{"id":3941,"date":"2026-06-16T07:34:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T07:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3941"},"modified":"2026-06-16T07:34:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T07:34:14","slug":"fit-to-be-tied-the-big-upsets-at-the-world-cup-so-far-have-been-matches-ending-at-0-0-1-1-and-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3941","title":{"rendered":"Fit to be tied: The big upsets at the World Cup so far have been matches ending at 0-0, 1-1 and 2-2"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cape Verde players celebrate after the World Cup Group H soccer match between Spain and Cape Verde in Atlanta, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo\/Erik S. Lesser)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. \u2014 The teams that are ranked 61st, 67th and 85th in FIFA\u2019s world rankings all were heavy underdogs in their first matches at the World Cup.<\/a><\/p>

Read more Iran, amid protests and fragile peace, plays on at the World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n

They all played Monday. None of them won. None of them lost, either.<\/p>\n

Through five days and 16 matches of soccer\u2019s biggest extravaganza ever, the underdogs are proving to be very tough to beat. All four matches on Monday ended in ties \u2014 the most in a single day of men\u2019s World Cup play since 1958 \u2014 and all of them technically could be considered upsets as well.<\/p>\n

The biggest win (that wasn\u2019t a win) of all saw Cape Verde<\/a> \u2014 ranked No. 67 and in its World Cup debut \u2014 hold No. 2 Spain, a favorite to win the whole thing, 0-0 in what easily has been the biggest shocker of the tournament to this point.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means everything,\u201d said Cape Verde coach Pedro Leit\u00e3o Brito, who simply goes by Bubista.<\/p>\n

The other Monday results:<\/p>\n

\u2014 No. 85 New Zealand,<\/a> the lowest-ranked team out of the 48 qualifiers entering the World Cup, tied No. 20 Iran 2-2.<\/p>\n

\u2014 No. 61 Saudi Arabia<\/a> tied No. 16 Uruguay 1-1.<\/p>\n

\u2014 No. 29 Egypt<\/a> tied No. 9 Belgium 1-1.<\/p>\n

For Monday\u2019s underdogs, the ties were a pretty big deal. But even they knew what the Cape Verde score meant in the grand scheme of things.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe draw involving Spain,\u201d Saudi Arabia coach Georgios Donis said, \u201cmay be the biggest surprise in this World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four years ago, the Saudis opened with a shocking win over eventual champion Argentina<\/a> .<\/p>\n

The World Cup isn\u2019t like the NCAA tournament. Nobody is eliminated or assured of advancing no matter the outcome of their first match. But if this event was more like March Madness, it\u2019s certain that plenty of brackets would already be busted.<\/p>

Read more Dustin May perfect into 7th inning and completes 1-hitter as Cardinals blank Padres 3-0<\/a><\/p>\n

Spain was -1500 to beat Cape Verde according to odds posted just before the match started Monday. Those are overwhelming odds, ones that mean bettors would have had to wager $1,500 just to profit $100. And oddsmakers in Las Vegas said Spain was picked to win in a slew of parlays, all of which were quickly doomed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis shows how difficult it is to play (the first game) in a World Cup,\u201d Uruguay\u2019s Maxi Ara\u00fajo said. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen that they are difficult \u2014 not only in our group, but in many groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s right. And there\u2019s not much margin of error now in Groups F and H.<\/p>\n

Teams are guaranteed three group-stage matches at the World Cup, one against each of the other three teams in their group. The top two finishers in each of the 12 groups are assured of reaching the knockout stage; the eight best third-place teams also will advance.<\/p>\n

But in Group F (New Zealand, Iran, Belgium and Egypt) and Group H (Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Cape Verde), everyone has exactly one point with two matches left. Teams get three points for a win, no points for a loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of positives to build on,\u201d New Zealand\u2019s Elijah Just said.<\/p>\n

The upsets-that-were-ties trend didn\u2019t start Monday. There were two other significant ones earlier in the tournament: No. 56 Qatar tied No. 19 Switzerland 1-1, and No. 64 Bosnia and Herzegovina tied No. 30 Canada 1-1.<\/p>\n

Through the first 16 matches, eight ended in ties. The other two weren\u2019t exactly of the shocking variety: No. 18 Japan was a slight underdog going into its 2-2 tie with No. 8 Netherlands, and No. 6 Brazil and No. 7 Morocco \u2014 as would be expected, given how close they are in the world rankings \u2014 tied their opening match 1-1.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been only one match through Monday where a team was 10 or more spots below its opponent in the FIFA world rankings going in and won: No. 33 Ivory Coast beating No. 23 Ecuador 1-0.<\/p>\n

Not exactly a shocker. But some of these ties would qualify as such.<\/p>\n

\u201cFootball is like that,\u201d Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said. \u201cThere are no small opponents here.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Tigers\u2019 Colt Keith rediscovers power stroke with 3-homer game in Houston<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP World Cup: https:\/\/apnews.com\/fifa-world-cup<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The teams that are ranked 61st, 67th and 85th in FIFA\u2019s world rankings all were heavy underdogs in their first matches at the World Cup<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nFit to be tied: The big upsets at the World Cup so far have been matches ending at 0-0, 1-1 and 2-2 - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=3941\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fit to be tied: The big upsets at the World Cup so far have been matches ending at 0-0, 1-1 and 2-2 - 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