There have been many upsets and surprises in World Cup history, but this World Cup in particular has had more surprises than usual. Here are the biggest surprises of the 2022 World Cup so far.
Saudi Arabia Beating Argentina
In the first game for Argentina (Ranked 3rd in FIFA World Rankings) and Saudi Arabia (Ranked 51st in FIFA World Rankings), which was against each other, there was one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history. Argentina took an early lead, with Lionel Messi scoring a penalty in the 10th minute, and then Argentina scored 3 more, but all of these were called offsides by VAR and disallowed. After an impressive halftime speech from their coach, the Saudi Arabian players scored in three minutes, making it 1-1 and then they scored 5 minutes later, making in 2-1 in the 53rd minute with Saudi Arabia in the lead. After this, the Argentine players had many chances, but the nervous Saudi Arabian defending worked, and the Asian team were able to pull off an amazing upset.
Belgium Not Making It Out Of The Group Stage
Belgium, who are the 2nd ranked team in the world, started off their World Cup campaign well, with a 1-0 win over Canada, and with their goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois saving a penalty. It all went downhill from there though, as they lost 2-0 to Morocco and tied Croatia 0-0 after missing many opportunities to score. This led to them getting 4 points, which was only enough to get them into 3rd place.
Morocco Winning Group F
After the draw, Morocco were an underdog in the group stage of the World Cup, this is because they were drawn into the same group as the 2nd ranked team in the world (Belgium), and the 2018 World Cup runners up (Croatia), along with a strong Canada team. Morocco were able to win group F due to their strong defense, this was shown when they held Croatia to a 0-0 draw and then Belgium to 0 goals while the African team’s offense scored 2. The only goal they let in in the group stage was against Canada who the Moroccans beat 2-1, leaving them with 7 points and a first place spot in their group.
Germany Not Making It Out Of The Group Stage For The 2nd World Cup In A Row
Germany, who won the 2014 World Cup, could not make it out of the 2018 group stage or now the 2022 group stage. They started off poorly, scoring a penalty against Japan but then letting in 2 late goals to lose the match. Germany barely came up with a draw against Spain in a game where a lesser known forward (Niklas Fullkrug) became the hero who scored the 83rd minute equalizer for Germany. The last game was the most annoying for Germany, because they were able to beat Costa Rica 4-2, but Spain were unable to beat or draw Japan, meaning that the German team was eliminated.
Japan Winning Group E
As you just read in the previous section about Germany, Japan were able to pull off upsets against Germany and Spain, winning both games 2-1. Japan’s second game was an upset on its own, as Japan were able to beat Germany and Spain but they lost 1-0 to Costa Rica (Who lost to Spain 7-0 and lost the group) That was a surprising result, but with the other 2 wins, Japan were able to win their group with 6 points, while second the place Spain team had 4.
Morocco Beating Spain In The Round of 16
After beating Belgium and tying Croatia, Morocco were marked as a side that could upset big teams and they’ve done it again. Morocco were able to hold Spain 0-0 through the first 90 minutes and then they stayed at 0-0 to the 120th minute. The game went to penalties where Morocco scored 3 of their 4, while Spain missed the first shot, and their next two were saved by the Moroccan goalkeeper. This eliminated Spain and put Morocco through to the next round against Portugal.
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