There are many surprises every time some big tournament is held, and this year’s World Cup is no exception, as we are witnessing some extremely interesting games and amazing individual performances.
Mexico beating Portugal and Croatia beating Brazil are just some of those surprises, but we also witnessed one of the biggest defeats in the WC when Spain beat Costa Rica 7:0.
Even though Spain has much more quality, no one expected this, and those who bet on this result surely won big bucks, which is something you can also do at bet365, as we further discuss some of the biggest defeats in the WC history.
1. Hungary vs. El Salvador
The World Cup 1982 was pretty interesting for all football fans as they were able to see the biggest defeat in the history of this competition, which is a record that still is not broken. The match we are talking about is the one in which the national team of Hungary defeated El Salvador by 10:1.
However, El Salvador’s national team was extremely happy even to have the opportunity to participate in this prestigious competition since, at that time, the civil war in their country was on the rise.
This match has all that Hungarian people ever dreamed of – their team was the first one in the history of WC to score a double-digit win thanks to the substitution in the second half, László Kiss, who also managed to score the fastest hat-trick ever, in only seven minutes.
Unfortunately for Hungary, although they set a record that is still not broken, even in the modern era of football, it wasn’t enough, as they were eliminated in the group phase.
2. Yugoslavia vs. Zaire
In order to explain how important this match was, we need to tell you more about the situation in group 2 of the World Cup 1974 in which was Zaire, Yugoslavia, Brazil, and Scotland.
Namely, Zaire was qualified for the first time in its history, and the fact they succeeded in doing that, besides dictator controversy in their country, is a great success in itself. Unfortunately for them, the matches between the other three teams ended in a draw, which means that the goal difference became important, and each of these teams was trying to beat Zaire with the biggest goal difference.
Yugoslavia managed one of the biggest victories in WC history, as they won with nine goals difference, and the final score was 9:0. They led 3:0 after only twenty minutes when Zaire’s manager substituted a goalkeeper, but it was not a good decision, as he conceded the goal in less than a minute.
The interesting fact is that Zaire’s manager at that time was Blagoje Vidinić, who used to play for Yugoslavia before. Besides that, the Yugoslavian national team that managed to score nine goals against Zaire was the youngest in the competition.
3. Hungary vs. South Korea
We already mentioned a great win of the Hungarian national team against El Salvador in the World Cup in 1982, but we also need to mention another game in which they managed to defeat South Korea with nine goals difference back in 1954.
This Hungarian national team was considered a golden one, with the famous Ferenc Puskás as a leader, but the main star of the match was Sándor Kocsis who scored a hat-trick, and in the continuation of the competition, he broke the record with eleven goals scored.
Since this game was their first one in the competition, they had a great start and broke many records, but it wasn’t enough to raise the trophy in the end. However, it was one of their best performances in the WC, and they had a lot to be proud of.
4. Sweden vs Cuba
World Cup held in France in 1938 was the first and only appearance for Cuba so far, and the one they will not remember for the best. Their first game was against Romania, and the result was 3:3, but due to tournament rules and regulations, the repeat match was held, and Cuba managed to win 2:1.
Understandably, this was a huge success for this Caribbean country, but once they faced Sweden, the win against Romania fell in the second plan. The game started badly for Cuba, as Sweden scored their first goal in the 9th minute, which was just a sign for Cuba and what they could expect.
The game ended 8:0 for Sweden, with Henry Andersson and Gustav Wetterstrom each scoring a hat trick. It was and still is one of the biggest defeats in World Cups and something Cuba wants to forget, but they also made history as the first Caribbean team to make the World Cup.
5. Uruguay versus Bolivia
1950 was a year for countries coming from South America, as the tournament was held in Brazil, and five teams were participating from this continent. France withdrew before the WC started, and since the group had only three teams, this game between Uruguay and Bolivia was going to determine who would go to the next round.
The game ended badly for Bolivia as they suffered an 8:0 loss to Uruguay, and the only positive thing is that they can say how they lost to future champions, as 1950 was the year when Uruguay won their second and last World Cup trophy.
6. Germany versus Saudi Arabia
Even though most of the biggest defeats happened during the past century, there is one that happened twenty years ago. Namely, Germany faced Saudi Arabia in the group stage, a team that stood no chance against future runners-up.
The German side was considered one of the favorites to go all the way, and Saudi Arabia was no match to this team, especially with Klose being in top form. He was the one that started it all, netting two goals in just five minutes and completing a hat trick with a great goal in the 70th minute.
It was just a statement for other teams they would face, just to be aware of what to expect, but even this great German team was no match to Ronaldo and Brazil, who lifted the WC trophy that year.
