Greatest Of All Time: World Cup Upsets – USA, North Korea, Cameroon and more

Aliou Cisse celebrates after Senegal shock France at the 2002 World Cup Kim Jae-hwan/Getty Images Share articleSupported ByThis article is part of our Greatest Of All Time series. We will be looking back at previous World Cup tournaments and identifying the GOATs within a number of different categories. Part one on the greatest goals is here. World Cups are frequently remembered for magnificent goals, heroic performances and famous wins, but shock results play a huge role in our collective memory of the tournaments too. Here, then, is our attempt to quantify the five biggest upsets of all-time. It’s difficult to fully explain the vast difference in expectations for England and the United States going into World Cup 1950. For England, this was their first World Cup appearance having boycotted the first three editions, but they remained convinced that English football was the strongest in the world. Their team included legendary players like Billy Wright, Tom Finney and Stan Mortensen, all amongst the greatest in their position in the world, as well as defender Alf Ramsey, who would manage England to World Cup success 16 years later. Soccer in the United States was yet to take off, and they sent a hastily assembled side managed by William Jeffrey, a Scot whose day job was coaching the Penn State University side. The players were amateurs — some regular first-teamers couldn’t travel because of the demands of their day jobs. But the United States went ahead shortly before half-time when Walter Bahr attempted a hopeful shot from range, which flicked off the head of forward Joseph Gaetjens and bounced into the net. There were varying interpretations of how intentional the touch was, but Gaetjens — a Haitian who never became a U.S. citizen and who never played for the USMNT again after this tournament — had scored one of the most famous goals in football history. Joe Gaetjens was born #OnThisDay in 1924. He scored one of the #WorldCup's (and @ussoccer's) most memorable goals: the winner in 🇺🇸USA's 1-0 victory over @England at Brazil 1950 pic.twitter.com/rasudMTIcS — FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) March 19, 2018 From there, the United States defended deep and in numbers, with goalkeeper Frank Borghi taking particular credit for his aerial dominance. England seemed set to equalise when Mortensen was put through on goal, only for U.S. defender Charlie Colombo to perform a tackle more suited to rugby football than soccer. It was “the latest and biggest upset in the world soccer championship,” as the New York Times reported at the time. “Brazilian fans swarmed onto the field after the United States victory and took the Americans on their shoulders.” Ultimately the win was futile as both sides went out in the group stage. But it remains one of the most unlikely wins in World Cup history. When North Korea shocked Italy in Middlesbrough back in 1966, the only parallel the English sports writers in attendance could find was the aforementioned United States win 16 years earlier. Serie A was, at this stage, the richest league in the world. The two Milan clubs had enjoyed an excellent few years in the European Cup. Giacinto Facchetti was perhaps the best left-back of all time. Sandro Mazzola and Gianni Rivera were amongst the best attackers in the world. This side would win the European Championship two years later, then reach the World Cup final in 1970. On the other hand, no-one knew much about North Korea as a country, never mind a football side. This was expected to be a formality. This was the final World Cup before substitutes were introduced, and this was significant: Italy suffered the first half loss of Giacomo Bulgarelli with a serious knee injury. Unable to call upon a replacement, they played the rest of the game with 10 men. Where North Korea could compete was in terms of fitness, which surprised an Italian side who tended to play at a leisurely pace, and wait for counter-attacking opportunities. They had the better of the game, but Marino Perani missed a stream of chances. The goal came somewhat out of nothing — a simple aerial battle meant the ball bounced invitingly for Pak Doo-ik on the edge of the box. He swivelled smartly and fired into the far corner. Italy, rattled, struggled to mount a fightback, and their one-man disadvantage became even more obvious. What makes this shock all the more momentous is that — unlike others on this list — the result was genuinely significant. This was the final group game, and North Korea progressed at the expense of Italy, who were eliminated and returned home to be pelted with rotten fruit by angry fans. Thirty-six years later, when South Korea faced Italy on home soil, fans held up banners referencing North Korea’s 1966 success. South Korea recorded a 2-1 win that day — a result almost as unexpected as this one. Argentina were the holders, having won World Cup 1986 in memorable fashion thanks to the brilliance (and the skulduggery) of Diego Maradona. Cameroon were appearing in only their second World Cup. The World Cup 1990 opener at San Siro seemed like it would be a fairly straightforward win for Argentina. Cameroon started nervously, and were a little fortunate the game was goalless at the break, although they did have chances themselves — Argentina defender Nestor Lorenzo had to clear off his line at one point. Cameroon had two excellent players. Thomas N’Kono was a genuinely world-class goalkeeper and Francois Omam-Biyik was always a threat on the break. Equally, their game plan, really, was about physicality. They had two players sent off, both for fouling half-time substitute Claudio Caniggia. If Maradona had received the majority of the physical attention at World Cup 1986, here it was Caniggia’s turn. First Andre Kana-Biyik was shown a straight red card for a trip. Later, the most memorable moment came when Caniggia broke over the halfway line, speeding past a couple of challenges before finally being upended by an extraordinarily cynical foul from Benjamin Massing, which would unquestionably bring a straight red card in the modern era but merely earned a second yellow here. In between those two reds, Cameroon scored. It was a terrible goal: a weak free kick from the left was sliced into the air by Lorenzo, and Oman-Biyik outjumped Roberto Nestor Sensini in trying to get the ball. His header was on target, but it was a major surprise that goalkeeper Nery Pumpido managed to misfield the ball. His tournament didn’t get any better: he broke his leg 11 minutes into Argentina’s second game, Sergio Goycochea replaced him in goal and starred en route to the final. Pumpido never played for Argentina again. 📅 #OnThisDay in 1990, we witnessed one of the biggest shocks in #WorldCup history 😲 🇨🇲 Who remembers watching Cameroon stun Maradona and the reigning world champions at the San Siro? 🦁@FecafootOfficie | @CAF_Online pic.twitter.com/XHJGCwEtPm — FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 8, 2021 Cameroon’s performance was aggressive but effective, and they became the first African side to qualify for the World Cup quarter-finals — where their indiscipline again cost them, as they deservedly led England 2-1 but lost 3-2 after conceding two penalties. The win over Argentina, though, remains a huge moment in African footballing history. The script from 1990 was familiar: African underdogs against the holders. But this was different. When France were drawn against Senegal in the opening game of World Cup 2002, the match was depicted as a clash between France and France’s B team. Twenty-one of Senegal’s 23-man squad played their club football in France. Patrick Vieira, an outstanding World Cup-winning defensive midfielder, was born in Senegal but chose to represent France. The argument was that, if any of these Senegal players were good enough, they would do so too. But many Senegal players wouldn’t have been eligible for France and it was also inaccurate in terms of footballing ability. Senegal were an excellent side, boasting tactical discipline and speed on the break. The latter is what exposed France dearly. El-Hadji Diouf, the livewire striker who was about to move to Liverpool, set a somewhat unwanted record for being flagged offside more than any other player in World Cup history. But that didn’t matter. He only had to get it right once. And against an ageing defence of Lillian Thuram, Frank Leboeuf, Marcel Desailly and Bixente Lizarazu, he was surely likely to do so eventually. Sure enough, half an hour in, he slipped away from Leboeuf’s desperate challenge and pulled the ball back for midfielder Papa Bouba Diop to score at the second time of asking. In 2002, Senegal became only the second ever African team to reach a World Cup quarter-final 🇸🇳 Which of these goals from their incredible run is the best? 👀 #KoreaJapan02 | @FootballSenegal — FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 18, 2022 The result could have been different. France hit the woodwork twice, Senegal once. But, much as this was a huge upset at the time, in reality Senegal were just a good side. Whereas France, unable to count on Zinedine Zidane until the final group game when he was clearly injured, were eliminated before the knockout stage, Senegal reached the quarter-finals. In a strange World Cup full of shocks, nothing beat this one in the opening game. In the end, this result didn’t matter. Argentina reformatted their side, scraped their way into the knockout stage and then subsequently relied on Emiliano Martinez’s saves, Lionel Messi’s brilliance and two penalty shootout wins to record their third World Cup triumph in Qatar. But their tournament started with an entirely unexpected defeat by Saudi Arabia. In the first tournament played in the Middle East, the sides from the gulf states were able to count upon fervent support. And while Qatar’s credentials as a major football nation were questionable, Saudi Arabia had a relatively proud history at the tournament. This was their sixth appearance, and they had qualified for the knockout stage in 1994. Things started as you’d expect. Argentina were on a 36-game unbeaten run, and that seemed likely to continue when Messi rolled home a penalty. But Saudi Arabia responded with tremendous bravery, using a high defensive line to squeeze the play, and enforcing a spell of serious pressure. Saleh Al Shehri scored a fine equaliser with a good low finish into the corner after half-time. Five minutes later, their star man Salem Al Dawsari brought down a high ball, battled past a couple of challenges and then unleashed a shot which Martinez got a touch to, but couldn’t keep out. Argentina 🆚 Saudi Arabia in 2022…#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/IGH84p7rhi — FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 24, 2025 Argentina went looking for an equaliser, but when Saudi Arabia’s high line was breached they showcased some brilliant last-ditch defending, with one Hassan Al Tambakti tackle on Messi particularly impressive. Saudi Arabia lost their next two matches and made the short trip home, while Argentina won the tournament — yet this result was, aside from the final itself, probably the most memorable game from the Qatar tournament. The Greatest Of All Time series is part of a partnership with Calvin Klein. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms