Argentina's Lionel Messi is just one of the all-time greats to be on the losing side of a huge upset at the FIFA World Cup [File: Hannah Mckay/Reuters]By Al Jazeera StaffPublished On 25 May 202625 May 2026
The FIFA World Cup 2026 is the most eagerly awaited sports event of the year.
Fans are gearing up to see who scores the most goals, who are the biggest performers on football’s grandest stage, and who wins the coveted trophy.
But the tournament has also produced many stunning shocks throughout its history as defending champions have been knocked out in the group stages and minnows have downed giants of the game – such as when Saudi Arabia upset eventual champions Argentina at Qatar 2022.
Here are some of the major upsets in the history of the World Cup.
The post-war England team, comprising the likes of Alf Ramsey, Tom Finney and Billy Wright, was among the favourites to lift the trophy as it made its World Cup debut. The Americans, meanwhile, put together a group of part-timers, including a dishwasher, a letter carrier and a teacher. The mixed bunch practised together for one day and set off on a boat to Brazil.
Joe Gaetjens scored a 38th-minute header to put the USA ahead. In the second half, England’s attack was relentless, but USA’s goalkeeper Frank Borghi prevented them from scoring an equaliser and etched his team’s name into the history books.
A German side staging a comeback to win a World Cup match would not be considered an anomaly today.
However, this was a lesser-known West German side of the 1950s facing the Mighty Magyars of Hungary, who had the great Ferenc Puskas leading their attack.
Hungary entered the World Cup in Switzerland as favourites and lived up to their billing by handing a 9-0 drubbing to South Korea and thrashing West Germany 8-3 in earlier matches.
The two sides met in the final again. Hungary scored two goals in the first half and were seemingly following the script until the opponents scored two.
The game was tied until the 84th minute when Helmut Rahn scored his second goal and broke Hungarian hearts. The German comeback against one of the best teams in football’s history was termed “The Miracle of Bern”.
The fact that North Korea was able to make it to England for the World Cup was surprising enough.
The English FA had considered rejecting the North Korean team’s visa amid its cold war against the Western allied-backed South Korea.
Italy were held together by Giacomo Bulgarelli on the pitch. The midfielder was injured during the match, which reduced the Italian side to 10 men as substitutions were not allowed at the time.
Seven minutes later, Pak Doo Ik scored a goal that not only won his team the match but also knocked out the two-time world champions.
The match is considered one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history, and its original match ticket is placed in the FIFA football museum.
The spot where the goal was scored has been marked with iron stud marks after the stadium was demolished for a housing estate.
West Germany entered the 1982 World Cup as reigning European champions, former two-time winners and one of the favourites.
The all-star German lineup included Hansi Mueller, Wolfgang Dremmler, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Lothar Matthaus.
Algeria, on the other hand, were a team made up of little-known names but had been performing well prior to the World Cup.
The nonchalance shown by the Germans turned into complacency. Rabah Madjer scored in the 54th minute to hand the Germans their first shock.
Just after Rummenigge’s strike brought Germany level, a goal that would shock West Germany and the world came from the now-legendary Algerian forward Lakhdar Belloumi.
Holders, favourites and led by possibly the world’s greatest footballer of the time, Diego Maradona, Argentina had a seemingly easy opening match at the 1990 World Cup.
Cameroon were making their World Cup debut and were the only sub-Saharan African country playing in the tournament.
The opening match of the World Cup was played at the legendary San Siro stadium.
Although Argentina started well, the Cameroonians grew in confidence as the game went on without conceding.
Halfway into the second half, Francois Omam-Biyik latched onto a free kick and headed his side into a lead that would stand until the final whistle.
The opening game of the 2002 World Cup had all the possible subplots to make for an interesting match. But what the pundits and the French team failed to anticipate was the meticulously planned Senegalese stifling of the French attack.
Add to that the pace of El Hadji Diouf and a 30th-minute goal from Papa Bouba Diop, Senegal found themselves on top of the group at the end of 90 minutes.
France’s journey ended after another loss and a draw. Senegal went on to become only the second African country to qualify for the quarterfinals.
The 2014 World Cup seemed like the perfect opportunity for Brazil to right the wrongs of 1950 when they lost the final against Uruguay at home despite being clear favourites.
The stage was set for football’s biggest party to light up the samba nation with the crowning of Brazil as champions for the sixth time.
It was only a matter of two more matches. Or so thought the Brazilians.
They were up against Germany, never to be underestimated in a World Cup knockout match. Both teams had a similar path to the semifinals: Topping their groups and having close encounters in the knockouts.
However, Brazil lost their star forward Neymar Jr to injury in the quarterfinal and captain Thiago Silva to yellow card accumulation.
In the semifinal, Germany opened the scoring in the 11th minute and never looked back. Between the 23rd and 29th minutes, the Germans scored four more goals to stun the Brazilians on the pitch, in the stands and across the country.
It didn’t get better after half-time, as Brazil’s defence was breached twice more, before the home team scored a consolation goal in the last minute.
The final scoreline of 7-1 was Brazil’s biggest defeat since 1920, and brought on titles such as “the Agony of Mineirao” and was termed a national humiliation for the football-mad country.
Germany went on to win the final against Argentina for their fourth title.
The opening game of Group B in the 2014 World Cup pitted the two finalists from the previous World Cup.
Spain entered the tournament as reigning European and world champions and one of the favourites.
When Xabi Alonso opened the scoring in the 27th minute, all seemed to be going well for the star-studded Spanish side. But one minute before half-time came a goal that became the most iconic image of the tournament.
Robin van Persie was 15 yards from the goal when he latched onto a looping ball and scored a stunning header to baffle Iker Casillas and the rest of the Spanish side.
The Dutch went on to score four more goals to hand Spain their second-biggest loss in a World Cup. It was also the biggest loss margin for defending champions in a FIFA World Cup.
Spain were knocked out of the group after another loss, while the Netherlands finished the tournament in third place.
Some of the biggest upsets in the World Cup have involved the defending champions being handed first-round defeats, and the 2018 tournament was no different.
It was the third consecutive World Cup where the holders were knocked out at the first hurdle.
Germany came into their final group match needing a win to progress. South Korea were playing for pride as they were all but out of the tournament.
The match seemed to be heading to a goalless draw, so the Germans amassed all their efforts on scoring a winning goal that would see them through.
However, two minutes into injury time, South Korea’s Kim Young-gwon scored from a corner.
Then Manuel Neuer, German captain and goalkeeper, came out all the way into the Korean half to support the attack.
South Korea capitalised by collecting the ball from a pass misplaced by Neuer, and slotting it into an empty net to seal Germany’s fate.
It was the first time since 1938 that Germany failed to advance beyond the first stage, and their first-ever defeat against an Asian country in a World Cup match.
Argentina came into the match on a 36-match unbeaten streak and were among the top tournament favourites.
Everything seemed to be going to plan for the Argentinians as Lionel Messi converted a 10th-minute penalty to give them the lead. Argentina had another couple of goals disallowed, and it seemed like only a matter of time before they added to their lead as the half-time whistle blew.
Saleh Al-Shehri stunned the Argentinians in the 48th minute when he latched onto a long ball and fired a shot through the legs of goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
Five minutes later, winger Salem al-Dawsari cut inside from the left and curled a cracking shot into the top corner to give Saudi Arabia the lead.
The Saudis weathered the inevitable late Argentina onslaught to see out the victory.
Ultimately, Argentina went on to lift the trophy while Saudi Arabia crashed out in the group stages, following defeats to Poland and Mexico, but their win over La Albiceleste sent Saudi fans into raptures and went down as one of the great World Cup upsets.
