Soccer is the world’s most popular sport for, among many, one big reason in particular: it’s utterly unpredictable.
Its upsets, unexpected announcements, and gripping storylines are what makes watching and betting on soccer so fun, something that millions around the world have already discovered.
Below are five of our biggest soccer shocks from the last 10 years that supporters and punters alike will never forget.
The MLS’ New Star Power
Sure, it still has ways to go before becoming one of the world’s premier soccer leagues, but no sane person would ever have predicted that Major League Soccer would one day be the club home of international superstars like Kaka, Robbie Keane, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, David Villa, and others.
(Source: 4231.vn)
Say what you want about those players all being in the twilight of their career, the fact that the league had basically folded in 2001 and is now better-attended than both the NBA and NHL is simply incredible.
Iraq Winning the 2007 Asian Cup
In 2007, war-torn Iraq fielded a team for the Asian Cup that had had only two months to prepare, couldn’t play tune-up games in their own country, and didn’t even have enough kits for its players.
Despite these circumstances, the Lions of Mesopotamia managed to upset tournament-favorites Australia and win their group without a loss. In the knockout stage, they shut out Vietnam and outlasted South Korea in penalties for another shock upset. But after that match, the team almost withdrew from the tournament when news spread that a suicide bomber had killed 30 fans celebrating their win. Deciding to honor the dead by playing on, they defeated Saudi Arabia 1-0 for the country’s first and only Asian Cup title.
Dortmund’s Resurrection
While the full story spans slightly longer than 10 years, the depth of the footballing chasm German club Borussia Dortmund managed to climb out of in that span of time is nothing short of remarkable.
The short version goes that the famed club almost went bankrupt in 2005, was close to relegation in 2006/07 and 2007/08, and then just three years later rose to win two Bundesliga Championships, a German Cup, and made it to the Champions League Final in 2013.
Messi’s Retirement
We like to think that our sports heroes never give up in spite of the odds and that they are somehow immune to frustration and ridicule, but every once in a while we get a reminder that they too, like us, are merely human.
One of those reminders came in June 2016 after Messi’s Argentina lost in the Gold Cup Final, his fourth defeat in a major international tournament. Saying that he had given all he could for his country, Leo shocked the world by announcing his retirement from international soccer at age 29.
Iceland Thunder Clapping England
You could argue that for Iceland–who four years ago was no. 131 in the FIFA rankings–simply making it to Euro 2016 was a shock in itself, especially considering that they had beaten the Netherlands twice during qualifying to do so.
(Source: qz.com)
Taking second place in their group, the squad with zero Premier League or La Liga players drew England in the round of 16 and was promptly pegged as a large underdog. But even after falling behind 1-0 in the fourth minute, the Icelanders seemingly channeled all 332,000 of their countrymen by fighting back to claim a 2-1 victory in a historic upset.
Leicester City Winning the Premier League at 5000:1 Odds
It’s been written about to death, yet it’s still difficult to accurately put into words what Leicester City did in the 2015/16 season. Down in the third tier of English soccer as recently as seven years ago, and barely surviving relegation in 2014-15, the Foxes defied pre-season 5000:1 odds by winning the Premiership by ten points. The win clearly took bookmakers by surprise and lucky amateur bettors won big money as sports betting is easy for everyone to do.
(Source: StandardMedia.co.ke)
That’s already enough to boggle the mind, and doesn’t even get into that their entire team payroll was as much as individual players’ at top clubs, their second-leading scorer thought the club was a rugby team when they offered to sign him in 2014, and that the only reason their championship manager was hired was due to the previous one’s son being involved in a racist sex tape scandal. Seemingly, the one thing to write about Leicester is clichés, as their story is simply too good to be true.
Costa Rica Going Undefeated in Group Play
Costa Rica had made it to the knockout stage of the World Cup back in 1990, but when the 27th FIFA-ranked Ticos drew a group containing England (ranked 10th), Italy (9th), and Uruguay (7th), they were understandably looked at as a long shot among long shots to even advance.
Lo and behold, CRC not only found a way to advance, but they won the group without suffering a defeat despite the majority of their squad consisting of players from their own domestic league and non-power European ones.