Every four years the world of soccer is paralyzed due to the most important soccer and sporting event in the world, we are talking about the FIFA World Cup. An event awaited by fans and even by not-so-soccer fans for what an event of this magnitude means. During this 4-year period, the teams prepare, warm up, and play the qualifiers for their confederation in order to obtain a place in the World Cup. Every World Cup there is a team that usually surprises, a team that no one expected could get into the final phases, that could beat the favorites, and history tells us that in most of the World Cups that have been played there is a team that surprises the world. Today we will go through the World Cups played to mention several of the teams that surprised the world.
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Brazil 1950
It was the first soccer world cup that was played in history. Brazil is a country that has always been characterized by having excellent players who have become true emblems of soccer, such as Pelé, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho Gaucho, and Dunga, among many others. What better way to honor this culture than to win the first soccer world cup in history and in your own country? However, to everyone’s surprise, this was not the case. A draw was enough for Brazil to win the world cup, but a neighboring country, Uruguay, would be in charge of turning this party bitter, with goals from Schiaffino and Ghiggia, Uruguay would establish itself as the first world champion in what was known as the “Maracanazo”.
Italy 1990
The Italians have also been characterized by their love of soccer. A country where soccer bars have been characterized by their fervor and encouragement throughout the game. It was in the year 1990 when they had the opportunity to host a World Cup. A Cameroonian team that few knew about appeared in the booklet, with a player who became a soccer legend like Roger Milla. The Cameroonians defeated the world champion team, Argentina, in their first game, in their second game they would reach the round of 16, beating Romania. They reached the round of 16, where they would beat Colombia. In the quarterfinals they would face one of the favorites, the England team, it was a highly contested game in which the English would win by a score of 3-2, eliminating Cameroon. This team led by Milla would become the first team from the African continent to advance to the quarterfinals.
United States 1994
The European qualifiers for qualifying for the United States 1994 World Cup were disputed. A team appeared that few knew at the time, the Bulgarian team. For this tie they would leave the powerful French team out of the World Cup, winning their decisive match by a score of 2-1. They would reach the World Cup and they would have to face the teams of Nigeria, Argentina and Greece, this for group D. They would achieve the feat by beating the Greek team and one of the favorites as Argentina was and qualifying for the round of 16 . In these final phases they would meet the Mexico team in the round of 16, where they would win on penalties and advance to the quarterfinals. In these instances they would face Germany where they were not favorites, however, they surprised again and left the Germans out by a score of 2-1 and advanced for the first time in their history to the semifinals of the world cup. They were very close to reaching the final, however, they could not beat an Italian team that had to fight to beat the Bulgarians by a score of 2-1.
France 1998
This great World Cup was no exception for an inconspicuous team that managed to surprise. This time it was up to the Croatian team. The Croats came to face a World Cup for the first time in their history. They would have to face Argentina, Japan and Jamaica. Being the first time in a World Cup, many owe it to the Croats as they were eliminated in the group stage, but it was not like that. With figures like Suker, Boban and Vlaovic, the Croats finished second in their group. They reached the round of 16 where they faced Romania and would win the game 1-0. In the match for the quarterfinals it was where the hope of continuing to advance was almost extinct, since they faced a team from Germany that seemed to be a favorite, but something happened that few expected. The Croatian team passed over the Germans and defeated them 3-0, this being one of the most surprising scores in the World Cup. Their dream of advancing to the final would end when they were defeated by France in the semifinals by a score of 2-1. The Croatian team would win their game for third place against the Netherlands.
Brazil 2014
It was one of the most anticipated World Cups, it was the start of Brazil 2014 and with it, the group of death appeared in the group draw. That group where 3 world champions remained, such as England, Italy and Uruguay. The weakest team in the group was Costa Rica. In their first game against Uruguay, they gave the bell and beat the South Americans by a score of 3-1. The “ticos” needed a victory against the Italian team, the strongest in the group, to reach the round of 16 and that’s how it was. With a goal from Bryan Ruiz, Costa Rica beat Italy and qualified for the round of 16. In this game for the round of 16 they met the Greek team. The Costa Ricans longed to be in the quarterfinals for the first time in their history and they achieved it, in a penalty shootout where their goalkeeper, Keylor Navas would be the figure. The quarterfinals were coming and they met the Netherlands. The Costa Rican team would fight until the end however they would fail to advance to the semifinals and would lose their game on penalties.
