In World Cup history, only 8 teams have ever won a championship. However, on the stage of the World Cup, there is no shortage of dark horses. After Costa Rica's miraculous reach of the quarter-finals in 2014, who will be in the world cup in Qatar?
The World Cup is never short of dark horses
In the 2014 World Cup, Costa Rica, which was placed in the group of deaths, made a splash, defeating Italy and Uruguay and advancing to the knockout rounds with the top spot in the group. In the quarter-finals, Costa Rica eliminated Greece again, becoming the biggest dark horse in Brazil's World Cup.
However, Costa Rica is not the best "dark horse" in history. In the 1994 World Cup, Sweden won the semi-finals after defeating two "dark horses" in Saudi Arabia and Romania, and then defeated another dark horse Bulgaria in the third place battle, and finally won the third place.
In the 2002 World Cup, Turkey, which played for the second time in history, defeated Japan and Senegal in the knockout rounds, and then won the third place after defeating South Korea. Four years later, Ukraine, which played in the World Cup for the first time, not only reached the knockout rounds, but also reached the quarterfinals after defeating Switzerland, and then was eliminated by Italy, who eventually won the championship.
In the 2010 World Cup, Ghana reached the knockout rounds and eliminated the United States in the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals, Ghana met Uruguay, and if it weren't for Suarez's handball savior, Ghana would even reach the final four. However, reaching the quarter-finals, Ghana has already achieved its best results in history.
In the 2018 World Cup, Croatia went black to the end, and after reaching the knockout round with the group leader, the Lattice Legion eliminated Denmark, Russia and England to reach the final, and finally regrettably lost to France and won the runner-up.
Who will go black in 2022?
Who will be the dark horse at the Qatar World Cup? Legendary star David Beckham named Denmark and Qatar, "Denmark is ready, they tend to perform well in major events. I'm also looking forward to seeing the qatar game, they're a young team but have been playing together for a long time and know each other very well. ”
As the host team, it is still unknown whether Qatar, which has participated in the World Cup for the first time in history, can become a dark horse. However, the status of host may be their biggest advantage. Of the previous World Cup hosts, only South Africa failed to make it to the group stage in 2010, Russia reached the quarter-finals of the last World Cup, and South Korea reached the semi-finals in 2002.
Without having to participate in qualifiers, Qatar frequently played against European and American teams in 2021, reaching the quarterfinals of the 2021 Gold Cup, and was eventually eliminated by the United States. However, Qatar did not win seven consecutive games against European teams in 2021, and in 2022 it won one win and one draw against Bulgaria and Slovenia.
Unfortunately, Qatar did not have good signing luck, drawing the Netherlands, Senegal, the two second and third pot teams, Ecuador's fourth pot team is also very strong. This means that Qatar may become the second host team to stop the group stage after South Africa in 2010.
The real hope of becoming a dark horse may be Canada, which reached the World Cup for the first time in 36 years, and 6 years ago, Canada was only ranked 117th. However, Herdman's arrival changed the fate of Canadian football, not only did they lock in the World Cup tickets in advance, but the World Cup ranking has risen to 33rd, and Herdman also became the first manager in history to lead both men's and women's football teams to the World Cup.
Canada's biggest capital to be a Dark Horse in the World Cup is to have post-00 double stars Alfonso Davis and Jonathan David, with The Lille striker making 29 appearances and 31 goals (20 goals and 11 assists), while bayern defenders have played 26 goals (10 goals and 16 assists) in 30 games.
Ecuador is also expected to become a dark horse, and being able to squeeze out colombia, Chile, Paraguay and other strong teams to get World Cup tickets is enough to show Ecuador's strength. In fact, Ecuador scored 27 goals in this World Cup, second only to Brazil in South American teams, and tied with Argentina led by Messi.
Since 1996, when COPOA reformed the World Preliminary Tournament, Ecuador has entered the fast lane, reaching the World Cup three times in 2002, 2006 and 2014, and the World Cup in Germany has even reached the knockout stages.
Ecuador lacks top players, but the overall strength is quite good, and the current national team is even the most expensive national team in Ecuador's history. Bayer Leverkusen defender Impkapier, 20, and Brighton midfielder Kecedo, 21, have gradually become the leading figures of the national team.
Senegal, which is also in Group A with Qatar and Ecuador, also has the strength to become a dark horse, as the African Cup champion, Senegal has defeated Egypt led by Salah twice in the African Cup final and the World Cup African play-offs.
Up front, Senegal have Liverpool winger Mane, while Chelsea goalkeeper Mendy and Napoli centre-back Koulibaly are in the defensive. In the World Cup, Senegal conceded only 5 goals in 8 games and 2 goals in 7 African Cups.
It is particularly worth emphasizing That Mendy, the African Cup of Nations Final and the World Preliminary Round in Egypt, Mendy saved the opponent's penalty in the penalty shootout. Once Senegal are in the knockout rounds, Mendy's tackle skills may play an important role.
Canada, Ecuador, Senegal or an unforeseen team will become the dark horse of the 2022 World Cup, everything is still unknown.