What was the Most Shocking Result of the 2022 World Cup?

[Maestro84]

The fact that we can make a top 10 list of most shocking results in one WC tournament showed just how much parity this one had. I think it's between Saudi def Argentina and Croatia def Brazil. I think the Saudi win is an even more extreme version of the Swiss beating Spain in 2010 so I think that has to be #1 but Croatia beating Brazil is something no one ever would've predicted either especially at that stage in the tournament

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[Wee Baby Seamus]

You’re intensely underselling Croatia here - loads of people did predict it and it wasn’t really considered a giant upset.

There’s no argument for anything besides the Saudi Arabia beating Argentina.

 

[robertmac43]

It's got to be Saudi Arabia beating Argentina.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Saudi beating Argentina it was as my brother described it a slap in the face with a wet towel. Shocked me to my core, all the chest thumping before the WC went out the window. I was humbled and learned not to take anything for granted after that.

Morocco beating Portugal is pretty crazy too.

 

[Evilo]

I voted Saudi Arabia too, but their first half was really nice even though they were down you felt they had something in them.
I don't think you can say the same about Germany japan though I did call out the German D at half time.

 

[IceColdOx]

The Saudis have to be the top spot. Germany's overall performance is the biggest shocker.

 

[Apex Predator]

It’s Saudi Arabia for me. It’s the first game and expectations for this game was an easy Argentina win.

 

[cgf]

Saudi Arabia for me. I rated Japan & Morocco, even if I didn't predict them to do as well as they did. But the Saudi's shocking Argentina was a real surprise to me.



Not sure if it was shocking, but Germany going out in the group stages despite posting the highest xG of any team was really annoying...only teams with an xG differential above +3.0 were Brazil (+4.9), Argentina (+5.2), France (+5.5), and us (+6.7) *sigh*

At least in 2018 we played like s*** and went out early. This time we played well for all but 20 minutes, we were just too wasteful with our chances against Spain & Japan, and Neuer just wasn't good enough anymore.

It was always going to be a cycle too early for us...especially with Wirtz not recovering in time and the oldies still starting...but still, very frustrating and hopefully it fuels the team to be much sharper with their chances at the euros.

 

[Maestro84]

Saudi beating Argentina it was as my brother described it a slap in the face with a wet towel. Shocked me to my core, all the chest thumping before the WC went out the window. I was humbled and learned not to take anything for granted after that.

Morocco beating Portugal is pretty crazy too.

I think it certainly helped Argentina's mindset knowing that they needed to make sure not to do that again. They played their next 6 matches like their lives and families depending on it which is why they ended up winning. Reminded me a lot of Spain in 2010 after a shocking loss to Switzerland in their first game which followed with them basically being unbeatable the rest of the way

Saudi Arabia for me. I rated Japan & Morocco, even if I didn't predict them to do as well as they did. But the Saudi's shocking Argentina was a real surprise to me.



Not sure if it was shocking, but Germany going out in the group stages despite posting the highest xG of any team was really annoying...only teams with an xG differential better than +3 were Brazil (+4.9), Argentina (+5.2), France (+5.5), and us (+6.7) *sigh*

At least in 2018 we played like s*** and went out early. This time we played well for all but 20 minutes, we were just too wasteful with our chances against Spain & Japan, and Neuer just wasn't good enough anymore.

It was always going to be a cycle too early for us...especially with Wirtz not recovering in time and the oldies still starting...but still, very frustrating and hopefully it fuels the team to be much sharper with their chances at the euros.

Thing is, I don't know where to rank Tunisia beating France, Cameroon beating Brazil, and Korea beating Portugal. Obviously those were big upsets regardless but those three teams had already qualified for R16 and were using a lot of bench players in those matches to make sure their regulars are fit for R16. Korea beating Portugal is probably the one I rate highest though since that win propelled them into the R16 whereas the other two went home despite causing the upset

 

[Bon Esprit]

The Saudis have to be the top spot. Germany's overall performance is the biggest shocker.

Not really. Germany sucked for the third time in a row. Not so bad offensive, bad defence. We all knew that.

 

[IceColdOx]

Not really. Germany sucked for the third time in a row. Not so bad offensive, bad defence. We all knew that.

Does anyone think it's cosmic revenge for going 7-1 on Brazil in Brazil?

 

[Rob]

I voted for Croatia over Brazil because it happened in the Knockout round.

For me the biggest disappointment of the tournament was that we didn’t get to see Argentina v Brazil in the semis.

 

[jcs0218]

I think the correct answer is Saudi Arabia defeating Argentina.

But this loss was good for Argentina.

It was the best thing that could have possibly happened to them, because they played the rest of the tournament with laser focus and full intensity.

 

[Terry Yake]

SA over argentina easily

can put that right up there with similar upsets like senegal over france in 02, algeria over w. germany in 82, etc

 

[cgf]

Does anyone think it's cosmic revenge for going 7-1 on Brazil in Brazil?

It's a function of German youth development dipping during the 97-01 born age groups and the WM-winners hanging on too long.

If Neuer & Müller had retired with Kroos, they'd have made the QFs...even with Wirtz missing the tourney...given how well they played this time.

 

[HajdukSplit]

Voted for the Saudi-Argentina game even though at the end of the day it didn't mean much for either side, Argentina went on to win the tournament and the Saudis still didn't get out the group. But in the 32-team WC era, Saudi Arabia has always been one of the weakest teams in the tournaments, often getting hammered let alone picking up points

Croatia-Brazil for me is quite a distant second, obviously Brazil were the favorites but at that stage of the competition all teams deserve some respect and reading some of the neutrals and media you would have thought Brazil were going to thump Croatia like they did S Korea, obviously they created a lot of chances but it's not quite the mis-match most people think, Croatia always played Brazil tight in previous WCs

I actually give some credence to Cameroon beating Brazil, ok Brazil maybe played second gear and tons of changes but they still rarely lose group stage matches (only once in the 'modern' World Cup era). Also Cameroon have been nothing of note since 1990, in fact that was their first win since 2002! If anything in recent World Cups they were a team which lost all three group games and pretty badly

 

[Bon Esprit]

I voted for Croatia over Brazil because it happened in the Knockout round.

For me the biggest disappointment of the tournament was that we didn’t get to see Argentina v Brazil in the semis.

Good choice, but Croatian football is better than many think.

 

[King 88]

Morrocco - Spain or Morrocco - Portugal. First game is just a first game same thing with Switzerland - Spain in 2010.

 

[luiginb]

Tiered:

Saudi Arabia vs Argentina








Australia vs Denmark

Japan vs Germany;

Croatia vs Brazil; Morocco vs Portugal; Morocco vs Spain

Didn't include the group games where one team was already qualified.

 

[Corto]

KSA vs Argentina.

Japan beating BOTH Germany and Spain was pretty good too, but that's not just one match.

 

[cgf]

KSA vs Argentina.

Japan beating BOTH Germany and Spain was pretty good too, but that's not just one match.

Japan beating Spain wasn't as shocking IMO given that spain was basically through already and if they lost they'd bounce us while landing on the side of the bracket that looked easier to get through. It's gunna take a while for me to stop believing that Spain intentionally lost that match.

Our loss to Japan was frustrating...any time you lose after having the 2nd largest xG disparity of the tourney in the first half; 1.68-0.11 and finishing 3.53-1.33; is going to be a real kick in the balls. But it's not like nobody predicted it. Plenty of us rated Japan, while plenty of others doubted our finishing & Neuer.

 

[Corto]

Japan beating Spain wasn't as shocking IMO given that spain was basically through already and if they lost they'd bounce us while landing on the side of the bracket that looked easier to get through. It's gunna take a while for me to stop believing that Spain intentionally lost that match.

Meh. I think they just got caught flat footed. For 3 minutes, they were out completely.

 

[cgf]

Meh. I think they just got caught flat footed. For 3 minutes, they were out completely.

I agree with that, but they were content to lose once that happened.

 

[Maestro84]

KSA vs Argentina.

Japan beating BOTH Germany and Spain was pretty good too, but that's not just one match.

Japan has become one of the most underrated teams at the World Cup, they've now made round of 16 in four of the last six WCs since the new century, and each time they've lost a very close R16 match

Japan beating Spain wasn't as shocking IMO given that spain was basically through already and if they lost they'd bounce us while landing on the side of the bracket that looked easier to get through. It's gunna take a while for me to stop believing that Spain intentionally lost that match.

Our loss to Japan was frustrating...any time you lose after having the 2nd largest xG disparity of the tourney in the first half; 1.68-0.11 and finishing 3.53-1.33; is going to be a real kick in the balls. But it's not like nobody predicted it. Plenty of us rated Japan, while plenty of others doubted our finishing & Neuer.

It was gonna be an uphill battle for Germany once they lost to Japan because of how their group structure was. Costa Rica was a sitting duck, and they had to play Spain, that was the biggest reason why Argentina could afford to lose the opening match while Germany was in trouble the moment that happened.

 

[cgf]

Japan has become one of the most underrated teams at the World Cup, they've now made round of 16 in four of the last six WCs since the new century, and each time they've lost a very close R16 match


It was gonna be an uphill battle for Germany once they lost to Japan because of how their group structure was. Costa Rica was a sitting duck, and they had to play Spain, that was the biggest reason why Argentina could afford to lose the opening match while Germany was in trouble the moment that happened.

It was all our own fault. We needed just one more goal against Japan or Spain to progress and we had more than 3 golden chances to get that missing goal...even with the defensive errors and Neuer's poor showing, that would've been enough.

...and we had the goalscorers on the roster, we just needed to start Moukoko or Füllkrug instead of Müller...