SHOCKED!
Soccer Club|March 2023
Academics love to have their say on sport and the statistics nerds at Nielsen Gracenote have put together their list of biggest ever World Cup shocks following the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
Nick Said
SHOCKED!

10. NORTHERN IRELAND 1-0 SPAIN, 1982

16.5% CHANCE OF WINNING

Spain were hosts in 1982 and only needed a draw out of this game to finish top of their pool and advance to the next stage.

They were on the front foot for the entire game and may still be wondering 40 years later how they managed not to score, but Gerry Armstrong netted for Northern Ireland in their most famous World Cup win.

9. WALES 2-1 HUNGARY, 1958

16.2% CHANCE OF WINNING

There was a time when Hungary had one of the best teams in the world, with all-time great Ferenc Puskás leading their charge.

They had already drawn with Wales in the pool stages, a shock in itself, but the peculiar format meant they met again in a play-off to reach the next stage.

But this time, they were stunned, as Ivor Allchurch and Terry Medwin netted for Wales in the 2-1 win.

8. SOUTH KOREA 2-0 GERMANY, 2018

14.4% CHANCE OF WINNING

A recent example from Russia 2018: Defending champions Germany had a dire tournament and had already lost to Mexico in their pool, but were expected to brush aside South Korea.

The Asian side needed to win by two clear goals to stand a chance of progressing, and got both of them in injury time at the end of the game through Kim Young-gwon and Son Heung-min.

As it was, other results meant both they and Germany saw themselves eliminated, the latter for the first time in the pool stages since 1938.

7. URUGUAY 2-1 BRAZIL, 1950

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