Andorra were always going to have their work cut out against Poland on Friday night.The European micronation, positioned between France and Spain, are currently ranked by FIFA as having the 153rd strongest male national team and have never qualified for a major tournament.As such, the prospect of welcoming Robert Lewandowski to the Estadi Nacional was always going to be a nerve-wracking one, particularly when their last clash with Poland ended in a 3-0 defeat.
Andorra vs Poland
Naturally, Lewandowski helped himself to two goals on the night and will have been licking his lips at the prospect of another smattering of strikes in the return fixture.
However, even the Bayern Munich striker's wildest dreams couldn't have foreseen how easy that was set to become with Andorra going down to 10 men within a matter of seconds.
Yes, that's right, Andorra were on the receiving end of a red card less than 20 seconds into their World Cup qualifier with Ricard Fernández Betriu being sent for the earliest of early baths.
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One of the fastest red cards ever
Television footage suggests that Betriu landed an elbow on one of his Polish opponents with 10 seconds on the clock and that the red card was lifted in the air around the 21-second mark.
Either way, though, Betriu can rest assured that he has a place amongst the history books as the proud owner of one of the fastest red cards in football history and frankly, our minds are blown.
So, without further ado, be sure to check out the rapid-fire red card in all its peculiarity down below:
Have you ever seen anything like that before? Madness.
Poland took full advantage
It won't come as a surprise to hear that Poland were keen to grab the opportunity with both hands and there was a sense of inevitability when Lewandowski opened the scoring just five minutes later.
However, remarkably, 10-man Andorra managed to post a goal of their own with Joan Cervós scoring between strikes from Kamil Jóźwiak and Arkadiusz Milik as they trailed 3-1 at half-time.
But even in a world where Andorra completed an outrageous comeback and upset, you can rest assured that the game will be remembered for a red card that will surely contend for records.
No doubt the statisticians of the world will be digging deep into the history books over the coming hours, but there's no denying that Betriu will rank amongst the very swiftest of top-level dismissals.
After all, for context, the record for the fastest red card in the history of World Cup finals goes to Jose Batista of Uruguay who was dismissed just 54 seconds into a game at the 1986 tournament.
And the quickest ever Premier League red card? Yes, you guessed it, Steven Gerrard after just 38 seconds against Manchester United, albeit coming off the bench in the second-half.
Sadly, though, it won't be going down as the swiftest dismissal that the sport has ever seen as Lee Todd of Cross Farm Park Celtic disputably holds that title for a two-second sending off in 2000.
