The Most Staggering Upsets at the FIFA World Cup

Along with the Summer Olympics, the FIFA World Cup is the most-watched event on the planet. It is a stage where countries show their greatest footie talents, who display their skills competing against others for glory and national pride. Below, we get into five instances where underestimated teams defied the odds in this tournament and left fans and pundits alike in disbelief.

USA vs. England – 1950

The 1950 World Cup was the fourth one. It happened between June 24th and July 16th in Brazil, where thirteen teams from three confederations competed in six host cities for the title of the world’s best. The importance of this competition was massive due to the fact that their previous two cups got canceled on account of the Second World War. So, there had not been a World Cup since 1938 organized in France.

England, which many viewed as one of the top footballing nations, boycotted the previous tournaments due to an amateur player payment dispute it had with FIFA, which the Football Association resolved in 1946. On June 29th, England faced the United States at the Estádio Independência stadium in Belo Horizonte. The Three Lions’ post-war record tally was twenty-three wins, three draws, and four losses, earning them the nickname Kings of Football. Experts gave them three-to-one odds to win the 1950 World Cup, while the United States received five hundred to one chances. So, to say that the English were massive favorites would be an understatement. Yet, before a reported crowd of thirteen thousand, the US shook England 1-0, with the only goal netted in the game by Joe Gaetjens, a Haitian-born center forward.

North Korea vs. Italy – 1966

Without question, Italy is one of the world’s best footballing nations. It has four world titles, with the first one won before the competition we will talk about here, in 1934 and 1938. The 1966 Cup took place in England, with sixteen teams from four confederations playing. Most would say that this is the most controversial tournament, with England defeating West Germany in the final 4-2 with a non-existing goal in extra time. Outside that event, one of the most talked about things coming out of this Cup is North Korea beating Italy.

North Korea was one of the debutants in the competition, and it found itself in Group 4 along with the Soviet Union, Chile, and Italy. North Korea lost their opening match at Ayresome Part three to zero, and Italy comfortably beat Chile two to zero at Roker Park. North Korea drew in their following match, and Italy lost to the Soviet Union by one goal. Despite their loss, everyone expected Italy to trash North Korea on July 19th, 1966. But, Pak Doo-ik put North Korea ahead in the forty-second minute, a lead that his team held until the final whistle.

Senegal vs. France – 2002

South Korea and Japan hosted the 17th FIFA World Cup, the first to be held in Asia and to be jointly hosted. It is a notable tournament as the last one to feature the golden goal rule, which specified that the first team to score in extra time wins the game.

Group A in the 2002 Cup included Denmark, Senegal, Uruguay, and defending world and European champions France. After destroying Brazil 3-0 in the 1998 final and beating Italy in the European one two years later, The Blues were one of the front runners to lift the Victory trophy.

In their first game, the opening match of the Cup, France went up against Senegal, which was given eight-to-one odds of beating the reigning champs. They did not seem to care what bookmakers thought of them, as the Senegalese players showed no respect to the French superstars and edged them out through a goal by Papa Bouba Diop, which came in the thirtieth minute at the Seoul World Cup Stadium. In a jaw-dropping turn of events, France would go to draw Uruguay and lose to Denmark, landing as the last team in Group A with only one point from three games for an early exit in the 2002 World Cup.

West Germany vs. Algeria – 1982

Espana 82 was the marketing slogan and logo for the 1982 FIFA World Cup, in which Italy won their third world title by beating West Germany in the Santiago Bernabeu final, 3-1. However, en route to reaching the last match, West Germany had a more difficult than expected road, which began in their first game at the El Molinón stadium in Gijón. Algeria met West Germany there on the 16th of June, 1988, and took the lead in the fifty-fourth minute thanks to a goal by Rabah Madjer. The Germans struck back thirteen minutes later through Rummenigge. Yet, Algeria instantly came back. It landed back in the driver’s seat through Belloumi only a minute later, who posted the final result of 2-1.

Some bookmakers had Algeria as a ten-to-one underdog, while others marked them as a fifteen-to-one prey. What is interesting about their appearance in this competition is that they were one of three teams in Group A with four points but failed to advance due to a goal difference of zero, compared to West Germany’s +3 and Austria’s +2.

Argentina 1-2 Saudi Arabia – 2022

Millions of football fans around the globe watched the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, hoping to see what many of them consider the sport’s greatest player ever, Lionel Messi, become a world champion with Argentina. Substantial doubt of this potentially occurring in Messi’s likely last Cup got laid by Saudi Arabia in the match opener in Group C.

Few people believed that the Saudis had any shot to pull off the upset, as top sportsbooks had Argentina a seven-to-one favorite, and platforms like FOX BET at one point gave Saudi Arabia live odds of one hundred-to-one to win when they went down 1-0 after a Messi penalty in the tenth minute. That did not discourage the motivated Arab team, which rallied back and netted two goals at the start of the second half to secure the victory. Argentina did bounce back with two wins, winning the group with six points, while this triumph was the Saudi’s only one, as they ended last in Group C after losing to Poland and Mexico in their upcoming matches.

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