbed on at half time by Brendan Rogers only to be sent off after a whopping 38 seconds on the pitch for stamping on United’s Ander Herrera.

Steven Gerrard vs Man United (2015) pic.twitter.com/1xGRhPtPTd
— jake (@jakemillmxn) March 10, 2021

7. Tiemoue Bakayoko vs Watford, 2018

Many Premier League midfielders would not even be able to fathom a worse 30 minutes than that of Chelsea’s Bakayoko which more or less brought an end to the Conte era at Chelsea.

Starting off bad and ending even worse, misplacing passes, struggling to keep the ball and receiving 2 yellow cards in 30 minutes, his short and not sweet cameo was concluded by his own fans serenading him with jeering chants and hurling abuse at the frenchman.

Red card for Chelsea! Bakayoko's game lasts just 30 minutes as he is shown a second yellow card after a collision on halfway with Richarlison. #WATCHE
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) February 5, 2018

6. Wout Faes vs Liverpool, 2022

There is arguably no worse way to end a calendar year than scoring 2 own goals, giving Liverpool a 2-1 win without an opposition player scoring a goal.

Leading on from this, Leicester were relegated just 2 points away from safety meaning there is potential that this performance from Faes may have single handedly relegated the team.

38’—Liverpool 1-1 Leicester (Wout Faes OG)
45’—Liverpool 2-1 Leicester (Wout Faes OG)

😳 pic.twitter.com/oVSc890ydh
— B/R Football (@brfootball) December 30, 2022

5. Johnathan Walters vs Chelsea, 2013

It’s no easy feat finding a performance worse than Faes’ but that of Stoke’s Johnathan Walters might just do it. What's worse than 2 own goals? Try 2 own goals and missing a penalty in a tragic 4-0 defeat.

On this day in 2013 I fulfilled a childhood dream and scored two goals for @chelsea
To all those who had me in your @OfficialFPL team...you’re welcome 👍🏼#OnThisDay pic.twitter.com/2vLGWkqV3m
— Jonathan Walters (@JonWalters19) January 12, 2021

4. David Luiz vs Germany, 2014

Brazil 1 - Germany 7 is one of the most shocking score lines in football and the centerpiece of Brazil's defence at the time was largely at fault for a majority of the goals.

The center-half who was named in the 2014 Men's Team of the Year turned up to a world cup semi-final looking like a Sunday league player with a hangover.

David Luiz: “The lowest point of my career [was the 7-1 loss to Germany at the 2014 World Cup]. However, I recognize the class of the Germans, in particular of Mesut Özil, the only one who apologised to me. If I were to leave Chelsea one day, I’d like to play with him.” #afc pic.twitter.com/sUmqz7ptSO
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) August 8, 2019

3. Jamie Carragher vs Manchester United, 1999

Having a stinker in one of England's biggest games is always bad but few have had it worse than Jamie Carragher against the United team that would go on to win the treble.

The defender put 2 in the back of his own net as United secured a 3-2 victory over their fierce rivals at Anfield

Jamie Carragher’s two legendary own goals in the SAME game against Man United pic.twitter.com/KOpoyEXSMx
— ' (@TheShowtimeReds) May 21, 2024

2. Jonathan Woodgate vs Athletic Bilbao, 2005

Comfortably the worst debut in football history, Woodgates move to European giants Real Madrid raised more than a few eyebrows at the time, concerns that were more than justified following his ‘disasterclass’ on debut.

After having to wait a year for his debut due to injury, the Englishman burst onto the scene of Spanish football scoring an own goal and being sent off in his first appearance for the Galacticos.

Jonathan Woodgate debut for Real Madrid.

⚽️ 24' Own goal
🌕 44' Booked
🔴 66' Sent offpic.twitter.com/Y1TldeDwre
— JS19🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (@F_Jorgensen1) December 30, 2024

1. Loris Karius vs Real Madrid

Unfortunately for Karius this had to be ranked number 1. Never in history has a player has such a woeful performance on such a big stage, with the exception of conceding arguably the best goal in Champions League history courtesy of Gareth Bale it’s hard to excuse the remainder of Karius’ performance.

Throwing the ball directly into the path of Karim Benzema to open the scoring and then dropping a weak shot from Bale into his own net to seal Real Madrid’s 3-peat of Champions Leagues having one back to back titles the two years prior.