Every World Cup keeps a special place for the team that was not supposed to win. Saudi Arabia stunning Argentina in 2022, USA over England in 1950, Cameroon downing Maradona's Argentina in 1990, Senegal beating France in 2002. From 1950 to today, these are the giant-killings the whole sport still talks about. This is our ranked countdown of the greatest shocks, the stories behind them, and what they tell us about the surprises still to come in the 48-team 2026 tournament.
No single result towers over the rest, but a handful are told and retold. Here is how we rank the shocks that stopped the football world in its tracks.
Argentina arrived on a 36-match unbeaten run and led through a Messi penalty. Then Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari struck inside five second-half minutes, and Saudi Arabia held on. Gracenote later called it the most surprising result the World Cup has seen. Argentina recovered to lift the trophy.
England, at their first World Cup, were among the favourites. The United States fielded a part-time side of a dishwasher, a postman and a teacher. Joe Gaetjens' header settled it, and the result was so improbable that some British papers reportedly thought the 1-0 scoreline was a typo for 10-1.
In the opening match, defending champions Argentina and Diego Maradona were beaten by a Cameroon side that finished with nine men. Francois Omam-Biyik headed the winner. Cameroon rode the momentum all the way to the quarter-finals, the first African team to get there.
Tournament debutants Senegal beat the holders and reigning champions France in the opening game through Papa Bouba Diop. France, without the injured Zidane, would exit without scoring a goal, while Senegal marched to the quarter-finals.
A double shock. Japan came from a goal down to beat Germany 2-1 and then Spain 2-1, topping a group with two former world champions and reaching the last 16. It captured how the gap between the elite and the rest has narrowed.
Pak Doo-ik's goal knocked twice-champions Italy out at the group stage and sent an unfancied North Korea to the quarter-finals in England, where they led Portugal 3-0 before Eusebio hauled his side back.
Rabah Madjer and Lakhdar Belloumi scored as Algeria beat the reigning European champions, one of the first great African results at a World Cup, even if the infamous final group game later denied them a place in the second round.
Not one result but a whole campaign. Morocco beat Belgium, Spain and Portugal to become the first African and first Arab nation to reach a World Cup semi-final, the sustained upset that defined 2022.
For a deeper look at why these results keep happening, and the pattern that links them, see our companion piece on historical underdogs and when David beat Goliath.
Upsets are not random. The same forces show up again and again when an outsider topples a favourite.
Put those together and the recipe is clear. A fearless team that defends well, soaks up pressure and takes its moment can beat anyone across ninety minutes. Add a favourite who starts slowly or treats the game lightly, and the upset writes itself. Over seven games quality still tends to tell, which is why true outsiders rarely lift the trophy, but a single famous night is always on the cards.
The expansion to 48 teams reshapes the maths of the upset for the first World Cup staged across three countries.
None of this guarantees a shock champion, but the door to a famous win, or a deep underdog run in the style of Morocco in 2022, has rarely been wider. For who might spring the next surprise, see our dark horses guide and the power ranking.
Carry the underdog theme into the 2026 tournament:
The companion guide to when David beat Goliath, and why the giant keeps falling.
Read the stories ›The lower-profile sides who could go further than their ranking suggests this summer.
See the dark horses ›Where every contender sits, from the favourites to the outsiders worth a flutter.
Read the ranking ›The most dramatic finals the tournament has produced, ahead of the 2026 showpiece.
Open the ranking ›This editorial was written from the following research and reporting on the World Cup's greatest upsets:
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