The unpredictable nature of the Fifa World Cup is one of its biggest drawcards. Over the years, there have been numerous David versus Goliath battles where the underdog has slayed the giant.

With South Africa qualifying on merit for the first time in 24 years, and among the lowest-ranked sides, they are considered one of the weakest in the tournament. In Group A, they face tough matchups against Mexico, Korea Republic and Czechia, where they are statistically expected to struggle to reach the knockout stages.

But dark horses have previously cleared seemingly insurmountable hurdles.

One of the most famous giant-killing acts occurred at the 2002 edition, where the then world champions, France, lost their opening game 1–0 to tournament debutants, Senegal. France had a star-studded team with no apparent weaknesses, but Senegal had a point to prove. The late Papa Bouba Diop scored the winner in that match.

The 2002 world cup in Korea and Japan also saw the Korea Republic secure unlikely victories over Italy and Spain in their route to the semi-finals.

The 2022 edition in Qatar was also filled with surprises. Japan upset Germany and Spain to reach the knockout rounds.

Saudi Arabia caused a shock in the same tournament when they won against the eventual champions, Argentina.

The history books show a striking trend in recent tournaments: Defending champions have struggled to retain their crown. In three consecutive editions – 2010, 2014 and 2018 – the reigning world champions were all eliminated in the group stage. Italy (2006 winners) exited without a win in 2010, Spain (2010 winners) were stunned in Brazil in 2014 and Germany (2014 winners) were dumped out by South Korea in 2018. While France broke this so-called ‘champion’s curse’ by reaching the final in 2022, the pattern remains a cautionary tale for any titleholder.

Interesting stats: Goals, records and curiosities

• The top all-time goalscorer at the world cup is former Germany striker, Miroslav Klose, with 16 goals.
• Just Fontaine of France holds the record for the most goals scored by one player in a single tournament. He achieved this in 1958.
• Oleg Salenko of Russia holds the record for the most goals scored in one match. He scored five in the 1994 edition against Cameroon.
• Hakan Sukur of Türkiye scored the fastest world cup goal in only 11 seconds.
• The most successful nation at the world cup is Brazil, with five titles. They are also the only nation to appear at every world cup in history.
• Only eight countries have won the world cup: Brazil (5), Italy (4), Germany (4), Argentina (3), Uruguay (2), France (2), Spain (1) and England (1).
• The Netherlands are the perennial bridesmaids of the competition, having played in three finals (1974, 1978 and 2010), but have never lifted the trophy.
• Most world cup appearances by a player: Lionel Messi – 26.
• On average, 2.2–2.7 goals per game are scored in the modern era since 1990. This is mainly due to tighter defence and strategies. In 1954, the average goals per game was 5.38, the highest in the tournament’s history.

In the 2022 edition in Qatar, 48 matches ended with a win for a team, and the other 16 matches ended in draws. Five of these matches went to penalties to decide the winner in the knockout round. This included the final, where Argentina beat France 4–2 on penalties after the match had ended 3–3 following 120 minutes of play.

Most pundits rate this as the best world cup final of all time.

Bafana Bafana’s first game

South African fans will have to wait until June 11 to see how their team fares against  Mexico in the opening match at Mexico City Stadium. Kick-off is at 21:00.

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