Biggest Surprise From Every World Cup (1930-2018) 

2022 world cup played in Qatar. An entry on itself.

1998: Iran vs USA. Iranian players shaking hands with and handing flowers to the American players.

In the first World Cup there was a dispute between Argentina and Uruguay over the manufacturer of the ball to be used for the final. So they decided that one ball of the two countries could be used in each half and at the end of the first half Argentina was leading but Uruguay scored 4 in the second half with their ball. I think this comeback was surprising, that too in a final.

The fact that New Zealand went through the 2010 World Cup unbeaten despite never registering a single point at their previous World Cup appearance in 1982 is probably more shocking that the champions curse..

Where’s England winning a penalty shootout in 2018 😅🤣

7 players that have a reputation of being terrible but aren't. Heskey, Giroud etc

talk about how bulgaria used to have 50,000 in attendence during every national team game to now barely managing 3000 attendants

2002: Turkey finishing 3rd surely also deserves a mention! 2010: Going into that tournament, no one expected Uruguay to reach the semi finals either!

Alternative title: Germany’s World Cup history

1994 should've been Bulgaria making it to the semis.

As a kiwi it might've been nice to have gotten the mention of going undefeated at the 2010 world cup even if it was the weakest group of all time haha

Finally, some recognition for the famous Peru era from 1970-1982, its a shame in our best showings in World cup history, we had to face the famous 1970 Brazil team that destroyed everybody in that World Cup, and in 1978 we were in a really tough quarter final group stage with Argentina and Brazil.

You mentioned Croatia in 1998. but this was definitely THE shock back then. A country formed few years before, in their first World Cup appearance with 4 million population getting third place is insane.

I can't help but admire the amount of research you put into your videos, especially since you upload daily. Amazing job. P.S: I love how all the titles are alliterations, neat.

1986 - Spain blowing up the "Danish Dynamite" 5-1 after Denmark had run rampant in the group stages, where they had handily defeated Scotland, Germany, and Uruguay. At that point, Denmark was seen as the likeliest team to join Brazil in a future final but neither team made it. It's a little known fact that Denmark had the lead and the game versus Spain quite in hand when, just before halftime, Jesper Olsen attempted a backpass to his goalkeeper which was intercepted by Emilio Butragueno and led to him scoring the first of his four goals that day. That goal changed the whole complexion of the game and, in the second half, Spain ran riot while Denmark collapsed. That game, combined with Spain's defeat of Denmark in the semifinals of the 1984 Euros and again in the group stages of the 1988 Euros, led to Spain gaining a reputation as Denmark's bete noire, something which continues to this day.

0:45 1930 WC 1:53 1934 WC 2:30 1938 WC 3:42 1950 WC 4:38 1954 WC 5:37 1958 WC 6:23 1962 WC 7:23 1966 WC 8:23 1970 WC 9:13 1974 WC 10:03 1978 WC 10:55 1982 WC 12:02 1986 WC 13:02 1990 WC 13:49 1994 WC 14:51 1998 WC 15:28 2002 WC 16:24 2006 WC 17:19 2010 WC 18:04 2014 WC 18:48 2018 WC

14:48 The irony. England just lost to Italy in a shootout to lose the Euro cup final.

Russia’s run in 2018 and Ghana’s in 2010 both deserve a shout

1974: Poland, Poland finish third, and won matches against argentina, italy, yugoslavia, and brazil

Nobody: Alfie: Damn Nazis...

2002 could have been Turkey at semis and they never been in WC since that. They were in the tournament only 2 times which is 1954 and 2002.

2018 russia beating spain deserves a mention

2:22 Yes please make Italy's controversies under Mussolini regarding their enormously generous treatment at the 1934 World Cup into another video. I can remember commenting this idea several months ago.

So they just skipped the suarez moment in 2010...wtf 😂

I'm so proud seeing Peru twice on this list! I always heard my father talk about Peru's golden generation I hope we can have one in these coming years.

I'm surprised that Bulgaria's 4th position in 1994 wasn't mentioned. By that time, Bulgaria had never won a world cup game, and during their USA march, defeated teams like Argentina, Mexico and most notably - the reigning world champion of Germany in the quarter finals. And I still remember Costacurta's handball in the penalty not being noticed by the referee during the lost semifinal against Italy.

1998, Croatia winning bronze medal at their first WC ever

I thought the "Hand of God" was quite shocking thb...

2002: Rivaldo gets hit in the face with the ball but is amazingly able to continue playing.

Thank you for mentioning Peru. Cubillas was world class on his day. Making it to the 2018 World Cup was so special waiting over 30 years

Croatia's whole run in Croatia is the greatest surprise in 98

Do i need to keep commenting: every scorer of the 2014 World Cup group stages, where are they now?

This is what I love from the World Cup, the stories behind every one of them

i would not say Sweden overachieved back in 1958, since they were the host nation and one of the favourites to win

This is by far my favourite video of yours Sevens.

Yo HTIC! Your a legend bro 👌 i have not had one disappointing video from you. World class content!

Well researched video mate

Loved it. Great job

This is the good stuff!😍💪🔥 Love world cup videos✌️🎉

Amazing, you know your stuff. It shows in how smart and interestingly you select the highlights of this long football history...

Great video. Much respect for mentioning Peru in the 1970 and 1978🇵🇪

One of the best videos Alfie 👌🏻👌🏻❤️

Every amazing player that couldn't win the world cup tournament: 1930: Stabile 1934: Josef Bican 1938: Leonidas 1950: Ademir 1954: Puskas 1958: Just Fontaine 1962: ??? 1966: Eisebio 1970: Boninsegna 1974: Cryuff 1978: Rensenbrink 1982: Zico 1986: Lineker 1990: Schillaci 1994: Baggio 1998: Šuker 2002: Vieri 2006: Henry 2010: Sneijder 2014: Messi 2018: Modric

Great vid alfie keep it up

No mention for Bulgaria in 1994?

I sometimes go back and watch De Jong's kick into Xabi's chest and think to myself: If a blind man can be the main referee of a World Cup final, I can achieve anything in life! It is very encouraging.

14:47 ah, aged like fine wine

I will never understand why people consider Uruguay beating Brazil on the 1950 "final" a shock. Up to 1954 Uruguay had NEVER lost a game on a world cup nor Olympic games. We participated on 1924/1928 wining both times gold medals, 1930 winning world championship. Brazil up to 1950 had won only 3 times the Copa America (continental tournament) and Uruguay had already won 8 times. So.. lets see.. .A 3 times world champion and 8 times continental champions that has never been defeated on world tournaments Vs a Team that had yet not won a single world cup + won only 3 times the continental cup.. why the result is such a surprise??

Love the long videos. Players signed because of their world cup performances! #James Rodriguez comes to mind

Day 22: Ranking every barca transfer since Neymar's sale

2006 was the last great world cup. Dropped in quality and entertainment value after that.

The world cup biggest surprises 2022: Morroco reaching the semi finals

The biggest shock of 1978 was that Scotland qualified.

It was cool to learn that it was west Germany and Austria colluding to fix a match in the group stage. Without that we wouldn’t have had all of the craziness yesterday with France, Germany, Portugal, and Hungary fighting for 3 spots.

I would recommend you look into Peru’s 2018 world cup qualification. It’s a very interesting story since how at many times it looked like they were done for.

You should have mentioned Romania topping its group in 1994 and defeating Argentina 3-2.

Can you create a video on "players that were linked to big clubs from 5 seasons ago and where they ended up today"

I love your work, and maybe I'm missing something, but why are you showing the Australia 1974 squad while discussing DDR vs FRG?

I was there and can confirm that these were all indeed very surprising!

Very nice Video ! Can you do the same with the Eros ?

Do a video of the Copa Libertadores 2018 Final River Plate vs Boca Juniors, its an amazing piece of histort in football !!

Biggest surprise from every Euros ( 1960-2016 )

Croatia reaching the semis in 1998 was a real upset, espcially the 3-0 against European champions Germany. I would choose that moment above the merely unlucky exit of Spain any day

Fun fact: All of the last 5 World Cup championships saw the previous champion team get eliminated in the group stage. And after France's shocking elimination by Switzerland in the 2020 Euro Cup Ro16 a few days ago (after being up 3-1 in like the 84th minute too), I can definitely see that trend possibly continuing in the next World Cup too...

Great videos - but you need subtitles

15:06 what an epic picture, that face^^

The defeat of the undefeated Hungarian Golden Team in 1954 to Germany was really weird. They had beated Germany 8 to 3 in the group. This was due to downpour, German team had clogs on their shoes, dodgy refereeing and some questions about the team's cleanness from doping. Biggest upset in football history. Helped bring on 56 revolution in Hungary. Unfortunately, that ended the run. Hungarians haven't risen to that level, the best in the world at that time, since. Although their heroic fight against the death group, Portugal, France, and Germany, gives hope that the long drought of Hungarian football may be coming to an end.

what happened to angola's 2006 wc squad? where are they now? who retired?

I've always found it amazing that Turkey reached the 2002 semi-finals and haven't appeared in another World Cup since.

You should do a longer video on the Battle of Santiago

I'd say 2018 was Russia going from abysmal pre tournament run of losses to beating Spain in 1/8 and almost making it to the semifinal against Croatia

What about the most iconic moment of each tournament ?

Do a full video on maracana 1950!!

16:37 what an image that is, some of the very finest to have played the game

0:44 - 1930 - USA team - 3rd place ,Brazil eliminated 1st round 1:52 - 1934 - Italy won over Austria Wunderteam - Czechoslovakia surprises getting to the final 2:31 - 1938 - Cuba toppes Romania - Last World Cup before WW2 -12 years sadness 3:42 - 1950 - USA won over England (finally at WC) - Brazil loses the final against Uruguay with more than 200m people on Maracanã 4:36 - 1954 - Hungary, europe best team is defeated by Germany in the final after 8-3 in group phase 5:37 - 1958 - Pelé + Just Fontaine historic match - Sweden reach final- Brazil champion 6:22 - 1962 - Italy violent match against Chile - Czechoslovakia reach again final with Brazil 7:23 - 1966 - North Korea, Portugal and Soviet Union surprises World, reaching later phases. England won it's lonely title. 8:22 - 1970 - Peru with a great squad reaches quarter finals ,losing to Brazil that won the WC and obtained Jules Rimet Trophy with 3 titles 9:12 - 1974 - Holland with a magnificent team , the clockwork orange, reach final, but loses to West Germany, that plays a historical match against East Germany. 10:03 - 1978 - Argentina surprised the world with it's 1st title behind suspicious 6x1 match against Peru that was good in the WC 10:55 - 1982 - Algeria won 1st game over West Germany shocking everyone, but later a shame 0x0 match against Austria is the end for African squad. Brazil best football defeated by Italy that won the WC. 11:59 - 1986 - Morocco with Madjer and a great team do very well on WC. Denmark on other side, surprises everyone. Argentina with Diego Maradona finally won a honest title 13:00 - 1990 - Now Cameroon shows it's football to the World with Roger Milla only losing to England in quarter finals. 13:49 - 1994 - Saudi Arabia, 1st Middle East squad to show it's football and with an epic goal.Bulgaria do well too. Maradona banned after positive dopping test. 14:50 - 1998 - Spain defeated by the next African great team , Nigeria. Croatia, after Iugoslavia end, play a great football. Paraguay do well too. 15:26 - 2002 - The beginning of the curse of the last WC champion affect France, eliminated in 1st round. South Korea reach semifinals after suspicious match against Spain and Italy. 16:21 - 2006 - Zidane after France defeat Brazil, 2002 winner, loses his head after Materazzi nasty words against his family and France is defeated by Italy in the final. 17:19 - 2010 - Now, Italy can't advance in the weakest WC group with Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia. Spain surprises the world with the beginning of Tiki-Taka and won over Holland in the final after a several injury from a Holland player. 18:03 - 2014 - Brazil 1 x 7 Germany, became the shamest defeat in a WC by one of the World powerhouses. Costa Rica do a great WC.Spain, latest champion can't advance 1st round. In the end, Germany won over Argentina's Messi in Argentinazzo. 18:47 - 2018 - Now, Germany plays very badly, only winning against Sweden and being shock eliminated by South Korea. Belgium and Croatia do a great WC with Croatia defeated by France (almost an african team) in the final. 2022 -

as a Romanian I am obviously sad that we lost to Cameroon but in all other games I have rooted for the African team. They've had a really good and spectacular team, and I honestly wouldn't have minded them winning the WC. They've been so unlucky against England....

Day 4 (I think): Starting 11 of the best captain in every position Great video btw

I might be saying this with a little bias, but I think 1978 should have been Austria eliminating the reigning World Cup champions West Germany in the "Miracle of Cordoba"

Are you gonna do it with the euros aswell?

Ireland beating Italy in 94 and beating England and reaching quarter final in 90

Its a very good video overall but I think you missed Suarez's handball and then the missed penalty by Asmoah gyan

In 1994 the biggest surprise was actually Bulgaria. With cult matches against Argentina in the Group Stage, 2:0; Mexico in the Round of 16, 1:1 after extra time with 1 man down and then winning the penalties with the goalkeeper saving 3 penalties; Germany in the quarterfinals, 2:1, turning the tables from 0:1 earlier; and Italy in the semifinals, 1:2, having lost in a game with controversial refereeing, Bulgaria, as a complete underdog initially and who lost their opening game against Nigeria with 0:3, eventually made the biggest surprise on the tournament.

Qatar 2022 cant wait for the final Madagascar vs Guyana

7 biggest players who failed drug tests

Iceland drawing with Argentina in the 2018 world cup

In 2014 Algeria almost got their revenge against Germany when they pushed the future world champions into extra time.

Was surprised you didn't mention Italy beating Brazil at the 1982 world cup

How about a documentary on 21st century football without transfers or just football without transfers

Why is this in my recommended when Germany lost 6-0 against Spain. LOL

Croatia comfortably beaten in 2018 final ? Croatia had more possession, more shots and more shots on target......they just didn't have the referee on their side with him gifting France with a two goal head start.

My picks from the World Cups I have seen.. 2002: South Korea eliminating Italy and Spain to qualify for the Semifinals 2006: Zidane Headbutt 2010: Suárez “single handedly” saved Uruguay from a relentless Ghana 2014: BRA71L 2018: South Korea eliminate World Champions Germany from the Group Stage, possibly giving their Worst finish in a World Cup Campaign

Croatia in final is bigest suprise of world cup 2018

I still honestly feel like i dreamed the Brazil-Germany game. The sight of the scoreboard graphic on Univision having to freaking scroll to show all of Germany's goals at FT is burnt into my brain forever.

In more recent tournaments, you seem to have a strong preference for small, non-European nations unexpectedly winning a single match against a strong European side. But those tournaments really had bigger surprises. 1986: Belgium reaching the semifinals 1994: Bulgaria reaching the semifinals 1998: Croatia reaching the semifinals 2002: Turkey reaching the semifinals 2018: Croatia reaching the final

Can you do a vid on East Germany’s football history

Pls make a video about the Egyptian golden generation which won 3 afcon's in a row (2006-2010).

2002 should be Germany reaching the finals and almost winning. Dude, we had the worst team back in 2002 and only thanks to the TItan himself, Oliver Kahn, did we manage to get this far. That's quite a surprise: A goalkeeper ensures the victory of an entire nation for 6 matches, not because he scores, but because he saves every ball that is threatening his goal. For me, the biggest surprise in the 2002 WC.

So, in 94 Saudi Arabia was a bigger surprise than Bulgaria knocking out the world champs Germany, and getting to the semis? Bulgaria were seeded 31st out of 32 teams in the WC, and had never won a game at a WC, but the Saudis reaching the round of 16, is somehow more surprising

1994 Colombia favorite to win but shocking exit in the group stage

Suarez handball incident in 2010 v Ghana