Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Five of biggest upsets in World Cup history
THE 2022 World Cup has already seen two upsets as former champions Argentina and Germany suffered 2-1 defeats at the hands of Asian teams Saudi Arabia and Japan so far.
Today, we look at five of the biggest World Cup upsets in history.
5. GERMANY 7-1 BRAZIL (2014)
It was not surprising that Germany beat Brazil in the semi-final of the 2014 World Cup but it was embarrassing that Brazil went down so badly on home soil in a tournament where they were the favourites.
Germany had the five times World Champions 5-0 down after 30 minutes. The game slowed down in the second half but they still added two more goals.
4. FRANCE 0-1 SENEGAL (2002)
France entered this game as the reigning World and European Champions and were expected to make easy work of tournament debutants Senegal. Zinedine Zidane did not play as he was not fit and Senegal won through a goal from the late Papa Bouba Diop.
This was the beginning of France’s 2002 World Cup disaster. In the end, they failed to score a goal and finished last in the group containing the Lions of Teranga, Denmark and Uruguay.
It was Senegal and Denmark who advanced beyond the group while former champions Uruguay and France were humbled.
3. NORTH KOREA 1-0 ITALY (1966)
Italy boasted some of the best players in the world while not much was known about the North Koreans – to date, not much is known about what came of their players who shocked the world by beating the Azzurri in 1966.
Pak Doo-ik scored the winning goal. North Korea went on to reach the quarter-finals, falling 5-3 against Portugal. At one time, they led Portugal 3-0 before a four-goal haul from football legend Eusebio and a late Jose Augusto strike won it for the European nation.
2. CAMEROON 1-0 ARGENTINA (1990)
Argentina entered the tournament as defending champions after Diego Maradona’s brilliance took them to the title in 1986. Nobody gave Cameroon much of a chance but this was the game in which 38-year-old Cameroon football legend Roger Milla became a worldwide superstar. After coming on as an impact substitute, he did his job and won the game for his side.
Cameroon reached the quarterfinals of the tournament and it remains their greatest ever performance in a World Cup, as only group stage exits have followed.
1. USA 1-0 ENGLAND (1950)
As is always the case, the English team entered this game with elite professionals. The USA, on the other hand, had a team which was made up of mostly amateur players.
Frank Borghi in goal for the Americans made several saves before USA slotted home a goal via Joe Geatjens.
It has been reported that the media initially thought that the score from the game was reported incorrectly and were under the belief that England actually won 1-0.
The game has been dubbed the “miracle on grass” and it is unlikely that we will see amateur players beating elite professionals on the grandest stage again.