The FIFA world cup is one of the most anticipated competitions for football fanatics. When a team is competing, fans and franchises are always thrilled and expect them to win. However, there is no FIFA world cup competition without shocking upsets. This makes it more popular due to the losses of the most qualified teams.
6 Shocking Upsets In The History Of FIFA World Cup Matches
Here are some of the most surprising upset matches in the entire FIFA world cup history.
1. North Korea Vs. Italy (1966)
In 1966, the first Asian team to reach the World Cup was North Korea. Italy had already won two World Cups and was predicted to get an easy win against North Korea. However, it did not go as the fans and competition audience had expected. The North Korean team shocked the Italy team and even the audience by winning the match with a 1-0 score. So, you can assume how disappointed the Italy team’s fans were.
2. Algeria Vs. West Germany (1982)
Algeria shocked everyone by defeating then-champion West Germany in the 1982 World Cup. At that time, West Germany was the champion of Europe and carried two World Cups. On the other hand, the Algeria team was competing in their first World Cup. After Rummenigge’s equalizer, Lakhdar Belloumi and Rabah Madjer each scored once to give their team a great triumph.
3. Cameroon Vs. Argentina (1990)
Argentina was the most favored team during the World Cup championships in 1990, but they were defeated by Cameroon team. The Cameroon team managed to maintain the lead even though they had only 9 players left. The resultant momentum of the match continued as Cameroon advanced to the quarterfinals as the first African country.
4. Bulgaria Vs. Germany 1 (1994)
When the German team faced Bulgaria in the quarterfinals, everyone expected Germany to get their fourth victory in the World Cup in a row. In the initial second half, Germany achieved the game’s opening goal with a penalty kick. However, Bulgaria responded by scoring two goals consequently in quick succession to defeat Germany. If you are interested in football, make sure to check out the 4rabet app download for pc.
5. Senegal Vs. France (2002)
It was perhaps a little intimidating for Senegal, who were competing in their first World Cup, to play against France in the first game of the tournament. During that time, France was the champion. In the 30th minute, Papa Bouba Diop scored the game’s single goal, which gave Senegal a 1-0 victory over France. France had a hard time defending the championship because they were eliminated in the group round.
6. South Korea Vs. Italy (2002)
The 2002 World Cup was full of surprises, and here is one more upset in that tournament. In the 16th round, South Korea eliminated Italy with a 2-1 score, who already had four titles at that time. Italy had taken the initial lead with 1-0 thanks to a goal from Christian Vieri, but Seol Ki-Hyeon increased the score in the last two minutes of the game.
Bottom Line
As you can see from this list, the most shocking upsets happened when the highly anticipated teams lost the game. In many of the football world cup upsets, newly debuted or underrated teams have defeated previous title holders who have years of expertise participating in FIFA world cup competitions.