5 Biggest Upsets in FIFA World Cup History

The FIFA World Cup has produced some greatest moments and sensational matches in the history of football. There have been a lot of historic and iconic matches that are still etched as unforgettable in the history books; it also includes some knockout matches, including the iconic title clashes. 

The prestigious football quadrennial has also been a stage for both the rise and fall of some football superstars and champion teams; some of them capitalized on the opportunities whereas some failed to hold the nerves in the clutch moments.  

With said that, here we’ll have a look at the 5 biggest upsets in the history of the FIFA World Cup since the inception of the tournament 94 years back in the year 1930.

Here Are The Biggest Upsets in FIFA World Cup History:

5. Korea Republic stuns Italy by 2-1 – FIFA World Cup 2002, Korea/Japan 2002 

Korea Republic and Italy took on each other in the Round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup 2002 at the Daejeon World Cup Stadium in Daejeon Japan. The star-studded Italy was considered the favourites to win this knockout match. But out of everyone’s expectations, South Korea gave a tough and unbelievable fight to Italy. 

The score of the match was 1-1 at the end of the main time of 90 minutes as it entered the extra time. It was Jung-Hwan Ahn who scored the stunning winner to help South Korea take a lead of 2-1 in the game and move ahead to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

4. Norway leave Brazil in shock with a 2-1 win – FIFA World Cup 1998 France 

Norway and Brazil were facing each other in the last match of Group A on June 24, 1998, in the FIFA World Cup 1998 at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille, Japan. The match was scoreless before Bebeto opened the account in Brazil’s favour by scoring the first goal of the match in the 78th minute of the match. 

Just five minutes after Brazil’s first goal, Tore Andre Flo came up with an equalizer in Norway’s favour in the 83rd minute of the match. Everybody was left stunned when Kjetil Rekdal scored the winner for Norway in a penalty to help his side take the winning lead of 2-1 to stun the multi-time World Champions Brazil. Later in the tournament, Brazil went on to play the final where they lost to France, and Norway were eliminated in the early stage of the tournament. 

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3. East Germany outplays ‘established’ Western Neighbours – FIFA World Cup 1974 Germany  

50 years back, the FIFA World Cup 1974 was hosted by Germany, seeing the inclusion of both East Germany and West Germany. It was also the World Cup debut for East Germany and they were also scheduled to face their neighbours West Germany, who had already earned a big reputation in the World Cup. 

West Germany was highly likely to win this game considering their strong setup against their debutant neighbours East Germany. But out of everyone’s expectations, East Germany’s Jurgen Sparwasser scored a sensational winner in the 78th minute of the match to help East Germany take a winning lead of 1-0 against their western neighbours.

2. Just another year of debutants beating ‘strong’ West Germany - FIFA World Cup 1982 Spain (Algeria 2-1 West Germany) 

Algeria and West Germany faced each other in the Group B match of the FIFA World Cup 1982 in El Molinon in Spain. Rabah Madjer scored the first goal of the match in Algeria’s favour in the 53rd minute of the match to help his side take a lead of 1-0. 

However, West Germany retaliated as per their stature and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge scored the equalizer 15 minutes later in the 68th minute of the match to make the score 1-1. But Lakhdar Belloumi didn’t hold it back for a long time and he executed an amazing winner in the 69th minute in Algeria’s favour to take the score to 2-1 and beat the eventual runners-up of that edition, West Germany. 

1. Saudi Arabia leaves Argentina gutted with 2-1 win – FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar 

Lionel Messi’s Argentina locked horns with Saudi Arabia in the first match of their FIFA World Cup 2022 campaign at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar on November 22, 2022. As per his legendary stature, Argentina skipper and great winger Lionel Messi scored the first goal for Argentina in a penalty in the 10th minute of the match to help his side take the lead of 1-0. 

Argentina continued their lead till the end of the first half, but Saudi Arabia came up with some other plans in the second half as Saleh Alshehri scored the equalizer in the 48th minute of the match Saudi Arabia’s favour. Just five minutes after the first goal, Salem Aldawsari came up with an outstanding winner in the 53rd minute to help Saudi take a winning lead of 2-1 against the eventual champions of FIFA World Cup 2022, Argentina. 

Later in the tournament, Saudi Arabia was eliminated from the tournament after two defeats following this win over Argentina; on the other hand, Lionel Messi went on to lift the title by defeating the then-defending champions France in the thrilling final.