Biggest FIFA World Cup Upsets Ever

The unpredictability of international soccer never fails to deliver, as evidenced by some of the biggest FIFA World Cup upsets ever.

The favourites are normally the ones lifting the World Cup trophy, but it’s the hiccups and giant slayings along the way that keeps fans hooked.

One country’s national tragedy is another’s crowning achievement to be remembered for generations.

Here are the biggest World Cup upsets on record:

United States 1-0 England (1950)

England’s first taste of the World Cup was a bitter one. 

Having sat out the previous editions of the tournament due to a self-imposed exile, England made its World Cup debut in Brazil just four years after becoming a member of FIFA.

After beating Chile, England was the heavy favourite to cruise past a United States team composed of semi-professionals, some of whom had regular jobs on the side such as a mailman and a hearse driver.

But it was a Haitian-born dishwasher that derailed England’s World Cup campaign, as Joe Gaetjens’s diving header lifted the U.S. to a victory. The result was so shocking that it led to confusion in England, where confidence was so high that the initial wire transmission with the score was assumed to be a typo.

North Korea 1-0 Italy (1966)

Losing to North Korea is among Italy’s biggest World Cup upsets. It angered fans back home so much that members of the squad were pelted with vegetables upon their arrival home from the World Cup in England.

Despite winning the World Cup twice previously, Italy struggled in the years after its victorious triumph in 1938. But in 1966, Italy built a formidable side that was in a position to reach the World Cup quarterfinals.

All the Azzurri had to do was earn a point against World Cup debutant North Korea. Easier said than done, as Italy was reduced to 10 men in the first half because of an injury (as substitutions didn’t exist in 1966) before North Korea grabbed the unlikely lead.

North Korea went into defensive mode to deny Italy’s comeback efforts until the final whistle confirmed the famous victory. North Korea then narrowly lost the quarterfinal against Portugal, the Asian country’s last World Cup match until 2010. 

Algeria 2-1  West Germany (1982)

Algeria’s first-ever match was a World Cup upset for the ages, beating a West Germany team that was among the favourites to win the World Cup in Spain.

West Germany players and staff were so confident that they notoriously dismissed Algeria. One player even joked, “We will dedicate our seventh goal to our wives, and the eighth to our dogs.”

Algeria, instead, let its play do the talking, scoring twice on the counter attack to stun the two-time World Cup winner.

But West Germany got the last laugh – in shameful fashion. The defeat to Algeria eventually led to the “The Disgrace of Gijon,” a controversial World Cup match in which West Germany and Austria players were accused of a lack of effort in a 1-0 West Germany win that resulted in both teams progressing at the expense of Algeria. 

Cameroon 1-0 Argentina (1990)

Argentina got a startling wake-up call in the first game of the 1990 World Cup in Italy. 

Favourites to win the tournament after capturing the 1986 World Cup, Argentina—led by iconic star Diego Maradona—was humbled against a Cameroon side that wasn’t given much of a chance to progress from the group stage.

Instead, Cameroon paved the way for African nations to dream big at the World Cup, stunning Argentina despite being reduced to nine men after two red cards.

Cameroon won the group before losing to England in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile Argentina regrouped and went on to reach the final, but failed to repeat as champion after losing to Germany.

Senegal 1-0 France (2002)

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Twelve years after Argentina’s infamous loss to Cameroon, the World Cup kicked off with the defending champions taking on an African debutant. And once again, the defending champion was subdued by a team with an unmatched desire to win.

Senegal—mostly made up of players from the lower French leagues—kicked off the World Cup in Japan and South Korea with an early contender for shock of the century after slaying the supremely talented France side.

The result exposed struggles within a France side that crashed out of the tournament in the group stage without scoring a single goal.

South Korea 2-1 Italy (2002)

Italy makes the list again. But this time it was South Korea’s turn to match what its northern neighbours did nearly 40 years prior.

The stakes were the same for Italy, with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line. 

However, unlike 1966 when North Korea was praised for upsetting Italy, controversy followed South Korea’s triumph over a stacked Italy team.

South Korea scored the golden goal to win the game, but the match referee was later widely criticized over several controversial decisions. One of which was disallowing a golden goal by Italy’s Damiano Tommasi.

Costa Rica 1-0 Italy (2014)

In a group with three former World Cup winners (Italy, Uruguay and England), nobody was brave enough to give Costa Rica a chance to progress from the group stage in Brazil.

But the Central American nation changed the narrative almost instantly by beating Uruguay in the first game on its way to winning the group.

Costa Rica followed up the heroics with a defensive masterclass to deny Italy during a game in which goalkeeper Keylor Navas became a household name after making several key saves.

Costa Rica progressed all of the way to the quarterfinals, where it was beaten on penalties by the Netherlands. Italy, along with England, was eliminated in the group stage. The Azzurri have never played a World Cup game since.

Saudi Arabia 2-1 Argentina (2022)

“Where is Messi?”

That’s what Saudi Arabia fans famously asked after their team shocked Lionel Messi’s Argentina.

To be fair, Argentina fans were probably asking the same thing, as the country was one of the favourites to hoist the World Cup trophy in Qatar.

The South Americans, in the midst of a 36-game winning streak, scored a penalty to take the lead, but things went south in the second half during a five-minute spell that featured two incredible goals for Saudi Arabia.

While Argentina went on to lose, the defeat seemingly inspired Messi and Co., as La Albiceleste won the World Cup for the third time after a dramatic final against France.