The Underdogs Who Shook the World Cup: Stories No Favorite Would Write

The World Cup has its own logic that defies everything we know about probability.

Rankings, history, star players, seasoned coaches — all of that exists. And all of it has been toppled in ninety minutes by a team nobody expected.

These are the underdogs. The impossible stories. The reasons why the World Cup starts fresh every time and the whole world stops to watch.

Cameroon vs. Argentina, 1990: the champion fell in the opener

June 8, 1990. Milan. Argentina entered the tournament as the reigning world champion, with Maradona on the pitch and the confidence of a team that had lifted the trophy four years earlier.

Cameroon had other plans.

François Omam-Biyik headed the ball home in the second half, and it stayed 1-0. Roger Milla, at 38, hadn’t even come on yet — but the symbol of that Cameroon side was already set: the World Cup doesn’t respect titles, only the ball.

Milla would come on later, score four goals in the tournament, and Cameroon would reach the quarterfinals. But what stuck was that afternoon in Milan, when the world champion went home in the first round.

Senegal vs. France, 2002: the debut that stopped the world

It was Senegal’s first World Cup. On the other side: France, world champion in 1998, European champion in 2000.

Nobody imagined what would happen on May 31, 2002.

Papa Bouba Diop scored in the first half. The Senegalese team celebrated dancing around the jersey thrown on the pitch — an image forever etched in memory. France never came back. And they went home before the round of 16.

Senegal reached the quarterfinals, losing to Turkey in golden goal. But the opener stuck. It’s still one of the most-watched matches in World Cup history.

Costa Rica, 2014: the Group of Death lasted 60 minutes

Before the tournament, the press called Group D the “Group of Death”: Uruguay, Italy, England, and Costa Rica.

Costa Rica won the group.

Three matches, two wins, one draw, seven points. Keylor Navas saved everything that came his way. The Central American side advanced to the round of 16, then the quarterfinals, where they lost on penalties to the Netherlands after a scoreless draw.

At some point, the Group of Death had become someone else’s problem.

Morocco, 2022: an entire continent took the field

No African team had ever reached a World Cup semifinal.

In 2022, Morocco changed that.

The Moroccan side eliminated Belgium in the group stage, Spain on penalties in the round of 16, and Portugal in the quarterfinals with a goal from Youssef En-Nesyri. Every match was celebrated not just by Moroccan fans, but by all of Africa — in the streets, in the squares, in stadiums across the continent.

They lost to France in the semifinals. But they reached where no one had reached before.

And there’s more: South Korea in the 2002 semifinals, Saudi Arabia stunning Messi’s Argentina in 2022, Paraguay reaching the quarterfinals in 2010.

The World Cup produces these stories with a regularity that should have taught us something by now: no favorite is safe while the ball is still rolling.

Which underdog stuck with you the most?

World Cup 2026 is live right now. Check out our Quarterfinals review too, to follow this edition’s stories.