After Cape Verde’s heroics against Spain, more great World Cup underdog stories

From Sparwasser being the toast of East Germany to Cameroon’s rumbling of Argentina, the finals are littered with upsets

Cape Verde’s stunning draw against Spain produced some incredible statistics. The Spaniards had 27 attempts on the goal of the 40-year-old Vozinha and completed 734 passes compared with Cape Verde’s 205. It was an unbelievable rearguard action from a side ranked 61 places below their opponents, who had just named the oldest starting XI of the tournament with an average age north of 31 years.

It will no doubt enter World Cup lore as one of the greatest displays of dogged defending the competition has seen. To celebrate, here is a look back at some of those magic moments when underdogs truly had their day.

East Germany 1-0 West Germany (1974)

In the only competitive fixture played between the football federations of a Germany divided by the cold war, East Germany embarrassed their hosts in Hamburg. A Jürgen Sparwasser goal ensured both teams progressed to the next group stage, with West Germany going on to become world champions.

Cuba in 1938

Cuba arrived in France with a skeleton squad of 15 players, but shocked the world by reaching the quarter-finals. After drawing 3-3 with Romania, they won a second match between the sides 2-1. Incredibly, Cuba’s first-choice goalkeeper, Benito Carvajales, opted not to play in the replay because he had received a lucrative offer to do radio commentary on the match instead. Sweden ended their dream with an 8-0 thumping in the next round.

Spain 0-1 Northern Ireland (1982)

In their first appearance at the tournament since 1958, Northern Ireland faced the hosts, Spain, in Valencia needing a win to progress. Step forward Gerry Armstrong, who smashed home the winner after Luis Arconada could only parry a Billy Hamilton cross. After Mal Donaghy was dismissed, Billy Bingham’s 10 men held on. After a draw against Austria in the second group stage, defeat to France sent Northern Ireland home.

North Korea 1-0 Italy (1966)

When South Africa were banned and South Korea withdrew, North Korea were left with the task of beating Australia to qualify for the finals, setting up a historic moment at Ayresome Park. Pak Doo-ik’s goal defeated a star-studded Italy, sending the Azzurri home to a reception where they were reportedly pelted with tomatoes. North Korea progressed to the quarter-finals and even took a shock 3-0 lead against Eusébio’s Portugal before sliding to a 5-3 defeat.

Morocco in 1986

Morocco became the first African side to top a World Cup group and reach the knockout rounds in Mexico. Considered heavy underdogs in a brutal group featuring England, Poland and Portugal, Morocco eked out goalless draws against the first two. They then secured a historic 3-1 triumph over the Portuguese to book a second-round match with West Germany, which they narrowly lost 1-0 to a late Lothar Matthäus free-kick.

Senegal 1-0 France (2002)

France entered the tournament as reigning world and European champions, boasting a glittering squad. Senegal, who gained independence from France in 1960, were making their World Cup debut and featured a squad almost entirely based in the French leagues. Papa Bouba Diop scored the only goal after 30 minutes. Senegal marched all the way to the quarter-finals, while the French squad spectacularly imploded, finishing bottom of the group without scoring a goal.

West Germany 1-2 Algeria (1982)

Goals from Rabah Madjer and Lakhdar Belloumi ensured Algeria became the first African side to beat a European team at a World Cup finals. Unfortunately, because final group matches were not played simultaneously, West Germany and Austria were later able to manufacture a mutually beneficial 1-0 German win in the “Disgrace of Gijón” that sent both European teams through at Algeria’s expense, despite them also beating Chile.

USA 1-0 England (1950)

Legend has it that when the score was transmitted back to newspapers in London from Brazil, editors assumed the score was a transcription error. It wasn’t. The Haiti-born forward Joe Gaetjens scored the only goal for an American team made up mostly of part-timers. England’s first foray into the World Cup ended in humiliation and they went home chastened after defeat to Spain.

Saudi Arabia 2-1 Argentina (2022)

Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.

Argentina 0-1 Cameroon (1990)

The upset to end all upsets. It wasn’t just that Argentina were world champions. It wasn’t just that expectations of African sides were low at the time. It wasn’t just that it was Cameroon’s fourth match at a World Cup finals. It was that Cameroon were already down to 10 men when François Omam-Biyik netted and were reduced to nine men after Benjamin Massing took a somewhat agricultural approach to defending the lead. There was nothing Diego Maradona could do about it.