Every World Cup usually has at least one surprise in store, and as this list of World Cup upsets proves, sometimes those surprises are so huge that no one could have possibly seen them coming. Here is our list of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.
Germany Beat Brazil 7-1 In 2014
The 2014 World Cup semi-final between Brazil and Germany was expected to be a close affair. Brazil was without their star defender Silva and their star striker Neymar, but they were the hosts, and as a result, many expected them to triumph over Germany. But within half an hour, the game was over, and Brazil’s hopes were quashed.
Germany opened the scoring on 11 minutes before adding a second on 23 minutes. Before Brazil could come to terms with what was happening, Germany had added another and another. With 30 minutes gone, it was 5-0, and the world was in utter disbelief.
It was 7-0 at one point, but Brazil scored in the 90th minute to make it 7-1.
Costa Rica At The 2014 World Cup
This list is full of single games because the World Cup is littered with massive shocks that have occurred during a single 90-minute match. But Costa Rica managed to extend it to several games, captivating the world in the process.
Costa Rica was the rank outsider in their group, nicknamed the Group of Death because it contained three of the best teams in the world: Italy, England, and Uruguay. Before the tournament, no one gave them a second thought. They were the whipping boys, and everyone thought they were there to see who could get the highest score against them and build a big goal difference.
But Costa Rica went on to win the group, beating Uruguay and Italy and stopping England and Italy from making it out of the group. They then beat Greece on penalties before losing to the Netherlands on penalties in the quarter-finals.
Did you know the USA beat England 1-0 in the 1950 World Cup? Make sure to read our full article on truly the biggest upsets in World Cup History.
Cameroon Beat Argentina In 1990
Argentina had run rampant in 1986. Then, it was the Diego Maradona World Cup, one in which he scored the greatest World Cup goal ever and one of the most controversial. Four years later, Argentina was the defending world champions and expected to do well, so it is fair to say that no one saw their defeat coming to Cameroon.
Cameroon had a man sent off behind they scored the winner, making this an even more surprising result. And Argentina would still make it to the final, suggesting this was more down to the momentary brilliance of the African nation as opposed to a poor Argentina side.
Scotland Beat Netherlands In 1978
Johan Cryuff took the Netherlands to the World Cup final in 1974, winning the Player of the Tournament as he did so. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get over the final hurdle that time, and while their magic midfielder had retired by the time the 1978 World Cup came around, they were still expected to breeze through the group stage.
This was the era of “Total Football,” after all. But that era faced a massive bump in the road in the form of Scotland, a team that the Netherlands were expected to dominate, but one that beat them 3-2. Of course, Scotland was the better team on the day, but they didn’t make it out of the group while the Netherlands made it to their second final in two consecutive World Cups.
North Korea Beat Italy In 1966
The idea of a team like North Korea beating a team like Italy today is incredible and unthinkable. And while both of these teams looked decidedly different back in 1966, the gulf between them was just as significant.
North Korea was expected to finish points-less and to be dominated every minute of every game. During a 3-0 loss to the Soviet Union, this was the case, but they managed to shock the world in their next game when they beat Italy 1-0. In the group’s final game, they nearly secured an even more significant shock result when they went 3-0 up against Eusebio’s Portugal, but the star striker dragged Portugal back into it and eventually beat North Korea 5-3.
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