5 Incredible FIFA World Cup upsets revisited

What makes a tournament memorable? Great goals. Great matches. Great players. How about a good little upset? An underdog overcoming a giant is always special. Like David beating Goliath, it becomes a folklore retold and revisited time and again.

In today’s world, where football has become highly globalized, even what usually would be upset isn’t that surprising. When Mexico and South Korea beat defending champions Germany at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, it did come as a shock. But we knew these teams had the quality to deliver such a result.

This is why today we will be rolling back the clock, and visiting some of the most astounding upsets that took place in the first 50 years of this tournament.

1. Cuba 2–1 Romania (1938)

The island nation of Cuba, known for its boxers, has only participated in the World Cup once. But it did something special within that one campaign. The 1938 FIFA World Cup saw a lot of Latin American sides withdraw after the tournament was awarded to a European country (France) for the second consecutive time. This gave Cuba the opportunity to qualify automatically.

The 16-team competition was hosted in a knockout format, where in the first round Cuba was up against Romania, who was playing in its third consecutive tournament. Romania opened the scoring but Cuba came from behind and after a barrage of goals the match ended 3–3. In the replay, Romania again took the lead in the first half. But the second half saw the relentless Cubans equalize once again, take the lead and maintain it till the end to register an unforgettable result. Their progress halted swiftly when Sweden thrashed them 8–0 in the next round. But the Cubans had already surpassed everyone’s expectations.

2. USA 1–0 England (1950)

When Haitian Joe Gaetjens went to New York in 1947 to study accounting, little did he know he would lead the USA to their greatest-ever victory in Men’s football. After boycotting the first three FIFA World Cups, England decided to make their debut in 1950 in Brazil, still considering themself to be the masters of the game that they invented. On the other hand, the USA could only send a hastily assembled team of part-timers.

Meeting in a group-stage match, England was creating chance after chance from the word go, but couldn’t finish any. In the 37th minute of the match, the unthinkable happened when Walter Bahr’s long shot toward the English goal was met with a diving header from Gaetjens, wrong siding the keeper. Such was the shock factor of this goal it is believed, that crowds started filling the stadium to witness this miracle when they heard about it on the radio. The Americans maintained the lead till the end, earning them victory over their fellow anglophiles.

While neither of the teams proceeded further in the tournament, in hindsight they both remember it very differently. England as humiliation, USA as jubilation.

3. Northern Ireland 1–0 Czechoslovakia & Northern Ireland 2–1 (aet) Czechoslovakia (1958)

They say lightning doesn’t strike twice. Well, it did in the 1958 FIFA World Cup when Northern Ireland came up against Czechoslovakia. To give you some context, Northern Ireland was making their World Cup debut. While they had qualified ahead of former World Champions Italy, little attention was being paid to them in a group that consisted of heavyweights like West Germany, Argentina, and Czechoslovakia. The latter had been runners-up in 1934 and would again be four years later in 1962.

In the very first group match, the debutants shocked Czechoslovakia with the sole goal from Wilbur Cush deciding the match. As the group stage proceeded, Czechoslovakia would draw with West Germany and thrash Argentina 6–1, which is to date their worst defeat. On the other hand, Northern Ireland would lose to Argentina and draw with West Germany to be level on points with Czechoslovakia.

West Germany had qualified and Argentina was out, but to decide the second quarterfinalist from this group, a playoff was needed. And this is where Northern Ireland proved that their recent success was no fluke. The Czechs took an early lead with a goal from Zdenek Zikan but Aston Villa forward Peter McParland equalized very close to half-time. The game went to extra time, where once again McParland found the net and took Northern Ireland into the quarter-final.

4. North Korea 1–0 Italy (1966)

In 1966, North Korea was the sole representative for the entire Asian and African region. But their presence did make a difference. No one gave their side any chance, and quite rightly so it appeared when they lost their first match 0–3 to USSR. In their next match too, a defeat to Chile looked inevitable, until an 88th-minute equalizer by Pak Seung-zin saved them.

This was the turning point of North Korea’s campaign. Could they do the unthinkable? Could they defeat two-time World Champions Italy? Could they overcome the likes of Facchetti, Mazzola, and Rivera? They indeed did on 19th July 1966 in Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough. As luck would have it, Italy lost one of their players early on to injury and without any substitutes allowed, played most of their match with 10 men. North Korea took advantage of this and in the 42nd minute, Pak Doo-ik scored the greatest goal in their football history. Italy kept charging but to no avail and lost their place in the quarter-final to the North Koreans.

Less than a decade since Korean War started, the North Korean team through their gutsy and courageous display won the hearts of locals in Middlesbrough. They continued the momentum in their next match against Portugal, scoring three goals within the first 25 minutes. But Eusebio scored four back to earn a 5–3 Portuguese victory. It took North Korea over 40 years before they again played in the World Cup.

5. East Germany 1–0 West Germany (1974)

While East Germany used to be a genuine sporting superpower, football was never its strong point. For the entirety of its existence as a nation, East Germany could only qualify for one World Cup. But as fate would have it, it would be the one hosted by their neighbor West Germany. As if this wasn’t enough, both of them were even put together in the same group.

The two teams had already qualified for the next round when they met. But West Germany wouldn’t dare lose their first ever (and only) game against East on home soil. The match was played out carefully, with both teams showing mutual respect for one another. West Germany was the dominant force on the pitch but had little to show for it. On the other hand, the East did better with its fewer chances and got the lead with Jurgen Sparwasser’s goal towards the end of the match. Beckenbauer and co. could do little to avoid the embarrassment.

East and West’s luck would interchange after this, as the former would bow out in the next round while the latter would go on and win the World Cup. However, the importance of this single result could not be overstated. For a brief moment, it appeared as though socialism had triumphed over capitalism. Maybe there was still hope for those residing on the other side of the Berlin Wall and Iron Curtain.