We've all heard of USA's 1-0 win against England in 1950 or North Korea's win by the same score over Italy in 1966. In recent history (1982 and after), what would you say was the biggest upset in WC history? Is it Northern Ireland's 1-0 win over Spain or Algeria's 2-1 win over West Germany in 82? Morocco's 3-1 win over Portugal in 86? Cameroon's 1-0 over Argentina in 90? The USA's 2-1 over Colombia, Saudi Arabia's 1-0 over Belgium, or Bulgaria's 2-1 over Germany in 94? Norway's 2-1 over Brazil, Croatia's 3-0 over Germany or France's 3-0 over Brazil in 98? Senegal's 1-0 over France, Korea's 1-0 over Portugal, 2-1 over Italy and 0-0 (5-3) against Spain, or the USA's 3-2 over Portugal? Many possibilities, maybe you even think it's something else. What do you guys think?
I say Senegal-France. WC holders against lowly rated African team. France's form throughout the group ended up showing they were terrible, so it's not like Senegal beat an awesome team.
I think for a team like S. Korea which had never won a single game in WC history to beat Italy (World champions more than once), is a great feat. They were playing in front of home crowd, that is why I did not pick them. I voted the Algerian victory over the Germans in '82 as the biggest upset in WC history (at least from the list provided).
Stoichkov and Bulgaria defeating Germany in quarterfinals, 1994. Germany were the world champions and at that point had an undefeated streak of 11 world cup games. After they took the lead with a penalty by Lothar Matthaus, It seemed things were taking the normal path, but Bulgaria managed to equalize through a sublime free kick by Stoichkov, then Letchkov scored the winning goal on the famous header that earned him and his teammates a few personal threats...
I had to put S. Korea-Italy. I know they were playing at home, but before the game did anyone actually think Italy would lose to South Korea? I didn't.
I'd say Argentina - Cameroon. Same scenario but this game really changed the football map. Would Africa even have five world cup spots these days if it wasn't for this match. Speaking of Italia 90... maybe one of Costa Rica's games (1-0 v. Scotland or 2-1 v. Sweden) should be on here. That was CR's first world cup and those scores reallly came from out of the blue.
Yes I agree. Who would have thought before the tournament that S.Korea would have made such a run in the WC.
Senegal over France. Regardless how bad France played after they were the defending champs, and everyone had high expectations on them after winning euro 2000 as well. Senegal was expected to be a pushover for them and they sprung the upset. That's what really counts imo.
1-0 Cameroon over Argentina. That started it all for Africa, and Argentina still made the final in 1990. France went out without a goal in 2002, so by that measure Senegal's upset wasn't as big.
US 1-0 england no comparison, semi pro players playing what was considered one of if not the finest side in the world.
I can't see how that wasn't an option in the poll.. After all it was a bunch of part time players who barely knew each other against England's mighty pros ... It was even bigger as an upset than if the Wycombe Wanderers were to beat Chelsea in the FA cup now...
Guys.... even though it's (perhaps mistakenly) not stated in the poll question, if you read the guys first post, he's clearly looking for modern era upsets (ie: post WC82).
I see now.. It says recent world cup history in the post however the thread title said.."biggest upset in WC history".. Well .. I was already old in 1950 so it still seems recent to me..
In terms of recent history, I'd have to pick Senegal over France. Although we now know that the French team was vastly overrated, but the fact that France lost that opening game I'm sure caught everyone off guard. But my greatest upset would have to be North Korea over Italy in 66. After seeing the amazing documentary about the team, The Game of their Lives, I'm convinced. This documentary, by the way, is not to be confused with the recent movie about the US team. Anyways, these guys were all made up of like people from the North Korean army and stuff and I think no one gave a crap about them. But then they beat Italy. And what was really cool was that all the Middlesbrough supporters were cheering for them and a lot of their supporters went out to see the North Korea - Portugal game. And what was most impressive was their knockout game against Portugal. How about being up 3-0 against Portugal for something? Then of course, Eusebio decided to take matters in his own hand and he scored like 4 goals. But if North Korea had used some better tactics, I'm convinced they could have beaten Portugal in that match. The guys just kept on attacking even with a 3-0 lead and well, at least they didnt go down like Italy who sit back after a goal. And I think the South Korea - Italy game is really marred by all the officiating gaffes. So because of that, I wouldnt pick it as the biggest upset.
Korea vs Italy in World Cup 2002 Korea/Japan. Was the best World Cup game for me ... About 3 minutes before the game was about to end, Seol from Korea makes a miracle shot to tie the game 1-1. And in Over Time, Ahn's Golden goal made Italians packing Home. I thought Italy was very childish when Perugia (Italian league Team) got rid of Ahn because he made that goal.
It seems most people have a rather short memory bank. Sure, those recent WCs produced some shockers. But, I'd say the 1982 Algeria team had one of the most improbable runs. Germany managed to screw them in the end and soccer in general during that WC. If you've ever asked, "why do they play the last group games at the same time?" - look at this Germany-Austria spectacle. It was, to this day, one of the most unsportmanlike behavoir I've ever witnessed. Tangent over.
I voted Senegal-France, based on how it was perceived at the time. In retrospect, France wasn't good, and it wasn't much of an upset. But at the time, France and Argentina were considered co-favorites to win the whole shebang.
Most people rated the Argentina-Cameroon very highly. I thought the game was not a big upset. Cameroon went home undefeated in their previous WC Finals. Algeria beat West Germany in 1982 and Morocco made the 2nd round in 1986. So Cameroon was not the first upset by an African nation. It was the fans who failed to see the coming of African soccer. BTW, Costa Rica's games belonged to this list.
I did think about Costa Rica. The only reason I left them out of the list was that, even though their wins were huge upsets, Sweden and Scotland were not major powers like Germany, Italy or Brazil. Actually, looking back on it, Costa Rica's win over Sweden, a one-time finalist and two-time semi-finalist, is probably a lot bigger than, for example, Morocco's win over Portugal. I guess I had to make choices and I maybe overlooked that one.
As a Norway supporter, I voted for NOR-Brazil 2-1, one of the most intense joys I have experienced in a football context. The game goes in my top-5 of all-time most fulfilling games I've seen.