World Cup upsets: Where do Cape Verde, New Zealand rank all-time?
· Yahoo Sports
Monday’s plethora of 2026 World Cup draws brought with it a slew of shocks — including two of the most surprising results since FIFA started ranking teams in 1992.
The opening game of the day, Cape Verde’s steely 0-0 draw against European champion Spain was the first shocking result of the day. Cape Verde is ranked No. 64 in FIFA’s rankings, while Spain is No. 3, a difference of 61 places.
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Next, the 2-2 nightcap between New Zealand and Iran had an even bigger disparity. New Zealand entered the 2026 World Cup ranked No. 85, lowest in the tournament. Iran, meanwhile, is 65 spots ahead at No. 20.
Both are among the biggest gaps between an underdog that either beat or drew a favorite, per FIFA’s rankings. The Cape Verde-Spain result is the fifth biggest gap, while New Zealand-Iran is the fourth.
The three larger gaps all came at the 2010 World Cup.
In South Africa, the hosts were ranked No. 83. They went on to beat No. 9 France 2-1 and drew No. 17 Mexico 1-1 (however, a 3-0 defeat to eventual semifinalist Uruguay sent South Africa packing).
New Zealand’s 1-1 draw against Italy was the other big result from the 2010 tournament. The Kiwis were ranked No. 78 at the time, while Italy was fifth.
It’s also worth noting that the draw versus Cape Verde is the third time Spain has made the top 10 list. The nation previously went to penalties (and lost) against host and No. 70 Russia as No. 10 in 2018 and lost to No. 74 Nigeria as No. 15 in 1998.
FIFA’s rankings are perhaps an imperfect measure of team strength (in 2006, the Czech Republic and the United States entered the World Cup in the top five of FIFA's rankings before both got bounced in the group stage). It is nonetheless an official source when it comes to ranking international sides.
With the World Cup expanding from 32 to 48 teams, the tournament is ripe for rankings mismatches. Later this week, for instance, we will see No. 6 Brazil take on No. 84 Haiti, a gap of 78 places.
Monday also saw Saudi Arabia draw Uruguay and Egypt draw Belgium, both by 1-1 scores. While those are surprising in their own right, by FIFA ranking gap, neither cracks the top 10. No. 60 Saudi Arabia and No. 17 Uruguay represent a gap of 43 places, good for 15th on this list, while No. 29 Egypt and No. 10 Belgium are 19 places apart.
Methodology source: World rankings come from the official FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings. Match results come from FBref.Matches that went to penalty shootouts were counted as draws.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Inside two of the biggest World Cup upsets in more than 30 years