Biggest upsets in Women's World Cup history

Nigeria has arguably the best track record of any women’s team in Africa. However, the continent has lagged behind others in the development of the sport. Back in 2011, Nigeria wasn’t quite as lauded and had been dropped in a tough group with Germany, France and Canada. It was expected Nigeria would go winless, but instead the team stole a 1-0 win over Canada.

Back in 1995, Marta hadn’t helped carry Brazil to relevance. Additionally, Sweden was the host nation. The tournament got off to a terrible start for the Swedes though, as they lost 1-0 in the opening game against the Brazilians. It was Sweden’s only loss in regulation in the tournament.

China was an early Women’s World Cup powerhouse. You may remember this was the team America beat in the famed 1999 Finals — the match made famous by Brandi Chastain. The Chinese also did well in 2003, making it to the quarterfinals, where they faced off with Canada. Canada scored an early goal, China never solved its defense, and Canada scored the 1-0 upset.

Brazil cruised through the group stage, winning all three games. Australia, meanwhile, had gone 1-1-1 in a group with the U.S. and Sweden. Then the script flipped when these two teams met in the knockout round. Australia’s Kyah Pam Simon scored a goal in the 80th minute, and once again Marta was kept from World Cup glory.

So yeah, about Sweden’s hosting of the 1995 Women’s World Cup. That Brazil upset was rough, but it seemed like it had righted the ship. In truth China was a better team than Brazil, but the impact of this upset gets it pushed up the list a bit. These two teams went into penalties, which China won 4-3.  The fact Sweden needed a last-minute goal to even get to extra time made the loss that much more deflating.

This was Ghana’s first Women’s World Cup, and it didn’t go great. Ghana was beat by China, 7-0, in its second game. However, the first game of the group stage went a bit better. The African nation was able to earn a 1-1 tie with Australia, which had a disappointing tournament.

Anytime North Korea has sporting success, it raises eyebrows. So when it trounced Denmark in the 1999 Women’s World Cup, it certainly came as a surprise. This was not an eked out 1-0 win. No, North Korea secured a 3-1 victory over the Scandinavian nation.

Nigeria scored exactly one goal in the tournament. However, that goal came in the 82nd minute against Sweden, which gave the team a 1-1 tie. This came after a tournament in 2003 where Nigeria went winless, scored zero goals and allowed 11.

Talk about a game with some awkward sociopolitical connotations. America has been the best team in women’s soccer since basically the beginning. As such, the fact the Americans didn’t make it to the Finals in 2007 was a surprise in and of itself. Things started off terribly with a 2-2 tie against North Korea. It could have been worse, though, as the Koreans had a 2-1 lead for a time.

Germany had won the previous two World Cups and was also the host nation and had posted three wins in the group stage. The Germans were true soccer powerhouses. And then Japan stopped them in their tracks. The game was scoreless through 90 minutes, but Karina Maruyama scored in the 108th minute, and the host team was stunned. Japan would go on to win the whole tournament.

Norway was early women’s soccer giants, but this was the tournament that really solidified that. Up to this point, the United States had dominated women’s soccer, including winning the first World Cup in 1991. The Americans won their group and then beat Japan 4-0 in the quarterfinals. It seemed like the U.S. was going to repeat. Then Norway got a 1-0 win the semifinals, putting the brakes on the U.S. soccer machine.

It’s kind of hard to parse what counts as an upset in the first Women’s World Cup. Here’s what we do know. Norway would make it to the Finals of this tournament, and it went on to win the 1995 tournament. Also, China stomped the Norwegians 4-0 in the group stage. For the sheer one-sidedness of this game, it counts as a huge upset.

Colombia made its first World Cup in 2011 but didn’t pick up a single win. The Colombians went into the 2015 tournament ranked 28th in the world, according to FIFA, while France ranked third. In the group stage, France beat England and took down Mexico 5-0. On the other hand, the French were stunned by Colombia in a 2-0 victory for the South American squad, and talk of it being the biggest upset in Women’s World Cup history began almost immediately. It may have felt like recency bias then, but even with the benefit of time we can still say no upset in the Women’s World Cup has been bigger.