Cape Verde may not have beaten Spain on Monday night, but their heroic goalless draw will nonetheless go down as one of the biggest ever shock results at a FIFA World Cup.
The third smallest nation in the competition’s history took on the might of the European champions and came away with a precious point in Atlanta, largely thanks to an incredible performance from 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha.
He and the rest of the team attained instant legend status at the final whistle, just like so many others who upset the odds at previous tournaments. We’ve picked out some of the greatest below.
The biggest shocks in FIFA World Cup history:
Argentina 0-1 Cameroon (1990)
Cameroon pulled off one of the all-time greatest upset victories in their very first game at a World Cup, beating the defending champions Argentina in Italy. The aptly named Indomitable Lions went out with a very simple game plan: use violence at every possible opportunity.
Despite being the most-fouled player in the competition’s history, Diego Maradona was not the primary victim of this overly physical approach, but Claudio Caniggia.
It wasn’t a foolproof plan, as André Kana-Biyik was shown a straight red card for tripping up Caniggia from behind in the second half. The Atalanta attacker was targeted again late on when three different players tried to halt his driving run upfield. Benjamin Massing was the one to finally bring him down with an horrendous challenge that almost chopped the forward in half, earning him his marching orders.
Regardless, Cameroon completely stultified Argentina at the San Siro and totally stunned them when they scored in the 68th minute. Francois Omam-Biyik leapt high into the air to meet a cross, and though his header was fairly weak, goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea dropped a clanger and let the ball squirm away from him.
Goycochea went on to redeem himself later in the tournament, saving penalties in shootout victories over Yugoslavia and Italy on the way to the final, but his howler handed Cameroon the most famous win in their history.
Read – 10 of the most unforgettable FIFA World Cup moments
France 0-1 Senegal (2002)
That was not the last time an African nation made their World Cup bow by beating the reigning champions. When Senegal rocked up to South Korea in 2002, everyone expected them to be smashed by France.
Les Bleus, after all, had a squad containing the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Marcel Desailly, who had just won the European Championship two years after claiming the World Cup for the first time.
Senegal had finished as runners-up at AFCON that year, but they were still very much minnows. And yet, they did the unthinkable.
The late Papa Bouba Diop slid in from close range to give the Lions of Teranga a shock lead after half an hour, and they somehow held on for victory. It set the tone for a tournament full of surprises; France went out at the group stages, as did Portugal and Argentina, while Spain and Italy were eliminated in the knockouts by South Korea.
Senegal had one more upset in them, beating Sweden in the round of 16 with a golden goal in extra time. It was a life changing experience for the squad, many of whom secured moves to the Premier League. El Hadji Diouf and Salif Diao joined Liverpool and Aliou Cisse moved to Birmingham that summer, while Bouba Diop was later signed by Fulham.
Read – The best football kits we’ll see at FIFA World Cup 2026
Ireland 1-0 Italy (1994)
The Republic of Ireland possessed an impressive squad of players in the nineties, containing the likes of Roy Keane, Denis Irwin, Paul McGrath and Steve Staunton. But they were heavy underdogs in their opening match at USA ’94 against Italy, considered one of the favourites that year.
The Boys in Green may have reached the quarter-finals in 1990, where they were beaten by the Italians, but they hadn’t won a match inside 90 minutes in a major tournament since defeating England at Euro 88.
The Azzurri were stunned just ten minutes into the game, however, when Ray Houghton tried his luck from range and lobbed the keeper with a half volley. McGrath put on a world-class display as Jack Charlton’s men defended like their very lives depended on it for the next 80 minutes to cling on for a famous victory in New Jersey.
Irish fans outnumbered the Italians at Giants Stadium by a considerable margin, although as it later turned out, the FAI had secured tickets for the match from ticket tout George the Greek. The scandal was investigated by Veronica Guerin in one of the final stories she pursued before being murdered in an gangland hit.
Read – The youngest players ever to feature at a World Cup
Argentina 1-2 Saudi Arabia (2022)
When Lionel Messi rolled his penalty into the bottom in the 10th minute of Argentina’s World Cup opener against Saudi Arabia in 2022, it felt like it would be the start of a demolition job.
The Albiceleste had arrived in Qatar with only one goal in mind: win the whole bloody thing. The Saudis were just hopeful they might be able to squeeze into the knockout stage.
But the script was completely flipped in the second half when goals from Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari completed the unlikeliest of comeback victories.
Argentina were able to recover from the defeat to become just the second nation ever to lose their opening game and go on to win the World Cup when they beat France in the final, following Spain in 2010.
Read – How to watch World Cup highlights this summer
USA 1-0 England (1950)
There may never be a bigger upset in World Cup history than this one. The United States fielded an amateur XI at Brazil 1950, while England went to the tournament with notions of being the best in the world.
The Three Lions had not entered the first three editions of the competition, possibly for fear of damaging the perception of the country internationally if they lost. So their participation suggests they travelled with a certain sense of confidence in their team’s ability to take home the Jules Rimet Trophy.
But, in their first ever game at a World Cup, England were completely embarrassed, losing 1-0 to the Americans. The shame of that result was relived 60 years later when they were held to a 1-1 draw by the US in South Africa following a blunder by goalkeeper Rob Green.
Read – The five World Cup teams to score 7+ goals this century
See Also – Ronaldo’s redemption at the 2002 World Cup
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