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See the biggest upsets of the 2022 World Cup

The 2022 World Cup is full of surprising games, with unexpected teams reaching the semi-finals and others that generated great expectations being eliminated. So, check out which were the biggest upsets of this championship.

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The biggest upsets that happened at the Qatar Cup

Disputas de bola em Zebras da Copa do Mundo.
Ball dispute in play. Source: Pixabay.

This World Cup is surprising everyone, with teams that no one would have imagined passing the group stage, reaching the semi-finals.

But first of all, if you don't know where to watch the World Cup, see our article below and get to know FIFA plus, so you don't miss any more games in this competition.

Find out where to watch the 2022 World Cup

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As in all World Cups, the zebras appear. And this year, they are breaking the bank for a lot of people.

So stay with us and find out about the games in which the favorites were defeated and caused a turnaround in the competition.

List of the biggest upsets of the World Cup:

Jogadores e torcedores em estádio.
Football stadium. Source: Pixabay.

The one who did the most, and continues to do so, is the Moroccan team, which defeated great teams and continues in the competition.

Other teams like Japan and South Korea did their best, but have already been eliminated.

So see below the details of the biggest surprises of the FIFA World Cup.

Saudi Arabia 2 x 1 Argentina

Firstly, we couldn't start with another upset, one of the most surprising games in the history of World Cups.

The victory was greatly celebrated by Saudi fans, so much so that the king of the country declared a holiday. Parties in celebration took place throughout the national territory.

All the celebration was fair, since this victory against Argentina was practically a title for the country, which only made it past the group stage once.

The goals of the game came first from Messi from the penalty spot after Paredes was brought down in the area.

The Saudi goals were all in the second half, in a moment of drowsiness for the Argentines, Saudi Arabia, in two quick moves, killed the game.

The first goal came with Alshehri, in a quick play on a counterattack, and the second in a beautiful individual play by Aldawsari, putting the ball in the drawer.

Los hermanos have a habit of losing in their World Cup debuts, in 82 and 90, the Albiceleste team lost in their debut, even so, they had a great campaign.

This World Cup, the same thing, they lost in their debut and now they reach the final, after defeating Croatia 3-0.  

Is this a good sign for the Albiceleste team?

South Korea 2 x 1 Portugal

The game that knocked Uruguay out of the World Cup, no one expected South Korea to beat the powerful Portugal team.

Therefore, Ghana and Uruguay were fighting a battle that they thought was for the place, but in reality it was a game where nothing was worth anything else.

Portugal started ahead with Ricardo Horta scoring the first goal

The first goal came early, in the 5th minute Dalot crossed into the area and Ricardo Horta opened the scoring.

Korea managed to equalize in the first half with Young-Gwon after a cross that Portugal was unable to cut.

But the real magic happened in the 46th minute of the second half, when Son managed a spectacular pass for Hwang to score the turning goal, qualifying South Korea for the knockout stage.

In the following phase, the Korean team was eliminated, however, it was a big upset, as it left two-time champion Uruguay out.

Japan 2 x 1 Spain

The duel defined the two classified in the group of death, leaving the great Germany out of another knockout stage. 

This was a big upset in the World Cup, mainly because it was the second time that the German team was left out of the knockout stages.

Furthermore, Spain scored the biggest defeat of the World Cup to date, scoring seven goals against Costa Rica.

But moving on to the goals, it was the Spanish who opened the scoring, Morata, after a cross, rose above everyone and scored the goal, opening the scoring for Spain.

Everyone expected Spain to dominate the game, however, Doan, a Japanese player, hit a beautiful long shot, leaving everything equal on the scoreboard and putting Japan back in the game.

After that, one of the most controversial moves of this World Cup took place, where the Germany team even requested an appeal to cancel the goal.

The Japanese player manages to make a cross with the ball practically all outside the field line, in addition, the turning goal came exactly in this move, where Tanaka scored the turning goal.

Japan 2 x 1 Germany

This game was one of the first big upsets of the World Cup, where Germany was defeated again by teams that don't have a great football tradition, right in the group stage.

And Japan's compact team, which has never achieved a comeback in World Cup games, did its first against the four-time champion.

The first goal was a penalty, where the Japanese goalkeeper, who was having a great game, committed a foul on Kimmich, who hit it was Gundogã, who opened the scoring.

 The turnaround begins at 75, on the rebound of a shot by Minamino, Moan took the surplus and scored, leaving everything equal on the scoreboard.

A few minutes later, after a quick cross, Asano dominated beautifully and scored the winning goal.

Morocco (3) 0 x 0 (0) Spain

Without a doubt, the biggest surprise of the World Cup so far, Morocco may no longer be an underdog, as this team has been gaining great respect in world football.

In a group with Croatia and Belgium, those who qualified first were the Moroccans.

The game was very tight and ended up going to penalties, where the Moroccan goalkeeper caught three shots from Spain and was the main player in winning this place in the quarter-finals.

Morocco 1 x 0 Portugal

Goleiro deitado no gramado.
Goalkeeper lamenting. Source: Pixabay.

After the great victories against Croatia, Belgium and Spain, the victim of this World Cup's giant upset, this time, was Portugal.

A game of pure strategy from Morocco, which recognized the opponent's superiority and adopted a defensive posture.

The game was entirely about Portugal going forward, but always remaining in the Moroccan defense.

And the one who managed to score first was Morocco with En-Nesyri, who rose beautifully and scored with a header, scoring the first and only goal of the game.

So, which one of these was the biggest upset of this World Cup for you?

Be sure to check out our other content about the World Cup. See below the injuries that changed the history of the World Cups.

Injuries that changed the history of World Cups.

See the players who were missing from their teams in the most difficult moments of the World Cup.

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