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Unexpectedly, the Saudi national team beat Argentina 2-1 on Tuesday in the Qatar 2022 World Cup, which is considered a big surprise. But this surprise is not the first of its kind in the history of the World Cup. Which are the most important?
reached up Kingdom of Saudi Arabia One of the biggest surprises in World Cup history on Tuesday when they beat Argentina 2-1 in the first round in Doha.
Here are the six most famous surprises in World Cup history.
1950 – USA 1 – England 0
England arrived in Brazil as title favorites after opting to play in the World Cup for the first time. England’s status as one of football’s great powers, however, was dealt a major blow by the then footballingly obscure United States, with Joe Gaetjens scoring the winning goal in Belo Horizonte.
1966 – North Korea 1 – Italy 0
Do-ik-bak wrote his name in the annals of the World Cup with a goal that surprised a strong Italian team and pushed the “azzurri” out of the tournament. The Italy national team returned to Rome to be pelted with tomatoes by disgruntled fans. North Korea’s run then ended in the quarter-finals, losing 3-5 to Portugal, led by Eusebio.
1982 – Algeria 2 – West Germany 1
Algeria reached the World Cup finals in Spain as a lowly side, with the Arab team playing in their first ever World Cup final. But goals from Rabah Madjer and Lakhdar Belloumi against Karl-Heinz Rummenigge’s goal for West Germany ensured a famous and sensational victory. The Algerian adventure ended in great sadness following what has been dubbed the ‘Disgrace of Gijon’ after West Germany defeated Austria 1-0 in a mutually beneficial result as we qualified together.
1990 – Cameroon 1 – Argentina 0
Argentina started the finals in Italy as defending champions after winning the 1986 World Cup in Mexico under Diego Maradona. But not even Maradona was able to stop Cameroon from pulling off a big surprise, when François Omam-Beek scored the winning goal at the San Siro in Milan.
Cameroon, who finished with nine players, managed to reach the quarter-finals.
2002 Senegal 1 – France 0
Many predicted in 2002 that France, winners of the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2020, would once again go the distance in World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan. But first-time World Cup entrants Senegal dashed French hopes, as Papa Bouba Diop scored the only goal in another surprise opener of the tournament. France was then excluded from the first countries.
2022 – Saudi Arabia 2 – Argentina 1
Argentina, led by seven-time best player in the world Lionel Messi entered the 2022 Qatar World Cup and is among the best candidates to go the distance in the finals. However, the Saudi national team unleashed a big-caliber surprise and knocked out the 2021 Copa America champions with two goals for Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dosari, after Messi himself opened the scoring for Argentina on a penalty kick.
France 24/AFP
