Top 10 World Cup Humiliations
Brazil 1-7 Germany will go down in history as one of the most incredible but also humiliating defeats in the World Cup. In honour of that thrashing, here are the Top 10 biggest humiliations in the tournament’s history.
10. Spain 1-5 Netherlands 2014
There have been a few teams who have made bad starts to the defence of their World Cup title but this was pretty much the worst. Spain went ahead in the match but then were ripped apart by Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben who made the champions look very silly and led to the end of an era.
9. Yugoslavia 9-0 Zaire 1974
This is harsh on Zaire as they had little experience and were the long underdogs, but nevertheless, a 9-0 drubbing has to be considered a humiliation. Yugoslavia were nothing special really, drawing their other two group stage matches, but they fancied it against the Africans and were 6-0 ahead by half-time.
8. Slovakia 3-2 Italy 2010
This was a woeful end to an awful campaign for the Italians, who were the world champions coming into the 2010 tournament. Draws with Paraguay and New Zealand in their first two matches were bad, but they just needed to beat Slovakia in their final group game to qualify, they failed, only a 92nd minute goal for them making the scoreline respectable.
7. West Germany 6-1 Austria 1954
Austria were a much more fancied team than West Germany in 1954 and were the favourites heading into their semi-final clash in Switzerland. Austria had seen off Scotland and Czechoslovakia without conceding in the group stage then put seven past the hosts in the quarter-finals. However, the Germans really turned up in the last four, mercilessly battering their neighbours and heading into the final.
6. France 0-1 Senegal 2002
Another humiliation for a defending champion as France turned up Seoul hoping to repeat the success of four years earlier. A team including Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Marcel Desailly and Youri Djorkaeff could do nothing to stop the Senegalese, though, as Papa Bouba Diop scored to embarrass the world champions.
5. Hungary 2-3 West Germany 1954
The Germans just do not like following a script, even when any other outcome looks completely out of the question. Hungary were the best side on the planet in 1954, they had even beaten West Germany 8-3 in the group stage of the tournament. When the Hungarians went 2-0 up after eight minutes of the final, it was a question of how much they were going to win by. That is not what the Germans thought, though, as they came back to win 3-0, humiliating the favourites and Hungarian football has never recovered.
4. Germany 0-3 Croatia 1998
Germany have come out on top of these humiliations a few too many times, so here is one that went against them. Croatia had an excellent side in 1998 but Germany were the European champions and World Cup experts, they were certainly favourites heading into their quarter-final clash. However, goals from Robert Jarni, Goran Vlaovic and Davor Suker made it a terrible night for the Germans.
3. North Korea 1-0 Italy 1966
Two-time World Cup winners Italy met footballing minnows North Korea in the final Group Four match in 1966 with the winner heading into the knockout stages. No one gave the Asian side much of a chance but that did not stop them picking up the win and sending the Italians home early.
2. England 0-1 USA 1950
England did not want to lower themselves to compete in the first three editions of the World Cup and when they finally did turn up they realised that it was harder than they thought it would be. USA were made up of part-timers and English ex-patriots, but that did not stop them beating a team featuring some greats of the game including Tom Finney, Billy Wright and Stanley Matthews.
1. Brazil 1-7 Germany 2014
This would have been a disaster for the Brazilians anywhere in the world, but in front of their own fans, on home soil, it was the ultimate humiliation. Their defence was cut to shreds at will by a rampant German side and had no answer to any questions asked of them.